Germans are researching their Nazi past as the far right urges them to move on

- Germany's Nazi past (1933–1945) is a defining national trauma, central to its post-WWII identity, education, and laws. "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" (coming to terms with the past) is the country's official, decades-long effort to confront and atone for the Holocaust and Nazi crimes. - The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), now polling strongly and holding significant power ahead of the 2025 federal election, has increasingly pushed a narrative that Germany should "draw a line" under its Nazi history and stop focusing on guilt. - The article reports a surge in ordinary Germans researching their own families' Nazi-era roles (e.g., through archives, ancestry services), partly as a direct reaction to the AfD's rise — a grassroots effort to preserve historical truth before living memory fades.