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CONTENTS: 

MEMORY ISSUES IN THE NEWS
Vatican Ambassador Reverses Plans to Boycott Holocaust Memorial Service
Violence Erupts in Russia and Estonia Over Re-located War Monument
Delayed Auschwitz Exhibit Strains Russian-Polish Relations

FEATURED PROGRAMS
Monte Sole Peace School "Peace in 4 Voices" Camps - Monte Sole, Italy
Girls Leadership Workshop, Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill - Hyde Park, NY, US
Dialogue on Civil Rights Issues Flourishes Around Inaugural Baseball Game - Memphis, TN, US

EXCHANGING SITES OF CONSCIENCE PRACTICES: CONFERENCES & WORKSHOPS
Memorialization and Democracy: State Policy and Civic Action - Santiago, Chile

NEW INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, San Francisco, CA, US
Museum of Free Derry, Derry, Northern Ireland

COMING INTO SITE
Colectivo Londres 38, Santiago, Chile

Vatican Ambassador Reverses Plans to Boycott Holocaust Memorial Service
 
A caption to a photograph of Pope Pius XII at Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial has threatened fragile relations between the Israeli museum and the Vatican. The caption criticized the Pope's neutrality during World War II and his refusal to speak out against the Holocaust. Amidst current efforts within the Roman Catholic Church to beatify the former Pope, the Vatican ambassador to Israel announced that he would not attend the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day state ceremony at Yad Vashem as a sign of his protest, but reversed the decision several days later.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070415-0558-israel-vatican-holocaust.html

Violence Erupts in Russia and Estonia Over Re-located War Monument
 
Diplomatic tensions between Estonia and Russia over the removal of the Bronze Soldier, a controversial Soviet-era statue, from a square near Tallinn's Old Town escalated into violent protests and riots, spurring Estonian officials to reinstall the statue in a military cemetery away from the city center. Russian delegates said they were not allowed to visit the old site where Estonia is unearthing coffins of Soviet war dead. Estonian officials have protested over an alleged blockade of its Moscow embassy and have accused Russian hackers of shutting down government websites, while a Russian state rail company announced that it would undertake repairs on its lines to Estonia, effectively interrupting the shipment of oil to the country's Baltic Sea ports.
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E13FB3B5A0C708CDDAC0894DF404482
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6611515.stm

Delayed Auschwitz Exhibit Strains Russian-Polish Relations
 
The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, located on the site of the World War II Nazi death camp in Poland, has delayed opening a new Russian exhibition because of controversy over the display's reference to half of the Holocaust's 6 million Jewish victims as Soviet citizens. The Museum argues that this description is inaccurate, since nearly one million of the victims came from parts of Eastern Europe that were annexed under the 1939 pact between Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler, and therefore did not voluntarily embrace Soviet citizenship. The disagreement has emerged as a new irritant in relations between Russia and Poland, where resentment over Soviet Cold War domination remains strong.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/04/europe/poland.php

Monte Sole Peace School "Peace in 4 Voices" Camps - Monte Sole, Italy
(June - August, 2007)
 
Every summer, the Peace School Foundation of Monte Sole offers the "Peace in 4 Voices" camp, bringing together 40 youth (15-18 year olds) from current and past conflict regions to spend two weeks in a residential camp to learn the history of Monte Sole and conduct a series of workshops on identity and conflict resolution. Peace camps always involve four different nationalities or ethnic groups, with past camps conducted between Italians, Germans, Israelis, and Palestinians; and with Italians, Germans, Serbians, and Albanians.

The program begins with a personal stories activity that allows students to learn about one another on a personal level in terms of day-to-day life, emotions, ideas, and wishes. In small groups, students write descriptions about themselves on identity cards, which they later share in larger groups through a performance depicting their new group identity. By sharing experiences and ideas they have in common, students learn they can become part of many communities, regardless of national origin. Students also go on a hike to experience Monte Sole's natural surroundings and work together on such activities as writing a song or hunting for natural treasures, to develop group interaction and solidarity. The program also gives students the opportunity to explore issues of propaganda, education and the role of media, and gives them the task of unveiling stereotypical prejudices and visions of "the other" - people from other nations and societies.

Students present their points of view in a workshop where they can listen to the others' points of view and listen respectfully, rather than addressing their countries' current conflict directly. They do not discuss the opinion that is presented, but are made aware of the existence of other versions of a shared history. The camp workshops end with the students divided into groups of eight, reviewing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and selecting the most important rights for their group. Based on these rights, students craft an imaginary Constitution for a utopian city where they would like to live.

To learn more about the "Peace in 4 Voices" summer camp, and the work of the Peace School Foundation of Monte Sole, visit http://www.montesole.org/

Girls Leadership Workshop, Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill - Hyde Park, NY, US
(July - August, 2007)
 
Every summer since 1994, the Eleanor Roosevelt Center organizes the Girls Leadership Workshop (GLW), a set of unique 9 day international leadership sessions for 60 girls aged 14-16 from across the United States and abroad. Most of the GLW program takes place at Eleanor Roosevelt's residence in Hyde Park, New York. It was at this stone cottage that the former First Lady Roosevelt brought together people from various backgrounds to share ideas and work toward social change: there she hosted foreign dignitaries and human rights delegates who drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; urged presidential candidate John Kennedy to support civil rights legislation in the United States; held the organizing meeting for the Commission of the Status of Women; and offered summer youth programs for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Using Roosevelt's legacy of social activism at Val-Kill as a springboard, the GLW program offers participants over 60 organized presentations, workshops, interactive workshops, field trips, and other activities. Girls meet inspiring female role models, such as senior women at the United Nations, and receive professional training in specific leadership skills including public speaking, goal setting, self-image and sexuality, conflict resolution and team building. Workshops focus on applying to college, social justice, women in politics, international diplomacy, women's history, challenging bias, and other relevant issues. Community service projects that address domestic violence, care for older persons, and children's rights are an integral part of the program, and girls also visit the New York State Capitol building to learn about civic activism and how to lobby government officials. To learn more about this dynamic program, visit http://www.ervk.org/glw/

Dialogue on Civil Rights Issues Flourishes Around Inaugural Baseball Game - Memphis, TN, US
(March 31, 2007)
 
On March 31, Major League Baseball staged its inaugural Civil Rights Game between the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians. Designed to commemorate the civil rights movement and to honor Major League Baseball's support for the rights of African Americans as well as a sport that supported racial integration nearly a decade before US public schools and universities, the game was played just blocks away from the National Civil Rights Museum, the site of the converted Lorraine Motel where civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

To complement the game, the Museum organized a program of celebratory and educational events that highlighted different perspectives on and contributions to both historic and contemporary struggles for civil rights. The program included a tribute luncheon to the accomplishments of prominent African-American filmmakers, sports legends and role models, and a roundtable discussion on "Baseball and the Civil Rights Movement." Moderated by Charles Ogletree, a Harvard Law School professor and expert on race and justice, the discussion brought together a diverse set of voices, including those of athletes, executives, journalists and academics, while Museum representatives spoke about the potential of baseball to engage the public in dialogue on civil rights issues. More information on the Civil Rights Game can be found at http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061204&content_id=1750068&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb For more on related programs at the National Civil Rights Museum visit http://sitesofconscience.org/eng/civilrights.htm

Memorialization and Democracy: State Policy and Civic Action - Santiago, Chile
(June 20 - 22, 2007)
 
The International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience, the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLASCO-Chile), and the International Center for Transitional Justice, in cooperation with the Ministerio de Bienes Nacionales, will host a global conference on memory and human rights in Chile to develop the first set of policy recommendations for how nations and communities can create memorials that support social reconstruction and democracy-building. The three-day conference will bring together grassroots victims' groups, representatives of diverse government ministries, Truth Commissioners, and others from Chile, Morocco, South Africa, South Asia, Russia, and around the world to identify how they can work together to harness the power of memory sites to promote a lasting culture of human rights. Full descriptions of the conference can be downloaded in both English and Spanish. Institutional Members of the Coalition who are interested in attending the conference should contact memorials@flacso.cl

Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, San Francisco, CA, US
 
The mission of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) is to promote a greater understanding of Pacific Coast immigration and its role in shaping America's past, present and future. Between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, millions of people came to America in pursuit of more freedom and a better life. On the east coast, most of the huddled masses were met by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. On the west coast, between 1910 and 1940, most were met by the wooden buildings of Angel Island. These immigrants were Australians and New Zealanders, Canadians, Mexicans, Central and South Americans, Russians, and, in particular, Asians. The AIISF is a nonprofit partner of California State Parks and the U.S. National Park Service in the effort to preserve, restore and interpret this historic immigration station.

In addition to partnering with others on planning and raising funds for preservation work, AIISF's programming has included bringing the messages of Angel Island Immigration Station to the public both on and off the island. AIISF's educational outreach explores themes of inclusion, exclusion, and the American immigrant identity. Programming has included: an oral history project; National Archives workshops on researching family history; teacher professional development programs using AIISF's curriculum guide on the Angel Island immigration experience; and public discussion forums on contemporary immigration issues. For more information on AIISF, visit http://www.aiisf.org/

Museum of Free Derry, Derry, Northern Ireland
 
On Sunday January 30, 1972, in an incident known as Bloody Sunday, British paratroopers killed 14 people and wounded 14 others after a peaceful civil rights march in the Bogside area of Derry. Glenfada Park, in the heart of the Bogside, lies on the "killing line" of Bloody Sunday. Four of the 14 men murdered that day were shot directly in front of or beside a block of flats facing the carpark. One of the men, James Wray, was trying to make his way to his grandparents' home in these flats when he was killed. The once derelict building, which still carries the last remaining bullet marks from that day, became the subject of a preservation order during the course of the recent Bloody Sunday Inquiry.

Now officially open to the public, the Museum of Free Derry is housed in the renovated flats in Glenfada Park, which symbolize the link between modern refurbished Bogside to the older Bogside neighborhood where horrendous social conditions inspired the civil rights movement in the north of Ireland. The Museum covers the entire period of the national movement, with reference to its international context, and the onset of the troubles in Ireland leading up to the Bloody Sunday massacre and the British army invasion of Free Derry in July 1972. At the Museum launch in January, former Guantanamo Bay internee Moazzem Begg joined former internees from the north of Ireland to discuss how imprisonment and torture techniques that were once practiced in the north of Ireland are now being used by the American government. For further information on the Museum of Free Derry, please visit http://www.museumoffreederry.org/

Colectivo Londres 38, Santiago, Chile

Located in the heart of downtown Santiago, the building at 38 London St. was the first link in a chain of sites of brutal torture and detention used by the Direction of National Intelligence (DINA), the Chilean secret police under Augusto Pinochet's government. The building originally housed the Socialist Party of Chile until the coup d'etat of September 11, 1973. It was converted into a clandestine detention center by DINA and served as the place from which a state-wide policy of systematic kidnappings and disappearances of citizens - many of whom were political prisoners - was first initiated. An estimated 1,100 people passed through 38 London St., which was also known as "The House of Terror" or "The House of Bells," because of the sounds of bells from the neighboring church. In 1978, the building was transferred to the O'Higginiano Institute, changed its address to 40 London St., and became the offices of the Chilean Army.

Never before or after the 17 years of military dictatorship were so many people detained and executed in one repressive campaign within the city limits. Today it is one of the few centers to remain intact, making it a powerful resource for the recovery of memory. Colectivo Londres 38 (The Collective of 38 London St.), a group of survivors, relatives and friends of missing and/or executed prisoners, has developed a web resource for the site, and is now working to preserve the building as a site of memory. To learn more about Colectivo Londres 38, visit http://www.londres38.cl/principal.htm

We welcome your feedback! To submit comments or suggestions, receive a text-only version, or update your e-mail address, please contact coalition@tenement.org
 
Matters of Conscience is supported in part by the Ford Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, National Endowment for Democracy, Open Society Institute and Samuel Rubin Foundation.