Dissapeared people's names @ Parque de la memoria (Photo / Lautaro Aránguiz)
“As countries start to reflect on the effects of terror there are different modes of collective memory that are allowed: some societies are allowed to own their memories, but for others, memory is placed as something foreign or alien,” said Daniel Feierstein, director of the Centre for Genocide Studies from the National University of Tres de Febrero, speaking at a conference organised by The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation called ‘Memory, Justice, Truth and Reparations in Argentina’ in Buenos Aires in April 2010.
The conference brought together experts from across Argentina – federal judges, forensic anthropologists, human rights leaders, journalists and writers – to speak about the struggle to reclaim memories of the 1976-83 dictatorship in the country, during which an estimated 30,000 people were ‘disappeared’ by the the military government without a trace.
In the aftermath of a tragedy it is a human instinct to focus on memory as a way of helping society understand the truth and securing justice for victims. Constructing collective memory is a complicated and dynamic process that is determined by individual and societal desires to interpret the past in a way that is meaningful in the present and future. Collective memory is never an exact mirror of the past as multiple parties present their version of events depending on their individual goals and desires. In Argentina social acceptance of what should and should not be remembered has changed over time.
Memories of the Dictatorship
Immediately following the end of the dictatorship a narrative focused on human rights became the overriding symbol of the transition to democracy. During the regime the demand to know what had happened to the disappeared mostly came from those who were directly affected. Following the crisis at the end of the dictatorship a much larger portion of society demanded the truth.
In response Raúl Alfonsín, the first democratically elected president after the end of the dictatorship, took action to establish who the perpetrators were and who were the victims. In 1983 he formed the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP) and in 1984 they published their report ‘Nunca Más’ (Never Again). Its purpose was not to determine responsibility, but to deliver an unbiased chronicle of events and to pass information to the courts, where it appeared crimes had been committed. In the original prologue (another version was written in later years, but the original is always included) Ernesto Sabato wrote: “Although it must be justice which has the final word, we cannot remain silent in the face of all that we have heard, read and recorded.”
Banner of the disappeared on March 24 commemoration (Photo/Beatrice Murch)
Mass violence and political repression has occurred in many other nations in Latin America and around the world. But strikingly for Argentina a move to democracy was not underpinned by a former dictatorial regime that accepted responsibility for its actions.
Members of the former regime stuck to the assertion that they were fighting a force that threatened social order. This assumption was further supported by President Carlos Menem (1989-99). When Menem came to power he maintained that forgiveness of the the crimes of the dictatorship was the only way towards societal reconciliation. He granted pardons to many of the dictatorship’s infamous leaders, including Jorge Rafael Videla and Leopoldo Galtieri. These laws of impunity challenged the collective memory. If members of the army and the navy were not responsible, should society just forget what had happened and move on?
It was not until the government of Nestor Kirchner that a different ideology of the past was legitimised. His government was a turning point for the numerous organisations in Argentina who were fighting to have their memories of the dictatorship recognised. In 2003 Kirchner repealed the amnesty laws and opened the door for prosecutions of former members of the regime. He also established the 24th March as ‘El Dia de la Memoria’. This was the first time in 20 years that the national government became involved in the demands against the dictatorship. The quest for constructing a collective memory that includes information about the disappeared children and grandchildren had existed since the beginning of the dictatorship, but under Kirchner it was given official recognition.
Why is Memory so Important?
In the Argentine case organising and promoting memories of the dictatorship is important for two reasons: to enable justice to be done and to ensure that what occurred during the dictatorship is never repeated.
Speaking at the conference, Estela de Carlotto, head of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo spoke passionately about ensuring that history does not repeat itself: “We must not lose our memories, so that those who come after us, even if we are not here, can help them find their siblings and families. We most not lose our memories so that this never happens again. Those who killed our children have not repented, they say that they did the right thing and would do it again.” She also pointed out that Argentine democracy was still young: “We don’t have a well developed democracy. Only 26 years of a stable period which we need to preserve and defend with memory.”
The construction of memory is considered a process in the fight for justice. When the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo discover a missing grandchild they often also discover a person or people responsible for the illegal adoption. The construction of memory has been critical to the justice system in Argentina. Supporting the justice system are the human rights groups who have fought to uncover the truth.
Sculpture at Parque de la Memoria (Photo/Lautaro Aránguiz)
Memoria Abierta (Open Memory) was founded in 1999 and is a collection of human rights organisations working together to raise awareness about the dictatorship. The primary objective of this collective is to make accessible documentation of the dictatorship for the purposes of future research and education. Its ultimate goal is to enrich the process of constructing collective memory.
The Power of Place
Often, a collective trauma is remembered though the creation of a space that asks the world not to forget: Argentina is no exception. In fact, walking around the streets of any major Argentine city you are likely to stumble across a park, a building, graffiti on a wall or a plaque on the pavement, dedicated to the memory of the dictatorship. The International Coalition of Site of Conscience writes in its publication ‘the Power of Place’ that: “Around the world, people instinctively turn to places of memory to come to terms with the past and chart a course for the future. From makeshift roadside memorials to official commemorations, millions of people around the world gather at places of memory looking for healing, reconciliation and insight on how to move forward. Memory is a critical language and terrain of human rights.”
Sculpture at Parque de la Memoria (Photo/Lautaro Aránguiz)
The creation of a national museum of memory at Navy Petty-Officers School of Mechanics (ESMA), where one of the most notorious clandestine detention centres was based during the dictatorship, has been a long and complicated fight. Since 1984, various human rights groups have been campaigning to reclaim the site. It was not until the presidency of Nestor Kirchner that they started to achieve some success. In 2001 a law was passed that designated ESMA as the site of a future museum, but even today the site is still not open on a regular basis to the general public.
Creating this memorial museum has been a prolonged process both because of resistance from those who do not want to make public what occurred at ESMA, and because of difficulty in reconciling disparate views among human rights groups about how the space should be used. But Eduardo Jozami, president of the Haroldo Conti Memory Cultural Centre said that producing a unified narrative of the dictatorship is not the goal. “It is important to remember too that not all human rights activists share the same view,” he said. “A single narrative doesn’t help the construction of memory.”
Argentines have now begun to create memorial sites to commemorate injustices beyond the dictatorship, plastering the streets with plaques commemorating where individuals died as the result of police repression, not in 1976, but in 2001 during the country’s economic meltdown.
Victim’s families have created a memory site next to the Cromañon nightclub in the Once neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, where 194 people died in a fire in 2004. Like the relatives of the disappeared they not only want justice (the former owner was sentenced to 20 years), but to ensure that the tragedy remains in the public’s consciousness. Lucas Manuel Bietti, author of the blog Collective Memory Project said: “In both cases, processes of remembrance and commemoration are mediated and performed by massive demonstrations, memorials, large presence in the press, and even a Plaza de la Memoria (Square of Memory). They also share the same ultimate goal: the search for justice.”
The relatives of members of the military killed by left-wing armed organisations during the dictatorship have also embraced the transformation of places to enable memory. Bietti, comments: “The streets of Buenos Aires seem to be a natural lab in which different representations of the traumatic past try to occupy (and monopolise) the public landscape. Sometimes these representations of the dictatorship can be thought of as real collective memories in conflict. The supporters of the military regime have their own ‘collective memories’ of the period of dictatorship and the political violence. As no one could argue that those shared representations are less accurate than those conveyed by the victims of the dictatorship, they need to be treated as real memories as well.”
The ‘official history’ only partially deals with memory, justice and truth. We invite you to remember these events of our history… (Photo/Lucas Bietti)
Not Where, But How to Remember: The Role of Art and LIterature
It is not just through physical places that Argentines have recovered their past. In her autobiographical book ‘The Rabbit House’, Laura Alcoba recounts her memories of the dictatorship: “I promised myself that I would tell the story one day, but the time never seemed right. Safe at last and many miles and years from those terrible times, suddenly I can’t bare to wait any longer. I want to recall and record that particular Argentine insanity and all the innocent people destroyed by its violence. Not only because I think about the dead all the time, but because I know the survivors must never be forgotten. I have become convinced of how important it is to remember them.”
Photography has also emerged as a powerful medium in which to expose the events of the past and enable their memories to become a reality of the present. Gustavo Germano, whose brother Eduardo Raul Germano was disappeared during the dictatorship, has produced a powerful photography exhibition called ‘Absences’. This exhibition has toured the world since 2007 and poignantly represents the impact on families from the disappearances of loved ones. He takes a picture of a family gathering that includes the disappeared person and then reconstructs the image, using the same people and similar backgrounds, but with the obvious and chilling omission of the disappeared person.
‘The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting’ – Milan Kundera
The process of reconstructing collective memory is a complicated matter and it is by no means exclusive to Argentina. Nevertheless, the Argentine experience is of particular note due to its stops and starts. The importance of allowing collective memories to exist and flourish is clear. Patricia Tapatá, director of Memoria Abierta said: “The past of Argentina affects the structure of the democratic present.” Memory alone cannot succeed in achieving justice for the 30,000 disappeared during the dictatorship (or all the other wrongful deaths), but the reconstruction of memory is a process, a beginning that will support the continued fight for justice.
Thank you, Vicky, for such a detailed and thoughtful article. Your commitment is a boon to our cause.
Please don’t buy into the lies and propaganda of the Argentine left!!! The disappeared were much less than 30000. As a matter of fact, the original CONADEP list contained about 8000 names, which is nowhere near 30000!! That is a lie made up by the so-called ‘human rights’ organization, Madres de Plaza de Mayo.. There’s no real evidence to back it up. Many of the alleged ‘disappeared’ were found alive and well in other parts of the world.. and some of them went on to become public officials, judges, etc.. In your article, you also mention that Menem granted pardons to many of the dictatorship’s leaders, but you forgot that those pardons also extended to the left-wing terrorists, the infamous Montoneros.. See, I’m all for a complete memory, not a selective one
Well Daniel, you shouldn’t buy into the propaganda of the Argentine (far) right, that has been trying to convince everyone that the military were justified to do what they did (a genocide) because they were dealing with Terrorists. You mention CONADEP, and in the very opening of their Nunca Más report, Ernesto Sábato (the Commission’s head) says “Argentina was not the only country to deal with terrorists, Italy did it without ignoring the Rule of Law”.
And the figures stated never meant to be final. I haven’t got a copy right here but I believe this is clarified at some point in the book.
On top of that, 70% of the victims were not related to armed organizations, but were rather social, union or student activists that may have supported Montoneros or ERP, but were not related to them or their actions whatsoever. They were targeted because of their “subversive ideas” and this was acknowledged by the Military themselves (“a subversive is anyone who try to change a country’s way of life, be it by arms or any other means”, one of the them said)
There’s no serious research -be it made by foreigner or Argentine- that doesn’t call the Military strategy an unjustified bloodbath. Go to Marcos Novaro and Vicente Palermo’s volume on the Military dictatorship or BA Herald former editor Robert Cox’s memories and you’ll see that. None of them can be call leftwinger (Novaro writes for Conservative La Nación). And both acknowledge the value of the “so-called Human Rights organizations” you mention.
Thank you Conrad for your insight.
Daniel: 8.000 or 30.000 – what is the difference? The military dictatorship in power killed a number of its own citizens – a number that is agreed to be well into the thousands. Would 8.000 dead and disappeared be somehow fine? That is what you appear to be saying, and frankly it appalls me. Please don’t try to justify the unjustifiable.
“Well Daniel, you shouldn’t buy into the propaganda of the Argentine (far) right, that has been trying to convince everyone that the military were justified to do what they did (a genocide) because they were dealing with Terrorists.”
Yes, those people you mention were against the dictatorship, but aside from that, I can’t find any source that confirms they are in favor of Madres de Plaza de Mayo or that they agree with their agenda… Regardless, I don’t need the opinion of others to realize what that organization really is… Thankfully, I can think for myself and draw my own conclusions.
In case you were not aware, Mrs. Bonafini is notorious for being a huge supporter of terrorist groups and undemocratic regimes around the world… She has expressed support for ETA, FARC, Hamas, Al Qaeda, etc on numerous occasions as well as being a staunch defender of left-wing dictatorships and islamo-fascist regimes, such as Cuba’s, Iran’s, etc… She and the other ‘madres’ also made the headlines back in 2001 after celebrating the terrorist attacks of 9-11.. So much for the defense of ‘human rights’… 
I’m not buying into any propaganda.. The fact that I am critical of the Argentine left and don’t believe all their lies does not mean I am a right wing advocate, as you seem to suggest.. That thinking is very typical of the Argentine left: anyone who dares question what we say is a dictatorship supporter, an ‘oligarch’, a ‘gorila’, etc etc etc.. Sorry but that horse has been beaten too many times..
I never said that everything the military dictatorship did was justified.. Please don’t put words in my mouth.. What I’m trying to say is that the other side (the left-wing terrorists) were no better… Is it clear now?
“You mention CONADEP, and in the very opening of their Nunca Más report, Ernesto Sábato (the Commission’s head) says “Argentina was not the only country to deal with terrorists, Italy did it without ignoring the Rule of Law”.”
Well… Spain and Chile also had right-wing dictatorships and left-wing terrorists but they chose to pardon both sides since they acknowledged that both had commited crimes and therefore deserved equal treatment… unlike Argentina which hipocrytically carried out a witch hunt on one side while completely pardoning the other… Perhaps someone should inform Mr. Sabato that the Rule of Law also embodies the principle of equal treatment under the law
“And the figures stated never meant to be final. I haven’t got a copy right here but I believe this is clarified at some point in the book.”
As I said, the original CONADEP list contained about 8000 ‘disappeared’ (please note that it was made by left-wing people, no right-wingers there). Those are the only DOCUMENTED cases. That being said, the ‘human rights’ organizations ‘Madres and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo’ gradually kept increasing the number of the ‘disappeared’ till reaching the 30000 figure they claim today.. yet NEVER provided ANY evidence whatsoever to back up their claim… So, why should we take everything they say as gospel truth? Just because they are a far left organization and being far left has become fashionable? Unfortunately, it seems many people are already so brainwashed by the left that they blindly take any propaganda that comes from these organizations as the ultimate truth… I’m sorry to say, but you seem to be one of those people…
The REAL number of ‘disappeared’ was much less than 30000, period. That figure is a LIE made up by certain groups with a self-serving agenda, and no evidence has ever been presented to support it, whether you’re willing to accept it or not..
Maybe you should take a look at what Graciela Fernandez Meijide has to say about the subject:
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=340843&CategoryId=14093
“Fernandez Meijide, who held the Social Development portfolio in the 1999-2001 administration of Fernando de la Rua, asked “by what right people speak of 30,000 disappeared” when a 1984 truth commission – on which she served – documented only 9,000 instances of people who went missing after being seized by the government.
The controversial remarks came in an interview with Buenos Aires daily Clarin about the publication of her book, “La historia íntima de los derechos humanos en Argentina” (The Intimate History of Human Rights in Argentina).
The book marks the first time Fernandez Meijide has written about her son’s abduction and disappearance under the dictatorship.”
Fernandez Meijide took part in the 1984 truth commission and was one of the authors of the ‘Nunca Mas’ report that you mentioned.. Also, she has a disappeared son herself.. She can hardly be called a ‘right-winger’, don’t you agree?
Besides, it’s worth noting that even some of the alleged ‘disappeared’ who were on the original list curiously reappeared alive and well, and a few even went on to become public officials appointed by the current government.. Supreme Court Judge Argibay and General Prosecutor Esteban Righi are just two examples that come to mind… There were many more who were found alive and well in other parts of the world… I can’t recall all their names right now, but you can look it up.. I personally do remember one case involving a ‘disappeared’ who was discovered in Israel after surviving a terrorist bombing … Interesting, huh?
“On top of that, 70% of the victims were not related to armed organizations, but were rather social, union or student activists that may have supported Montoneros or ERP, but were not related to them or their actions whatsoever. They were targeted because of their “subversive ideas” and this was acknowledged by the Military themselves (“a subversive is anyone who try to change a country’s way of life, be it by arms or any other means”, one of the them said)”
I didn’t say ALL the disappeared were directly involved in terrorist activities, but many of them were. This is an undeniable fact. That said, I think those who supported Montoneros or ERP were no angels, either. Bear in mind that those guerrilla groups were not only made up of their members but also relied on extensive support networks.
“There’s no serious research -be it made by foreigner or Argentine- that doesn’t call the Military strategy an unjustified bloodbath.”
Yes, what the military did was unjustified, but you seem to forget that the bloodbath was started by the left-wing terrorists, not by the military… Montoneros and ERP, among others, were already murdering, kidnapping, bombing, etc long before the military took power. And that was far from justified… Any serious researcher would acknowledge that, as well…
Please take a look at the crimes commited by the guerrilla groups:
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/terrorism/montoneros.htm
The leftist guerrillas started carrying out their terrorist activities in the beginning of the 70′s, that was long before the 1976 coup… But some people conveniently forget this. Why is that?
Furthermore, the fact that the left only talks about the disappeared as if they were the only victims of the Dirty War says a lot about themselves and their ‘collective memory’… What about the many victims of left-wing terrorism?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_War
“According to the International Congress for Victims of Terrorism, there were 16,000 victims of left-wing terrorism (killings, woundings and abductions) in Argentina,[20] including civilians and military personnel.”
When are all those victims and their families going to find justice? How come the left never says a word about them? Well, I guess that according to their warped concept of justice, victims only count when they are leftists… It’s obvious that for these people, justice is such as long as it serves their interests, which in this case were about revenging the death of their comrades. Yes, the left got what they wanted… They started a witchhunt on the military and managed to get them punished, but what about their own crimes? When are the left-wing terrorists going to be punished? The fact that these were completely pardoned clearly shows the hypocrisy and double standards that have been applied to the Dirty War … Let’s call a spade a spade, what was accomplished here was NOT justice… It was just the revenge of one side over the other. This should be evident to any person with a sense of fairness and objectivity…
“Go to Marcos Novaro and Vicente Palermo’s volume on the Military dictatorship or BA Herald former editor Robert Cox’s memories and you’ll see that. None of them can be call leftwinger (Novaro writes for Conservative La Nación). And both acknowledge the value of the “so-called Human Rights organizations” you mention.”
So basically, you’re telling me that Madres de Plaza de Mayo have to be a human rights organization because so and so says it.. Now THAT is an argument
Madres de Plaza de Mayo are a lobby for the far left, as simple as that. Calling them a human rights organization would be a blatant euphemism. They may disguise themselves under the banner of human rights, but their agenda belies them… And with a leader like Hebe de Bonafini, there should be no room for doubt… Do you think any serious organization commited to human rights would have such a hate-mongering bigot as leader?
I don’t understand how anyone could sympathize with Madres de Plaza de Mayo, unless of course they are far left loons.. Those women have made of their bigotry and intolerance the organization’s trademark. Their hate-filled speech and advocacy of violence and terrorism are simply revolting… And then they have the nerve to lecture us on justice, memory, human rights… I cringe every time I hear them pronounce those words… They’ve clearly appropriated them for themselves and bastardized them to suit their agenda.. Sad, isn’t it? Not to mention how they refuse to acknowledge the victims of left-wing terrorism… But hey, they even fail to recognize that the guerrillas were terrorists… Acording to them, they were just ‘youngsters full of ideals’… Yeah right… Looks like some peoples ‘collective memory’ is indeed a pretty twisted and delusional one
“Daniel: 8.000 or 30.000 – what is the difference? The military dictatorship in power killed a number of its own citizens – a number that is agreed to be well into the thousands. Would 8.000 dead and disappeared be somehow fine? That is what you appear to be saying, and frankly it appalls me. Please don’t try to justify the unjustifiable.”
Maria Ines,
What baffles me most about your response is that when faced with the fact that the left is lying about the number of disappeared the best you can come up with is to ask what is the difference!! Well, I think it makes a HUGE difference!!! Especially if we consider that the people that are lying are the same ones who then proclaim themselves the owners of the truth, justice and memory… Now YOU tell ME, what moral authority do these people have to talk about those things when they are clearly the biggest liars? But as you said, 8000 or 30000 disappeared mean the same to you, so the left can keep on lying about it and you won’t care. You’re totally fine with that…
Also, where did I say that 8000 disappeared were fine? You’re obviously twisting my words in an attempt to make me look bad and thus discredit my argument.. As evidenced by your post, you’re willing to resort to any nonsense just to defend the left and cover their lies. Somehow, I get the impression that it is hearing the truth what really ‘appalls’ you..
“Please don’t try to justify the unjustifiable.”
I think you’d do well to take your own advice.