ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the origins of the deserter-monument movement in Germany and sketches the contours of the public debates concerning deserter monuments. It examines three examples of each of the two major categories of deserter monuments, those that focus primarily on honoring German deserters from the Wehrmacht and those that are more broadly dedicated to honoring the principle of desertion itself. On April 4, 1990, a Green Party member in the Bavarian parliament referred to deserters from the Wehrmacht as "the unknown heroes" of the Second World War. The chapter explores the impact and significance of the deserter-monument movement and the extent to which it has succeeded in changing the public memory of the war in Germany. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, proponents of deserter monuments often encountered fierce opposition to their proposals for memorializing deserters. Germany has the distinction of being one of the very few countries in the world with monuments dedicated to military deserters.
