Difficult heritage

Difficult heritage – material legacy of past violence and/or oppression which is contested and can evoke emotional, often painful, responses in the present. It often challenges widely accepted versions of a community or nation’s past or stated values. Difficult heritage connects with questions or problems in the present and causes the public to question their understanding of the past and present.

Although the term was originally developed to describe the site of Nazi rally grounds in Germany, it has been widely used to describe various types of heritage, including Jewish heritage and the difficult legacy left behind by
the Holocaust. The term was coined by Sharon Macdonald and presented in her book Difficult heritage. Negotiating the Nazi Past in Nuremberg and Beyond (2008).