In her book, German historian and cultural memory theorist Aleida Assmann engages in a debate with those who question the value of memorial culture. Since the 1970s and 1980s, it has become the dominant approach to dealing with the past. The growing "dissatisfaction" is fueled by the transformation of traumatic pasts into subjects of political and economic bargaining.

The "Holocaust industry," fierce competition for victim status, and a painful attachment to feelings of guilt are the most noticeable manifestations of how modern forms of cultural memory operate. While partially acknowledging the validity of her opponents' positions, Aleida Assmann seeks to construct a memorial perspective in which responsibility for past crimes, an ethical readiness to share feelings of guilt, and legal frameworks that allow the voices of victims to be heard would turn the engagement with the past into a crucial factor in the conscious movement toward the future.