Armed Conflicts, Its Aftermath, and National Claims—Carambelas

Topography of Terror, Berlin (Source)

Although preserving the past is a noble intent it doesn’t come without conflict and ethical concerns. Over time the material culture and buildings of a community comes to stand for that community, thus, an attack on these items is an attack on the group.

The attempts by Muslims to rebuild mosques and the hostile opposition they have encountered in the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia, are a good example of this notion. After being ethnically cleansed from the region by Serbs, rebuilding is a way to reassert the Muslim presence and right to belong; failing to rebuild would be an admission of defeat.

Rebuilding can also be used to mask the past and create what R. Bevan calls “forced forgetting.” After World War II many cities rapidly redeveloped in order to obscure the memory of German occupation and the Third Reich. In the case of Warsaw, Poland, the rebuilding helped to produce a new national identity which excluded German heritage and privileged certain memories over history. The Warsaw Uprising, for instance, was eliminated from that history because of the less than noble involvement of the Soviets under Moscow.

In some instances history has been sought by later generations through archaeological studies and memorials. The Topography of Terror exhibition and site in Berlin was begun in 1986 as symbolic archaeological dig to better understand the past. Professional archaeologists eventually took over the site and conserved the floors and walls of prison cells they uncovered. Today the site is set up as a didactic walkway that tells the history of the site and those who used it.

Sites of hurtful memories are proof against denial or attempts to mask the past, yet they may be offensive to some parties. So how can conservators ensure that history (and not memory) are preserved and represented in our daily landscapes?

Related Readings/Video

Rape of Europa (DVD 3420 at MSE)

Nora, Pierre. "Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Memoire." Representation (Spring 1989): 7-24. (Available through JSTOR)

The Church of St. Alexander, Warsaw, was built between 1818-1826 and razed by the Nazis in 1944 following the failed Warsaw Uprising. Its reconstruction--although following the plan of the original--lacks the finesse of the original and has been described by critics as a 'Disneyfication.' (Destroyed: Source) (Rebuilt: Source)