SUMMARY:

Anke Hilbrenner points to the lack of mutual permeability of the various post-Soviet, Russian, East-Central European, Western European, and German historical discourses. Though increasingly popular, transnational history remains packed in the conceptual containers of nation and state that largely negate its potential for revisiting the established historical narratives. In German scholarship, the situation is further exacerbated by the legacy of the Historikerstreit. While its political importance is unquestionable, the insistence on the uniquely singular nature of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany’s exclusive responsibility for starting World War II has stood in the way of a truly interwoven and transnational historiography. This explains the relative marginalization of the vast region of East-Central Europe and the historical experience of its populations. Singling out just one oppressive force while turning a blind eye on others inadvertently promotes epistemic colonialism on the part of Western scholars, and thus the potential for translating this into political support for Russia’s imperialist policies.