During six months in 1945, the victorious Allies formulated a wide range of policies toward the defeated Germany. This pivotal period - between Yalta and Potsdam - was to herald the re-integration of Germany into postwar Europe, and eventually into the international system of democratic states. It was "the struggle for the soul of Germany". This collection of contributions exposes the intense differences between the Allies regarding Germany's future. The contributors are politicians, journalists and academics, and include eye-witnesses from both the Allies and the German side. There are personal experiences, letters from the front, personal war diaries and material from previously unpublished sources in Britain and Germany. The British papers include an unknown War Cabinet memo showing in graphic terms the British and Allied views of Germany in the face of total defeat.

A multidisciplinary examination of the forms taken by withdrawal. What forms does withdrawal—meaning either that which withdraws itself or which is being withdrawn—take in artistic and cultural practices? What movements does it create or follow in specific contexts, and with what theoretical, material, and political consequences? The contributors to this book address these questions in a variety of writing practices, each focusing on specific scenes.   Through interviews, artistic and literary texts, visual contributions, and academic texts, On Withdrawal explores various modalities of withdrawal, ranging from a silencing of critical voices to a political and aesthetic strategy of refusal. Contributors: Arnika Ahldag, Sofia Bempeza, Lauren Berlant, Kathrin Busch, Helen Cammock, Knut Ebeling, Sebastián Eduardo Dávila, Mutlu Ergün-Hamaz, Stefanie Graefe, Rebecca Hanna John, Ulrike Jordan, Pinar Ögrenci, Pallavi Paul, Thorsten Schneider, Judith Sieber, Diana Taylor, Deniz Utlu, Marivi Véliz, Nele Wulff, and Akram Zaatari  

During six months in 1945, the victorious Allies formulated a wide range of policies toward the defeated Germany. This pivotal period - between Yalta and Potsdam - was to herald the re-integration of Germany into postwar Europe, and eventually into the international system of democratic states. It was "the struggle for the soul of Germany". This collection of contributions exposes the intense differences between the Allies regarding Germany's future. The contributors are politicians, journalists and academics, and include eye-witnesses from both the Allies and the German side. There are personal experiences, letters from the front, personal war diaries and material from previously unpublished sources in Britain and Germany. The British papers include an unknown War Cabinet memo showing in graphic terms the British and Allied views of Germany in the face of total defeat.