Civil Society and Reconciliation, Voices from Post-War Japan, Germany, and Italy is the title of a special event which will be held on Thursday 28 March at Melbourne's Museo Italiano.
Dr Claudia Astarita and Professor Akihiro Ogawa (Asia Institute, The University of Melbourne) have worked together on the documentary Civil Society and Reconciliation, which will be screened at the Museo Italiano.
"Lasting reconciliation with former enemies after a war is a difficult and often distressful process. Peace is not a top-down practice and the entire civil society must be involved to make it successful. Public discussion of Second World War crimes in West Germany, Italy and Japan in the post-war period was extremely sparse. By contrast, the Allies believed that they could free Europe and the Far East from “Nationalism and Militarism” by means of war crimes trials, de-fascistization and de-nazification. In fact, Germany and Italy had to wait until the 1960s to create, with the support of media and civil society, a lasting awareness on a shared national narrative of the Second World War. Only by establishing a mutually supportive connection between history and memory it be-comes possible to spread new positive values and perspectives in civil society, triggering a virtuous and inclusive reconciliation process"
