Dealing with the past – restorative techniques for social coherence in Croatia
Jun 02, 2015
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