Embedding the Apology in the Media: How Civil Society ... · Embedding the Apology in the Media: How Civil Society Contributes to Reconciliation │ 27/03/2019 Page 4 of 8 revise

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Embedding the Apology in the Media: How Civil Society Contributes to Reconciliation International Workshop on Media and Civil Society

Research Cluster on Asian Civil SocietyAsia Institute, The University of Melbourne27 March 2019

EmbeddingtheApologyintheMedia:HowCivilSocietyContributestoReconciliation│27/03/2019 Page2of8

Programme

Date:

Venue:

27March2019 Time: 12:00–19:00

YasukoHiraokaMyerRoom-Level1-SidneyMyerAsiaCentre-TheUniversityofMelbourne

ParkvilleVIC3010

Registration: go.unimelb.edu.au/x4ax

Enquiries: [email protected]

12:00–12:30 Registration&LightLunch

12:30–12:45 ProfAkihiroOgawa–TheUniversityofMelbourneOpeningremarks

12:45–13:20 CivilSocietyandReconciliation.VoicesfromPost-WarJapan,GermanyandItalyDocumentaryscreening

13:20–14:00 DrClaudiaAstarita–DocumentaryQ&ASession

14:00–14:15 Break

14:15–14:35 DrChristophClassen–ZentrumfürZeithistorischeForschung,PotsdamSuppressed,keptdiscreetlysilentormorallyexaggerated?-ComingtotermswiththeNazi-PastinWest-Germanmediaafter1945

14:35–14:55 ProfRiccardoBrizzi–BolognaUniversityThememoryoffascisminItalianCinema

14:55–15:15 ProfAllanPatience–TheUniversityofMelbourneNoapologyorfauxapology?TheconsequencesforJapan'ssecurityasChinarises

15:15–15:35 DrClaudiaAstarita–TheUniversityofMelbourneHowyoungergenerationsunderstandhistory:newtrendsinGermanyandItaly

15:35–15:55 Q&Asession

16:00–16:30 AfternoonTea

16:30–16:50 ProfJaneMunro–TheUniversityofMelbourneCananationalapologybymeaningful?AssessingthesocialproblemsandrealimpactsofJapaneseandAustraliannationalapologies

16:50–17:10 DrLauraFontana–ComunediRimini-MémorialdelaShoah,ParisItalyandthememoriesoftheHolocaust:theAuschwitzparadox.Fromthemythofinnocencetoaselectiveremembrance

17:10–17:30 DrSowKeatTok&DrDeliaLin–TheUniversityofMelbourneRememberingtheWar:ThematicComparisonsofWarMuseumsinChinaandJapanandtheirImplicationsonChina-JapanRelations

17:30–17:50 DrJulianeWetzel–CentreforResearchonAntisemitism,TechnicalUniversityBerlinGermanyaftertheIIWorldWar:HowMemoryandApologyhavebeenUnderstoodinSchoolsandWithinNationalCivilSociety

17:50–18:20 Q&Asession

18:20–18:40 ProfAkihiroOgawa–TheUniversityofMelbourneClosingremarks

18:40–19:00 Drinks


Titles and Abstract Suppressed, kept discreetly silent or morally exaggerated? - Coming to terms with the Nazi-Past in West-German media after 1945

DrChristophClassen

ZentrumfürZeithistorischeForschung,Potsdam

In1983,theconservativephilosopherHermannLübbemadeawidelyacclaimedspeechinBerlinontheoccasionofthe50thanniversaryoftheseizureofpowerbytheNationalSocialists.Incontrasttomanyotherconservativesatthetime,hedidnotdenythatthepublicdiscussionofNazicrimesinWestGermanyinthepost-warperiodwasextremelylow.However,he claimed that thiswasadeliberateprocessnecessary for the reconciliationof society. ThearticleattemptstosketchanoverviewofthecoveringofthecrimesinWestGermanmediaafter1945.Ittendstoproduceopposite results: Only the media addressing and scandalization, especially since the 1960s, has created a lastingawarenessofthedimensionofcrime,onwhichthecontemporaryconsensusonmemorypoliticsinGermanyisbased.

The memory of fascism in Italian Cinema

ProfRiccardoBrizzi

BolognaUniversity

Thispaperexaminescinema’sroleinconstructingmemoriesandrepresentationsofFascistItaly, inordertoanalyzehowtheyhaveaccompaniedtheevolutionofthepoliticalsystemandtheItaliansocietyfromthetragedyofwartotheendoftheso-called“FirstRepublic”in1992-1993.Overtheperiodconsidered,thenumberoffilmsaboutFascism(from different genres: historical reconstruction, comedy, drama, etc) were not excessively high compared to thetotalityofnationalproductionbut,atthesametime,relevantcomparedtowhatGermanorFrenchCinemahavedoneabout Nazi Germany or the Vichy regime. Italian cinema since 1945 has both reflected and influenced popularrepresentationsofFascism.ThismediaticinteractionwithFascistpasthasbeenhowevererratic:afterthegreat(butvery short) season of Neorealism, which makes the most of the chapter of anti-fascism, fascism and ResistancedisappearedfromItalianscreensuntilthebeginningoftheSixties.IntheearlySixties,inconjunctionwiththebirthofthe center-left governments (based on the alliance between Christian Democrats and the Socialist Party), cinemaplayedanimportantroleinreactivatingtheResistanceandAnti-fascistvalues.TheinterestoftheItaliancinemafortheFascistperiodremainedconstantuntiltheendoftheSeventies,duringthewholephaseoftheso-called“AnnidiPiombo” (“Years of Lead”). Since the Eighties, the difficulties of the film industry associated with the crisis ofideologiesandthecollapseoftheItalianpoliticalsystemhaveledtoaslackeningofthiscinematicconfrontationwiththefascistpast.

No apology or faux apology? The consequences for Japan's security as China rises

ProfAllanPatience

TheUniversityofMelbourne

At the end of WorldWar II, the Japanese were absorbed intoWashington’s ColdWar strategies, which includedcontaining the Soviet Union and communist China. This encouraged Japan’s conservative political leaders to facedownAsian(especiallyChinese)criticsoftheircountry’sconductduringthecruelyearsofthePacificWar.InEastandSoutheastAsiamemoriesofJapan’swarcrimeshavehardlyfadedastheyearshaveprogressed.Forexample,forthetwo Koreas, the issue of “comfort women” has never been adequately addressed. Memories of the savagery ofJapanesesoldiersduringtheNanjingMassacrein1937remainaliveinChina,whileinJapantheyaresweptunderthecarpet.Meanwhile,rightwingPrimeMinistersinJapanhavepaidceremonialvisitstotheImperialShrineofYasukuni,thecontroversiallyultra-nationalistsanctuary inwhichthesoulsofwarcriminalsarestillhonoured.Althoughsomeambiguouslyworded apologies have been proffered by the Japanese over the years, they arewidely perceived aslackingsubstance.However,changesareafoot.China’sriseisbeingaccompaniedbyanAmericaseeminglyinretreat,if not decline. At the same time Japan’s population is ageing and shrinking, its economy is flat-lining. As Beijingcontinuestoflexitsmuscles,Tokyoisbeingforcedtore-thinkitssecuritystrategies.Sofarithasnotseentheneedto


reviseitsfauxapologyapproachtoitsAsiaPacificneighbours.TopersistwiththispurblindpolicyislikelytobecomeseriouslyproblematicforJapan’ssecurityasthe“AsianCentury”gathersmomentum.

How younger generations understand history: new trends in Germany and Italy

DrClaudiaAstarita


More andmore surveys, in America and Europe, are highlighting the emergence and consolidation of critical gapsboth in awareness of basic facts as well as detailed knowledge of the Holocaust. In particular, the HolocaustKnowledgeandAwarenessStudy,commissionedbytheConferenceonJewishMaterialClaimsAgainstGermanyandreleased inApril 2018,has revealeda shocking reality: a significantmajorityofAmericanadultsbelieve that fewerpeoplecareabouttheHolocausttodaythantheyusedto,andmorethanhalfofAmericansthinkthattheHolocaustcould happen again. At the same time, there is a broad-based consensus that schools must be responsible forproviding comprehensive Holocaust education and that a bigger effort is needed to make sure that the youngergenerationcontinuerememberingandcondemningthetragediesoftheSecondWorldWar.Thispaperillustratestheresults emerged from a broad survey conducted in Germany and Italy involving an average of 700 students percountrytoshowhowtheHolocaustisunderstood,rememberedandstudiedinEurope.ThisresearchalsoofferstheopportunitytoanalysethecasesofGermany,ItalyandtheUnitedStatesonacomparabledataset.

Can a national apology by meaningful? Assessing the social problems and real impacts of Japanese and Australian national apologies

ProfJaneMunro


Thispaperarguesthatreconciliationwith formerenemiesafterawar isunlikelytobesupportedbytheentirecivilsociety in a country or a group, even after symbolic official apologies have been made and some compensatoryactions have been taken. Approaches to history andmemory can play a limited role in changing knowledge andperception,asalsocanmediaandstorytelling.Thiscautionaryapproachisformedonthebasisofseveralinternationalcomparisons:themuch-discussedJapaneseeffortsatofficialapology;themuch-vauntedGermaneffortsandactions;andtheAustralianparliamentaryapologies,specificallythe2008apologyforthestolengenerations. Recognitionorfailure to recognise pastwrongs by other national entities and empires such as theUSA andBritain present someuseful comparative information.Material factors ingeopolitics can change the interactionsbetween formerenemynationsevenwithoutanactiveprocessof reconciliation. International regimesmaynotbetheoptimalstructuretoencouragereconciliationandconsolidatestability.Effortstochangeattitudeswithpublicinformationandawarenessprogramscanmakeadifference;itispossiblethatwiththegradualeffluxionoftimethroughmanygenerations,pastenmitiesmaybeforgotten.Intheshorterterm,say,a50to80yearperiod,stagesofapparentreconciliationfollowedby outbursts of bad memory are common. Their occurrence can be linked to other factors such as economicrelationships.Mediacanplayarole,butitsreachandreliabilityarelimited.

Italy and the memories of the Holocaust: the Auschwitz paradox. From the myth of innocence to a selective remembrance

DrLauraFontana

ComunediRimini-MémorialdelaShoah,Paris

AccordingtotheworldrankingofnumberofvisitorscarriedoutbytheAuschwitzMuseum, Italyconsistentlyholdsone of the top positions. This ismainly thanks to the phenomenon of theMemorial Trains, which have taken onunmatched dimensions in Europe since 2002. It is an initiative fuelled by good intentions, idealism and politicalactivism,whichseemtodrawstrengthfromacommonbelief,thathasevolvedintoanunquestionabledogma.Peoplewant to learn about history, understand it and drawmoral lessons for the present. Themethod consideredmoreeffective today is an educational group visit to the remains of the Birkenau crematoria. In other words, the dualobjectiveofimpartinggoodinstructiononthehistoryoftheHolocaustandofinducingasenseofresponsibilityinthe


young participants of today is provided by observing the depths of the horror in which humans could directlyparticipateatthesiteofthecatastrophe.However,despitethisdesire,animatedbythebestintentions,nonationalmuseum dedicated to the Holocaust (although three are now being planned) yet exists in Italy nor does adocumentationcentreonthecrimesofFascism.Moreover, little isknownabout the important locationsrelatedtothe persecution of Jews in the peninsula and, as a consequence, they are rarely visited. These places includeFerramontidi Tarsia in theCalabria region, the largest internment campunder theMussolini regimeandFossolidiCarpi,oneofthemaintransitcampsfromwhichoverathirdofItalianJews(includingPrimoLevi)weredeportedtoAuschwitz.AccordingtotheWorldMonumentsFundthelatterrisksclosurebecauseofitsstateofabandonment.The"Auschwitzparadox”whichmarksthememoryoftheItalianHolocaustcanbesummarizedinthecleardisproportionbetweenthecentralityandredundancythattherecollectionsofthiseventhaveoccupiedinItalianpublicdiscussionsfor at least a quarter of a century. It also includes the partial and selective view that the transmission of thisremembrancecontinues toconfirm in thecollectiveconsciousness.This tragedyseems tohavebeen inheritedasaforeign body in the history of the nation, through the compliance of the Republic of Salòwith theNazi occupiers,ratherthanbeingfullyattributabletothechoicesandpoliticalresponsibilitiesofthenationitself.

Remembering the War: Thematic Comparisons of War Museums in China and Japan and their Implications on China-Japan Relations

DrSowKeatTok&DrDeliaLin


Abstract: The rise of China, and the relative decline of Japan, in recent decades has brought the two countries’historicalissuesbacktothefore.InChina,XiJinpinghasbeenonarollto“reforming”China’sandtheCCP’shistoricalaccounts through massive investments into public campaigns to mould narratives and memories about China’shistory. Likewise in Japan, Shinzo Abe has drummed up the nationalist rhetoric following perceptive shifts in itssecurityenvironment.Withthesetworegionalpowersincreasinglystandingoffalongnationalistlines,thefocusfallsontheirmostcontentioushistoricalissue:theSino-JapaneseWar,1931-1945.Meanwhile,publicspaces,suchaswarmuseums, both in China and Japan continue to perpetuate national narratives and provide instructions for publicconsumption.Thethemesthatemergedfromthesevenuesbecomeinstrumentalintheimaginationofthenationandof the “others”—all important factors whenwe consider the narrowing politics of identity in Northeast Asia. Thispaper compares the themes of four museums: the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance againstJapaneseAggression(Beijing)andtheNanjingMassacreMuseuminChina,andtheYasukuniShrine(Tokyo)andtheHiroshimaPeacePark(Hiroshima)inJapan.Themainobjectiveistouncoverwhichaspectsofhistorythenarratives(intheformsofwords,displaysandmultimediamaterials)emphasise,howtheyemphasise,andthetensionsthatensue.Thepapercomparesthethemesoffourwar-relatedmuseumsinChinaandJapantouncoverthedifferentemphases(intheformsofwords,displaysandmultimediamaterials),methodologies,andtheirrelationshipswiththeinterstatetensionsthatensue.

Germany after the II World War: How Memory and Apology have been Understood in Schools and Within National Civil Society

DrJulianeWetzel

CentreforResearchonAntisemitism,TechnicalUniversityBerlin

AfterWorldWarIItheAlliesbelievedthattheycouldfreetheGermansfrom“NationalismandMilitarism”—thusthephrasingofthelawpassedinMarch1946bytheNationalCouncilintheU.S.Zone—bymeansofthewarcrimestrialsanddenazification.ThemajorityoftheGermanpopulationconsideredthechapteroftheirjointresponsibilityclosedaftertheendoftheseprocesses.Inthefirstyearsfollowingtheendofthewar,resentmentagainstJewswasrarelyexpressed in public, given the presence of the occupying power. Antisemitism generally remained latent. Butantisemiticattackssince1945mostly targeting Jewishmemorialsandsymbolsshowedthat toacertainextendthislatency could also become virulent. That is, rather the targeting individuals for personal attack, the perpetratorssoughttodestroyJewishlifebymeansofremovingthehistoricalmemoryofNazipersecution.In1959thedesecrationofasynagogueinColognecausedover400threatsagainstJewishcemeteriesandinstitutions–limitednotonlytotheWesternpartofGermanybutalsoeffectedtheEasternpart.IntheFederalRepublicthiscausedpositivereactionson


apedagogicallevel.Achangeineducationhastakenplacewhichwasevenmoreeffectedbytheprotestsofthe1968generationandtherevoltsagainsttheparentgenerationandtheestablishmentwhoinsistentlykeptsilentabouttheThird Reich. A fundamental rethinking in the educational field has taken place after the American TV-movie“Holocaust”wastransmittedinGermanyin1979.InrecentyearsthereisaboomofHolocaustandNationalsocialismrelatedGermandocumentaryfilms,moviesanddoku-soaps.Theattentiontheygotandthemediareactiongivingtheimpression that these films finallyexplain theHolocaustandNational socialism lefthistoriansa littlebitperplexed.Some of the films and the followingmedia coverage suggested that those films and documentaries showed new,neverresearchedpartsofthehistoryorthattheywouldtransmitthehistoricaltruth-whichisnotthecase.Peoplewereattractedbythestoriesandstormintothecinemas.ThesameoccurredwithsomeTVtransmissions,whichhadahighpercentageofviewers.Hundredsofbooks,endlesshistoricalresearchesandexhibitionsontheHolocaustandthe National socialist period obviously have had no greater influence – but one-sided books as the one by DanielGoldhagenorfilmshadandstillhaveanenormousimpactinpublic.Butallthisisnotonlynegative-sucheventsalsopushdebatesandleadtoknowperspectivesthepublicwouldnevergainfromresearchbooks.ExpertsonpedagogicalissuesrecentlypointedonthepossibilitythattheknowledgeabouttheHolocaustmightalsohaveapositiveimpactonyoungsters with migrant background. Skills about the German past might be an important tool on the way tointegration.NationalsocialismandthegenocideoftheEuropeanJewsisnotonlyanhistoricalperiodbutitinfluencescurrent interior policy asmuch as foreign policy, is still an ongoing process in courts (Ghetto pensions as well aspayments from social assurances for work in the DP camps) and has an impact on today’s public discourse inGermany.Afterall,debatingtheHolocaustanditsimpactontheEuropeanJewsinmulticulturalclassescouldcreateagreaterawarenessandsensibilityforHolocaustrelatedissuesinsofarthatpeoplewhocametoGermanybecauseofpersecutionintheirrespectivecountrieslearnaboutmigrationexperiencesofJewsescapingNazipersecution.Also,ifalwaysanequalizationofbothexperienceshastobeevadedthecomparisoncouldcauseempathyintoday’smigrantsocietyandserveasaneyeopenertodealwiththeJewishfate.Nevertheless-generallyspoken-itmustbeclearthatknowledge about the Holocaust does not prevent holding antisemitic stereotypes. Though blaming Jews fordominatingpublicdiscoursewithHolocaustrelatedissuesdoesnotonlyserveasatooltopreventdebatingGermanresponsibilitybutitalsoservesasaplatformtotransportoldantisemiticstereotypes.Sometimes,anequationofNazidictatorship and Stalinism creeps into current debates about the Holocaust. Historians compare these twodictatorshipsforevaluatingequalpatternsandafterallspecifythedifferences.ThepoliticalscientistClausLeggewieonceformulated:"ThedifficultyoftheEuropeancultureofmemory istopointonthesingularityofthebreakingofcivilizationbytheindustriallyandbureaucraticallyorganizeddestructionoftheEuropeanJewswithoutdogmaticallyavoidthehistoricalcomparisonwiththesystematicexterminationof‘classandpeopleenemies’intheSovietsphere.”


Delegates

Name Email Address Affiliation

ProfAkihiroOgawa [email protected] TheUniversityofMelbourne

ProfJaneMunro [email protected] TheUniversityofMelbourne

ProfAllanPatience [email protected] TheUniversityofMelbourne

ProfRiccardoBrizzi [email protected] BolognaUniversity

DrJulianeWetzel [email protected] CentreforResearchonAntisemitism,TechnicalUniversityBerlin

DrLauraFontana [email protected] ComunediRimini-MémorialdelaShoah,Paris

DrDeliaLin [email protected] TheUniversityofMelbourne

DrChristophClassen [email protected] ZentrumfürZeithistorischeForschung,Potsdam

DrSowKeatTok [email protected] TheUniversityofMelbourne

DrClaudiaAstarita [email protected] TheUniversityofMelbourne


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Embedding the Apology in the Media: How Civil Society ... · Embedding the Apology in the Media: How Civil Society Contributes to Reconciliation │ 27/03/2019 Page 4 of 8 revise