March 2017 the seminar of Memorial Sites of Eastern and Western Europe took already for the 17th time place in Krzyżowa. This year´s meeting was dealing with “Forgotten History”: Historical places, names and events that are not yet part of collective memory or have just recently become part of it. Together with more than 50 colleagues from 14 countries (stretching from Albania and Belarus to Estonia and Peru) discussions were held on how our societies deal with “forgotten history” and broad variety of projects that try to remember such events, names and places were presented.
In three blocks each participant had the opportunity to introduce themselves and their relationship to the topic in 2 minutes in front of a self-chosen photo. In these blocks one characteristic of the memorial meeting became very clear: that all participants are also speakers.
The question of how to communicate with the public was central to the introductory presentation on Thursday: Professor Joanna Wojdon from the University of Wroclaw spoke about public history and its role in dealing with "forgotten history". There was great interest in the topic and the subsequent discussion with Professor Wojdon lasted over an hour. Discussions like these are only possible thanks to the professional interpreters who translate the entire memorial meeting into German, English, Polish and Russian.
The second day of the event was dedicated to "forgotten places", such as the former KGB prison Patarei in Tallinn, the "Gypsy Camp" in Lety or the Gdansk shipyard. After dinner there was the opportunity to learn about Kreisau as a forgotten and rediscovered place during two guided tours.
The next thematic blocks on Friday were about "Forgotten Names" and "Forgotten Events", in the afternoon an excursion then led to places of Protestantism in the surroundings of Krzyżowa - not all of them were forgotten places, we also visited the Peace Church in Świdnica. The day ended with a dinner in the restaurant of the hotel "Red Baron" - another rediscovered person - Manfred von Richthofen had actually lived in Świdnica for some years.
After further project presentations on Saturday, the 17th East-West European Memorial Meeting ended with an evaluation round - dominated by praise and joy about new contacts and cooperations. There is already a date for an 18th meeting: It is to take place from 1 to 4 April 2020.
The event was planned by the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe in cooperation with the Foundation for the Study of Communist Dictatorship in East Germany, the Protestant Academy Berlin and the "Memory and Future Centre" in Wrocław, organized in cooperation with the Kreisau Initiative e.V. and supported by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future in terms of content and funding.
photo gallery no. 1
photo gallery no. 2 - © by Aureliusz Marek Pędziwol
