BHS / ENG
Memory Lab in Ravensbrueck 2013
The 9th annual study trip/workshop took place from 22 to 28/9 September 2019 in Albania. "Unbunkering the past: How is Albania dealing with its (communist) history?" was the leading question of the program which combined visits to memory sites in Tirana, Spac, Shkodra, Kruja and Gjirokastra, presentations and discussions with experts and time witnesses, and working sessions within the group.
The 8th annual study trip/workshop took place from 17 to 23 September 2017 in Spain. It focused on the exploration and discussion of history, consequences and memories of the Spanish Civil War. "Is there a specific ‘Spanish model’ of (not) dealing with the past?" was the leading question of the program which consisted of a combination of visits to memory sites in and nearby Madrid, Belchite, Barcelona, La Jonquera and Rivesaltes (France), feedback-sessions after visits, presentations by/discussions with experts, and working sessions within the group. The study trip/workshop 2017 were organized by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights BiH, EUROM - European Observatory on Memories, Forum ZFD Bosnia and Herzegovina , Franco-German Youth Office, Districte 11 – City to City and Crossborder Factory, with the support of CCFD – Terre Solidaire, Forum ZFD BiH, Government of Catalonia – Department for Cooperation and Development, City Council Barcelona, Madrid City Council, Robert Bosch Foundation, European Commission / Europe for Citizens Programme and Franco-German Youth Office.
The 7th annual studytrip and workshop took place between 9–15 October 2016 in Serbia. The program focused on three main topics of memorialization: the Second World War, the Socialist Yugoslavia, and the period of the 1990s, with the Milosevic-regime and the break-up wars of Yugoslavia. The approach was to explore “told, untold and retold histories” in relation to these periods in today’s Serbia, through visits of sites, encounters with historians, curators and civil society organizations, and group work. The workshop and the study-trip 2016 are organized by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights BiH, C31 – Center for Developing Children’s Rights Culture, Peace Academy Foundation, French-German Youth Office, Forum ZFD and crossborder factory, in cooperation and with the support of CCFD – Terre Solidaire, the French-German Youth Office, Forum ZFD and the Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft.
The sixth annual studytrip and workshop took place between 4–10 October 2015 in Belgium. It gathered 43 representatives of initiatives related to dealing with the past from countries of South Eastern Europe and Western/Central Europe. The aims were to explore Belgian history and memorialization challenges, with a specific focus on World War One, colonial history and questions of European memory, and to connect the experiences from Belgium with the situations and remembrance-work in other European countries. The workshop and the study-trip 2015 were organized by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights BiH, the Belgium National Institute for Veterans and Victims of War, the French-German Youth Office, Forum ZFD, and crossborder factory, with the financial support of the King Baudouin Foundation, CCFD – Terre Solidaire, Forum ZFD and the French-German Youth Office.
The fifth annual studytrip and workshop took place between 5–11 October 2014 in Kosovo and Macedonia, and gathered 40 representatives of “dealing with the past”-initiatives from Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Germany, Kosovo, Macedonia, the Netherlands and Serbia. The workshop and the study-trip 2014 have been organized by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights BiH, Forum ZFD Kosovo, the French-German Youth Office, Alter Habitus and LOJA – Centar for Balkan Cooperation, in cooperation with and with the financial support of the Robert Bosch Foundation, CCFD – Terre Solidaire, the French-German Youth Office, Forum ZFD Kosovo and the Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft.
The fourth annual workshop and study trip was organized from 20 to 26 October 2013 in Germany. The study trip, the 21th–22th October, was divided in two parts: the first day, we visited memory sites in Berlin, linked to the Third Reich and the communist regime, and the second day included visits in Berlin and at the German-Polish border at Frankfurt/Oder-Slubice. The workshop took place from 23th to 25th October at the Memorial Centar of Ravensbrück (90 km in the north of Berlin). The workshop gathered 40 representatives of “dealing with the past”-initiatives from BiH, Croatia, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia and Kosovo.
After two years in the Western Balkans, the third edition of the study trip and workshop took place from 7th to 13th October 2012 in France. The program included visits of the following sites: the battlefields of the Somme and the “Historial de la Grande Guerre” in Péronne, related to the First World War; the “Mémorial de la Shoah” in Paris and Drancy, related to the history of genocide of the Jews during the Second World War; and the village and Memorial Center of Oradour-sur-Glane, where 642 civilians have been massacred by an SS-division in 1944. Except for the visits, the workshop furthermore included different sessions of presentations, exchange and group work.
In order to allow more visits during the program, since 2011 a two-days-study trip is preceding the three-days-workshop. The study trip, the 17th and 18th October, included visits to the Memorial Jasenovac (Croatia) and the Memorial Donja Gradina (Bosnia and Herzegovina), both dedicated to the memory of the Jasenovac concenteration camp 1941-1945, and to memory sites in Vukovar (Croatia) linked to the war in 1991. The workshop from 19th to 21th October, took place in Prijedor (BiH) and included presentations on the situation in Prijedor and memorialisation-challenges in Europe, field visits to memory sites in Prijedor (former concentration camps in Trnoplje, Omarska and Keraterm, monuments in the centar of Prijedor, and the Mrakovica Memorial related to the Partisans battle in 1942) and working group-sessions on concrete challenges the participants are facing in their work around memory sites.
The first workshop took place from 2nd to 4th June 2010 in Sarajevo and was organized around five axes: