Mayki Gorosito is the Executive Director of the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory, a museum and memorial located within the former Navy Mechanics School of the Argentine Republic. During the civic-military dictatorship (1976–1983), it was the main Clandestine Centre for Detention, Torture, and Extermination, where approximately 5,000 people were abducted, tortured, and disappeared. As …
By Stéphane Michonneau, Paris-Est Créteil University / CRHEC and Babeth Robert, Director of the Memory Centre of Oradour While working on the emblematic site of Oradour-sur-Glane, researchers involved in the ANR Ruines project explored the phenomenon of “martyred villages” found in several European countries, including Spain, Italy, Greece, and the Czech Republic. The term refers, …
The Gusen concentration camp began construction in December 1939 and officially opened on 25 May 1940, with the arrival of over 1,000 Polish prisoners. From the start, it was part of the SS’s plans for the economic exploitation of the granite quarries in the region through the forced labour of concentration camp prisoners. The camp held a special position within the system of concentration camps named after its main camp, Mauthausen, which included over 40 subcamps. More than a subcamp, Gusen was considered a twin camp to Mauthausen.
By Maria Sierra, Professor of Contemporary History, University of Seville “We do not need a memory that shies away from the confrontation between victims and executioners, that eases consciences. We need a memory that walks through the carriages, that stands on the ramp, that sees the faces, that hears the screams”, Ewald Hanstein, Auschwitz survivor …
By Anja Kožul, freelance journalist “…Did they kill the Roma, too?” The greatest ‘murder of truth’ about the Roma concerns their genocide in the Second World War. Thousands of books, hundreds of thousands of texts, and millions of articles have been written about this last great global catastrophe and the suffering of various peoples in …
This edition highlights issues like the Samudaripen/Porrajmos memorialisation, transnational heritage projects, and Argentina’s ESMA Memory Site Museum. Through diverse articles and reviews, we explore the role of archives, cultural heritage, and multidisciplinary approaches to memory. We remain committed to fostering critical reflection and collaborative action for a more just society.
Vojtěch BlodigTerezín Memorial, Deputy of the director and head of the Historical Department Cover picture: The National Cemetery in Terezín On 6 May 1947, the government of the Czechoslovak Republic decided to set up a Memorial to National Suffering in Terezín as a reminder of the fate of those who passed through it during the …
Marc DíazResearcher and educator in human rights at the University of Barcelona’s Solidarity Foundation Cover picture: Arch of Sorrow, Alzhir Museum-Memorial complex. Picture: Marc Díaz Planas There are currently four museums that specifically focus on political repression during Soviet times in Central Asia. One is in Uzbekistan and the other three are dotted around Kazakhstan. …
Ricard Conesa SánchezHistorian and project officer at the EUROM Cover picture: The Memorial Site of the Les Corts’ Women Prison was inaugurated in 2019, after years of work and vindication by the Platform Future Monument Presó de dones de les Corts. Barcelona City Council. On 14 December 2019, the monument dedicated to the now defunct …
New museums and (political) narratives in Slovenia Kaja ŠirokHistorian. Assistant professor at the University of Nova Gorica Cover image: Part of the permanent exhibition “Slovenians in the 20th century”, which tells the story of the independence and democratisation of the country; Jože Suhadolnik/DELO In March 2021, on the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the …
