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Memory Sites and Prevention was a project implemented by the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities and funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor from 2020-2024. Based on the premise that spaces of memory can contribute to atrocity prevention, though they do not always do so, this project demonstrated how memory practices in a selection of post-atrocity societies have succeeded at mitigating atrocity risk factors, and therefore have made the recurrence of violence less likely. We used these findings to develop a set of guiding principles for memory sites to incorporate an atrocity prevention mandate into their programming.
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As transitional justice has grown as a field and as an international mandate in post-atrocity contexts over the past several decades, the memorialization of past atrocities through the construction of physical spaces of memory has increasingly been recognized as an essential aspect of this complex process. Equally, the vast array of memory spaces developed in relation to these processes has expanded beyond historical monuments or statues to include memorial museums, immersive memorial spaces, sites of mass atrocity that have been converted into sites of memory, peace parks and gardens, counter-monuments, and any number of other memorials, constructed at both the state and grassroots levels. Often, these spaces of memory are touted not only as honoring past victims, but also as important tools for preventing future violence. However, in order to actively contribute to atrocity prevention, memory sites must become more than static sites of remembrance, but dynamic spaces of prevention.
During the research phase of the project, the team conducted more than 160 interviews at 109 different sites of memory, memory initiatives, and other related human rights and atrocity prevention organizations in 7 different countries around the world to assess which atrocity risk factors sites of memory are best positioned to mitigate, and how memory sites, through exhibitions, programming, and outreach, contribute to reducing the likelihood that violence will recur. The post-atrocity countries visited include Argentina, Cambodia, Colombia, Morocco, Northern Ireland, Rwanda, and South Africa. Additionally, the project team distributed a questionnaire evaluating if and how memory sites respond to and impact the risk factors that are connected to mass atrocity violence through their design and programming. We received more than 250 responses from sites of memory spanning across 55 countries.
Based on the results of these interviews and the questionnaire responses, the research team, led by Dr. Kerry Whigham, AIPG’s Director of Research and Online Education, developed a toolkit that shares guiding principles for incorporating an atrocity prevention lens into current or future programming at memory sites. This toolkit provides concrete examples of programming that has successfully responded to risk factors and offers practical tools for assessing risk and adapting programming to respond to those risks. The toolkit is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Khmer, and Arabic. The project also resulted in a policy paper that provides guidance for donors looking to support atrocity prevention programs. Both the toolkit and policy paper are available below and on our Publications page.
Following the publication of the toolkit, we released a call for proposals for small fixed amount awards (FAAs) for memory sites who had participated in the research stage of the project to adapt current programming or implement new programming that incorporates an atrocity prevention/risk mitigation framework based on the recommendations in the toolkit. We selected six memory spaces for funding, representing Cambodia, Colombia, Guatemala, and South Africa, and the results of their projects are summarized below.
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Based on the results of these interviews and the questionnaire responses, the research team, led by Dr. Kerry Whigham, AIPG’s Director of Research and Online Education, developed a toolkit that shares guiding principles for incorporating an atrocity prevention lens into current or future programming at memory sites. This toolkit provides concrete examples of programming that has successfully responded to risk factors and offers practical tools for assessing risk and adapting programming to respond to those risks. The toolkit is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Khmer, and Arabic. The project also resulted in a policy paper that provides guidance for donors looking to support atrocity prevention programs. Both the toolkit and policy paper are available below and on our Publications page.
Following the publication of the toolkit, we released a call for proposals for small fixed amount awards (FAAs) for memory sites who had participated in the research stage of the project to adapt current programming or implement new programming that incorporates an atrocity prevention/risk mitigation framework based on the recommendations in the toolkit. We selected six memory spaces for funding, representing Cambodia, Colombia, Guatemala, and South Africa, and the results of their projects are summarized below.
District Six Museum (South Africa) used the funding towards their event “A Walk in the Night.” This walk commemorates the anniversary of the Emancipation Declaration of the Cape in 1834, which brought an end to slavery in South Africa. While the Museum has been organizing these annual walks since 2006, the funding was used to reinvigorate the walk by fully integrating tools and practices outlined in the Beyond Remembering toolkit within the design process and workshop structure leading up to the event. The four preparatory workshops fostered intergenerational exchange through complex and difficult conversations around the theme “resistance and resilience.” The workshops were effective in instilling in participants the imperative to think critically about how slavery and Apartheid continue to impact risk factors for atrocity in present day South African society. The Museum reported that the toolkit has not only complemented their existing creative methodologies by serving as a structured guide for holding difficult conversations among program participants, but has expanded their pedagogy to consider modern day risks for atrocity within their programming.
The Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum (South Africa) used the funding to implement their Lwandle Legends project, which memorializes the contributions of seven people to the community of Lwandle. The interns selected to conduct the interviews first attended a series of workshops on photography, museology and managing artifacts, conducting tours, storytelling, and interviewing techniques, providing them with professional development opportunities to learn employable skills. The interns then interviewed each legend or a relative, for those who have passed, and translated and transcribed their interviews in English and Xhosa. For the second phase of their project, the Museum selected two local artists to paint the murals of each of the legends on seven different hostels surrounding the Museum. On March 21, 2024, the Museum organized an opening ceremony that was attended by more than 100 people. Additionally, Lwandle developed a more-than-400-page book on the Lwandle Legends. They reported that the Beyond Remembering toolkit prompted them to think critically in the design and implementation process, using guiding questions around the social environment and audience for their space and fostered community-wide conversations around memory and the future of Lwandle.
Youth for Peace Cambodia used the funding to continue their work of documenting the stories of survivors of the Khmer Rouge. Specifically, the funding supported the capacity building and training of ten students in interview techniques, the interview and documentation of the stories of ten survivors of the Khmer Rouge living in Samroung Knong village, a memorial wall painting, and a Buddhist ceremony for the unveiling of the mural. Samroung Knong served as a security center and site of mass killing under the Khmer Rouge, but that has been transformed by Youth for Peace into the Samroung Knong Community Peace Learning Center (CPLC). These CPLCs create safe spaces for intergenerational dialogue on Khmer Rouge history and raise awareness about the importance of memory preservation. The memorial wall painting depicts the stories of the survivors who were interviewed for this project. Youth for Peace reported that the Beyond Remembering toolkit was beneficial in adapting an existing program to respond to context-specific risk factors for atrocity, particularly in identifying existing risks for the recurrence of violence in their community, and provided them with ways they could adapt their approach to respond to these risks.
AFAVIT (Colombia) used the funding to support three different project components: 1) a public march with attendees from across Colombia to try to strengthen support and protection for local victims’ families, 2) increased support for their children’s musical group by providing human rights training and music lessons, and 3) and urgent repairs to the ceiling of the Monument Park office. During the national assembly and march, they were able to make proposals and network with other local and regional human rights and victims’ associations over the course of the three days. The music group was able to purchase a new instrument and make several public performances, in addition to their trainings in which children learn about memory, truth, justice, guarantees of non-repetition, and the rights of victims and children. AFAVIT reported that the toolkit was enormously helpful in assisting them in clarifying their own memory practices and in preparing their proposals for the National Assembly.
Casa de la Memoria de Triana (Colombia) used the funding to carry out three project components: 1) to increase the physical security of their building to adequately protect and preserve the documents they have collected regarding the massacres that have occurred in the area; 2) to strengthen the unity of women in the surrounding areas by holding a Prevention and Self-Protection Day during which they learned about their rights, the State’s legal obligations towards protecting their rights, and how they can take initiative in safeguarding their rights; and 3) to foster ancestral medicinal practices through the creation of 20 raised gardens for the women who live at the Memory House and their families. This not only keeps traditional knowledge alive, but benefits the health and wellbeing of the families, who have scant access to healthcare. They reported that the toolkit has assisted them during project implementation by providing them with a risk factor framework through which they can view recent episodes and future threats of violence, better equipping them in their advocacy efforts with the Community Council by being able to show them the degree of risk for atrocity violence that the community faces.
Memorial para la Concordia en Guatemala used the funding to support their project “Mapping USAC Guatemala: Tours of Memory Sites.” During this project, they documented the memory sites located on the Central Campus of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), using the images and videos to develop both a physical and virtual tour. The tour includes two routes that cover a total of 13 memory sites. The funding allowed them to create several virtual tools to increase access to their work, including a website that houses the audiovisual files and information from the two memory tours, a YouTube video on the project, and a 360° interactive virtual tour that leads the viewer through each of the sites, has video interviews with university staff about each site, and includes basic information on each site. They reported that the Beyond Remembering toolkit was integrated into the design process of both the virtual and in-person tour, specifically the best practices on art and education.
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