Forgetting as a filter, as a weapon, and as a prerequisite for the creation of the new. In light of the current dominance of the engagement with memory, we seem to have forgotten forgetting. In fact, it is not remembering, but forgetting that is the fundamental mode of human and societal life. Remembering requires active effort, while forgetting occurs silently and seemingly unremarkably. However, forgetting can also be an active process, as Aleida Assmann demonstrates in her two-part study. In the first part, she describes, alongside seven concrete techniques for forgetting, its various manifestations: from selective forgetting to focusing on specific memories, through defensive forgetting as a form of self-protection for perpetrators, to constructive forgetting as a comprehensive new beginning. In the second part, Assmann provides...