By StĂ©phane Michonneau, Paris-Est CrĂ©teil 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 SSâs 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.
Jenny WĂŒstenbergProfessor of History and Memory Studies, Nottingham Trent University Cover image: The empty pedestal of the statue of Edward Colton in Bristo. Picture: Caitlin Hobbs, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons In the past few years, the question of what societies should remember and how it matters has shifted squarely into the spotlight. In …
Olivier WievirkovaHistorian, Faculty member at the Ăcole normale supĂ©rieure de Cachan Cover image: Japanese Embassy in Seoul and watched from behind a bronze statue of comfort women. Sakaori, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The memory of the Second World War clearly remains very much alive. To give just one example, the conflict triggered in …
Marie-Louise Jansen. Director of Contested Histories Project, Institute for Historical Justice & Reconciliation, EuroclioâEuropean Association of History Educators
Georges Mink. Emeritus Director of Research in the Institute of Political Social Sciences at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (ISP-CNRS), European Civilization and History Chair, dedicated to the memory of Prof. Bronislaw Geremek (College of Europe, Natolin, Poland)
By Sébastien Ledoux. Professor of History University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
An essay by Marie-Claire Lavabre,
Emeritus Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research
Each remembrance process has its own unique characteristics, and it is essential not to confuse or mix concepts; however, the globalization of memory can be used as a tool for truth, justice and reparation to establish parallels and affinities and thus enrich our analysis of each process.
Recent events are a powerful example of the memorial paradigm that has been established over the last twenty years both at the European level and internationally.