80 years without an end? Conference in Berlin

Political scientist Timothy Williams opened the conference with a lecture. Different forms of war and violent conflict are prevalent around the world, some of which are more, but many of which are less visible to the global public. Informal conflicts often drag on for decades, while others have been effectively overcome or at least “frozen” by peace agreements. “The perception of the warring parties is central to this: How do they assess their own resources and losses, and those of the opponent? How much resistance is there within society to a continuation of the fighting, what ways out do they see?” says the researcher from the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich. Contrary to the debates between idealistic approaches that focus primarily on democratization and approaches that only focus on military power perspectives, the case-specific view of the local circumstances of each individual conflict and, above all, how the central conflict actors are involved in the conflict, he said.

Remembering and coming to terms with the consequences for the victims of war and violence and the responsibility of the perpetrators is an important dimension that is not only symbolically but also concretely socially and politically relevant: if approached seriously and together with those affected, it is an indispensable component of peace solutions. However, remembrance can also be instrumentalized in the politics of history in order to prevent a peace solution and undermine an actual reappraisal of violence and its consequences. Deborah Hartmann, Director of the House of the Wannsee Conference, Kateryna Mishchenko, who coordinates a Ukraine program of the Federal Agency for Civic Education, and Emran Elmazi, who heads the Education Forum against Antiziganism, then discussed this issue.

In the afternoon, the more than 150 participants were able to learn more and exchange ideas on a decolonial city tour in the nearby “African Quarter” and in workshops: from remembrance in the post-migrant societies in Europe, right-wing extremist historical narratives, inclusive remembrance of the “euthanasia” murders and the genocide of Sinti* and Roma* in Europe, the consequences of the terror of October 7, to the difficult culture of remembrance and the mechanisms of repression under the authoritarian conditions in Russia.

As every year, the weekend ended with the ASF general meeting. The members discussed the activities of the past year, the financial security of the work as well as the political consequences of the shift to the right in the USA and other countries and the prospects for the volunteer programs in Israel and Eastern Europe.