This article traces the evolution in the discourses and representations of victimhood, citing a range of examples from across Europe. Beginning with a macro approach to the question of memory groups, which examines the representation of the victim via collective memory, the article then goes on to discuss how these groups, which are related to historical violence, have presented themselves in the public realm from the 1950s to the present day. Particular attention is paid to the manner in which different memories work together within systems of representation, the function of analogy, metaphor and allegory as rhetorical devices and how one memory often serves as a ‘screen’ or a prism via which to approach another.