In laws, rhetoric and acts of violence, Europe is rewriting dark chapters of its past
"BERLIN — In Poland, the president signs a law criminalizing anyone who dares suggest that the country’s citizens helped perpetrate crimes of the Holocaust.
In Italy, a Mussolini-admiring neo-fascist goes on a shooting rampage targeting people with dark skin.
And from Hungary to Britain, leading government figures and their allies promote dark theories about a Jewish financier plotting to subvert the national will.
After President Trump in August blamed “both sides” for violence in Charlottesville during dueling protests by white supremacists and their opponents, critics pointed to American historical amnesia as a contributing factor.
Europe, with its emphasis on remembrance in the service of “never again,” was held up as a superior model for reckoning with the horrors of the past.
But six months later, events across the continent have served as a potent reminder that Europe’s grip on its history is far from assured. In particular, the 20th century’s dark detours into Nazism, fascism and state-sponsored anti-Semitism are again being subjected to revision."
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“You’re getting the rewriting of history in the extreme,” said Deborah Lipstadt, an Emory University professor who has written extensively on Holocaust remembrance and denial.
The evidence across Europe in recent weeks has been disparate and scattered, ranging from blatant acts of violence to subtle insinuation and casual omissions.
The reasons, too, are varied: A revival of nationalism. A surge in prejudiced thinking about and behavior toward minorities. A social media culture that spreads information and disinformation alike with startling speed.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-laws-rhetoric-and-acts-of-violence-europe-is-rewriting-dark-chapters-of-its-past/2018/02/19/4ab36f7a-0ddf-11e8-998c-96deb18cca19_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories-2_europehistory-605pm-winner%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.7afebd70fe07
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