To own the Holocaust 

The aim of this study has been to summarise and analyse the use of history in the debate surrounding the building of a swedish Holocaust memorial museum. Material used in the study included consultations of SOU 2020:21 from various authorities/agencies and NGO´s, editorials and debate articles from Sweden's leading newspapers and motions and written questions written by members of the swedish parliament. The methods used were textual analysis and hermeneutics. The material was analyzed via Karlsson's typology of use of history.  

The study shows that the memory of the Holocaust is being used in different ways depending on the users geografical, political, organizational and/or etnical backgrounds. This affects the concept of the Holocaoust and its moral implication in various ways. Organizations representing the romani community, for example, wants the roma to be included in the Holocaust-concept and the illuminates the historical crualties that the roma´s have endured in order to further that argument. Organizations and political parties emphasize their connections to the Holocaust in order to discredit opponents or to further political or economical/social agendas. The result of this use is a variance in the existential, moral and political implications of the Holocaust. 

Another result, which in no way is disconnected from the ones mentioned earlier, is a variance in the ways in which the history of Sweden is linked to that of the Holocaust. The use varies according to where the debater wants to place the museum, a choice which is strongly linked to the author's geographical background. This results in different universalistic implications of the holocausts causes, proceedings and effects.