Presentation documenta ukraine_slaven raskovic

Dealing with the past – restorative techniques for social coherence in

Croatia

Break-up of Yugoslavia

Slovenia1991

Slovenia

Croatia1991 – 1995

Croatia

Bosnia & Herzegovina1992 – 1995

Bosnia & Herzegovin

a

Kosovo

Kosovo1998 – 1999

MacedoniaMacedoni

a2001

War in Croatia 1991 - 1995

Ethnic map of Croatia War affected areas

Human rights violations 1991 - 1995

Fall of Vukovar 1991 Operation Storm 1995

Post-war developments

Divided communiti

es(ethnically polarized)

Incomplete records of

human losses

Unprosecuted war crimes

Legalized official

narratives

Patriarchal – heroic

discourse in memorializat

ion

Post-war developments

Divided communiti

es(ethnically polarized)

Divided

history

Divided memory

Divided lives

Divided future?

Documenta Center for Dealing with the Past – Established in 2005

Culture of Memory

Documenting human

losses 1991 -1995

Monitoring war crime trials

History educatio

n

Oral history

program

Vision: „Towards a sustainable peace by dealing with the past”

Croatian Memories: Unveiling personal memories

on war and detention

Collecting personal memories in post-war Croatia

Limitations of oral history

Subjectivity

SelectivityConditionality

Advantages of oral history

Giving voice to marginalizedor neglected groups

(“history from below”)

1

Advantages of oral history

Putting a human faceon historical events

(“flesh on the bones of historical books”)

2

Advantages of oral history

Deconstruction ofofficial narratives

3

Advantages of oral history

Showing the human face of Others whose stories were told in a

pejorative or relativizing context

4

Advantages of oral history

Getting insight intopersonal experiences

5

Target groups of interviewees

Civilian war victims Marginalized groups (women, national

minorities, peasants...) Family members of killed and missing persons War veterans Refugees and IDP Political prisoners Human rights activists War correspondents and journalist

Questionnaire Semi-structured – open questions

Introduction Family history Identity Life before the war First signs of the war Beginning of the war The war (personal losses, human rights violations,

refugees...) End of the war Life after the war

Usage of oral history material

Educational material

Scientific research

Exhibitions

Theater plays

Unveiling personal memorieson war and detention

http://www.croatianmemories.org/en/video-archive/unveiling-personal-memories-on-war-and-detention/

Monitoring War Crimes Trials

Goal:

Strengthening the rule of law in the area of war crimes proceedings by increased efficiency and improved legal framework for the war crimes proceedings as well as the improvement of the victim’s status in the proceeding

Monitoring War Crimes Trials

All war crimes trials at the courts of the Republic of Croatia are monitored, including the revisions of the previous proceedings conducted in absence of accused persons

The number of war crimes trials at the County courts in the Republic of Croatia is continuously relativelly high (23-34 trials which includes approximately 100 defendants per year)

Culture of Memory

Goal: is to systematically educate about politics of

remembrance, practices of marking sites of violence and commemorative culture in Croatia and the wider region

Culture of Memory

historical interpretation of crimes which marked the 20th century, as well as sites of memory and commemorations related to them, have often been subject to political manipulations and have served as an excuse for new cycles of violence

we want to make a modest contribution to the acknowledgement of suffering of all victims 

History and Civic Education

Goal:

Systematic teaching about twentieth century conflicts, forms of political repression and propaganda, war suffering, war heritage and war narratives  are neccessary for peace education and sustainable peace development.

History and Civic Education

In the year 2007 Documenta published Supplement for history textbooks on recent history, which caused a lively debate. Today, most of the controversial contents and methods used in theSupplement are today a standard part of history textbooks.

Thank You!

Slaven Rašković [email protected]

Documenta – Center for Dealing with the past www.documenta.hr