Memorial Day Research Articles

Leadership and curriculum: embedding teaching and learning about the holocaust in schools in Scotland

ABSTRACT Unlike in England, where the Holocaust has been a compulsory part of the history curriculum for Key Stage 3 since 1991, the Holocaust is not mandatory in the Scottish curriculum. Therefore, Teaching and Learning about the Holocaust (TLH) in Scotland relies on the commitment of individual teachers and/or schools. Factors that impact TLH in Scotland are the Citizenship and Equalities priorities within its flexible curriculum that encourages Interdisciplinary Learning (IDL), annual commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day, and teacher and pupil participation (since 2007) in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project (LFA). This paper identifies approaches to embedding TLH in mainstream secondary schools in Scotland accredited by the Vision School Scotland (VSS) programme and presents evidence drawn from online application documentation from successful schools in this programme which were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings were that leadership from staff and pupils is significant to its delivery and that while Nazi antisemitism is included in TLH programmes, contemporary antisemitism is largely not taught or discussed at a class or school level. This has practical implications for schools aiming to develop ‘best practices’ in delivering TLH.

Recognising mental health challenges and barriers to treatment among veterans in the UK

Ahead of Remembrance Day, Samuel Thompson outlines the incidence of mental health issues among veterans, the barriers they encounter when accessing care and routes to receiving treatment.

A szlovákiai magyarság történetének reprezentációja a szlovákiai alapiskolai történelemtankönyvekben

Representation of the History of the Hungarian Minority in Slovakia in Slovak Primary School History Textbooks In the past two decades, Gyula Popély, Attila Simon, László Szarka, Árpád Popély, Gergely Sallai, József Gyönyör and Katalin Vadkerty have written numerous summaries on the history of Hungarians in Slovakia, but what is less known is what children learn about this period sitting in the classroom. What can Hungarian students in Slovakia learn about their history from the textbooks, so that they can develop and shape their image of Hungarianness and form an emotional attachment to their nation, which could greatly contribute to halting the assimilation process that is affecting Hungarians in Slovakia. Of course, in addition to the school, the values conveyed by the family and home environment, society and culture are also decisive (e.g. commemorating the anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon or the day of remembrance of the Hungarians expelled from southern Slovakia). Since the school is the main source of such impact, we chose to study how our own history is reflected in history textbooks, and so we based our research on history textbooks for primary schools in Slovakia. Unfortunately, however, we do not know what other important events and additions, apart from the information in the textbooks, are mentioned in the lessons by the teachers who teach history. To explore this further, a comprehensive questionnaire survey of history teachers in primary schools in Slovakia would be needed, so in our study we have made observations and drawn conclusions only on the basis of the history textbooks analysed.

Srebrenica as a Marker of Memory in Bilateral Relations Between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Light of Ontological Security

Abstract This article aims to analyze the impact of memory on security/foreign policy using the example of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s bilateral relations. The basis for these considerations is the concept of ontological security. It indicates the construction of the identity of the state and is implemented through political decisions and social practices (for example remembering important historical events). Here, memory is treated as a social construct. In addition, the article focuses on memory leading to the formation of state identity, also seen in the international sphere. Historical memory has a considerable impact on bilateral relations between countries that used to be in conflict, like Serbia and BiH. In the example analyzed, leaders use historical memory to create separate identities, commemorate chosen and appropriate victims/heroes or important dates, historical sites, monuments events and develop selective narratives. The most significant elements in the analysis of the historical memory of Serbia and BiH relations are (1) the goals of foreign and security policy of Serbia and BiH (2) the contemporary narrative of the Srebrenica genocide and its perception by governments of Serbia, BiH, and by Bosnian Serbs and Bosniaks, and (3) an official Srebrenica commemoration (memorials, Srebrenica Memorial Day).

Поминальная традиция южных коми

The paper, based on materials collected during field research in the Luza region of the Komi Republic, considers local features of the memorial rituals of the Letka Komi. The memorial cycle includes individual commemorations on the third, ninth, twentieth, fortieth days, half a year and anniversary, name day, the birthday of the deceased, and the day of death. Modern tradition also includes visits to the cemetery by family members of the deceased the next day and on the first Saturday after the burial. Special calendar memorial days include Maslenitsa (meat-free) Saturday Maslenich Suböt, Radonitsa Radulnich, Trinity Saturday Ströcha Suböt, Pokrovskaya Pökröv Suböt, and Dmitrievskaya Mithrey Suböt, parental Saturdays; the day of remembrance of the dead soldiers on May 9. The memorial rituals of the Letka Komi, despite the simplification of a number of ritual actions and the change in the composition of the participants in the memorial services, include such specific features as the custom of kylzysöm ‘listening’, commemoration of ancestors under a growing tree, covering a gravestone with a towel kodrasyan chyshköd ‘memorial towel’ during a memorial meal; ideas about special periods of time kyk suböt kost ‘between two memorial Saturdays’, between Radunitsa and Trinity Saturday, Pokrovskaya and Dmitrievskaya Saturdays, and the associated complex of household and ritual prohibitions.

Visible and Invisible: Tokening the Memory of the Holocaust in Fascist Concentration Camps

ABSTRACT This article explores commemorative plaques at former fascist concentration camps in Italy, focusing on how they reflect the memory of the Holocaust. Using lexical analysis to rank word frequency, the study identifies four narrative modes: Culpabilisation, Heroisation, Victimisation, and Redemption. Before the establishment of Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2000, plaques predominantly highlighted the Italian Resistance against Nazis, with minimal acknowledgement of the Holocaust. Although there has been a shift towards recognising the Holocaust since Law 211, the Resistance narrative remains central. Fascism is rarely mentioned, indicating a tendency to downplay Italy’s fascist past and its Nazi alliance. While these plaques meet legal requirements for remembrance, they often lack historical accuracy, focus on local events, and prioritise heroism over the recognition of atrocities and their perpetrators.

Buffalo Bayou Watershed Near Katy Flood Analysis

Buffalo Bayou, originating near Katy, Texas, is a vital watercourse within the Houston metropolitan area, traversing diverse urban, suburban, and rural landscapes. This paper investigates the flood mechanisms impacting the Buffalo Bayou watershed, focusing on significant flood events and various flood mitigation methods. Key historical floods, such as those caused by Tropical Storm Allison (2001), the Memorial Day Flood (2015), the Tax Day Flood (2016), and Hurricane Harvey (2017), underscore the region’s vulnerability to intense rainfall and storm systems. By examining a 20-year period of daily streamflow and climate data, this study employs the bucket model to simulate long-term discharge and predict flood occurrences. The results highlight the critical need for effective flood mitigation strategies, including the use of reservoirs, green infrastructure, and infrastructure improvements. The study aims to enhance flood management practices and community resilience within the Buffalo Bayou watershed, offering insights into the dynamic interplay between natural hydrological processes and human interventions.

Re‐evaluating the impact of collective victimhood on conflict attitudes: Results from a natural experiment, a survey experiment, and panel study using Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day

AbstractA significant observational literature identifies a link between collective victimhood and conflict‐enhancing attitudes, though results from experimental work increasing victimhood's salience vary. This article thus revisits this question in two studies in a context in which increased salience is especially likely to shift attitudes. Study 1 exploits the happenstance fielding of 12 surveys over Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day between 1979 and 2021. Using all 192 available estimates assessing hawkishness, preferences for out‐group exclusion, and in‐group solidarity, it fails to detect statistically significant effects of a state‐led effort to increase the salience of Israel's collective victimhood narrative in a natural setting 90% of the time. Study 2 replicates the null findings across multiple comparisons and outcomes in a companion harmonized panel and survey experiment. Substantively, the findings suggest that it may be harder to use short‐term manipulations of collective victimhood to shift attitudes than often assumed.

Law as a tool of collective memory formation: A study of Ukrainian “decommunisation laws”

Among several issues with Ukrainian collective memory of its Communist period, this study specifically addressed the one of lack of a coherent approach to the formation of such memory. The purpose of this study was to identify whether the “decommunisation laws”, adopted in 2015, provided Ukrainian memory entrepreneurs with sufficiently robust tools to build a politics of memory that would be equally applicable across the country. To this end, this study adopted the process tracing method, highlighting the case study of the drafting and adoption of the “decommunisation laws” by relevant stakeholders and the Ukrainian Parliament. Having investigated the preparatory works of these laws and their adoption, it was found that the question of centralisation played a significant role in the establishment of a coherent collective memory of Communism in Ukraine. More specifically, the fact that Members of Parliament pursued a decentralisation-driven agenda resulted in an impediment to the creation of a robust approach to Ukrainian memory of communism. It was also found that the decommunisation package granted Ukrainian memory policymakers several tools to shape the population’s memory of Communism, such as the renaming of toponyms related to Communism, opening access to the archives of the Communist regime, demolition of monuments praising Communist “heroes”, and institutionalisation of a Remembrance Day for victims of totalitarian regimes. Despite these findings, this study concluded that Ukrainian the “decommunisation laws” require a reform to achieve harmonisation considering the country’s aspirations for European integration. The findings of this study can serve as a basis for further recommendatory research on the matter of coherence in Ukrainian memory politics. Researchers might apply these findings to other events with domestically problematic memories or use them to suggest potential reforms to align Ukrainian collective memory of Communism with those of its European partners

“I Don't Have to Do That Anymore Because I Got Therapy”: Recuperated Veterans and the Complexity of Mental Health Discourse at the End of the Forever War

Memorial Day 2023 was a significant moment in twenty-first-century U.S. military history. Although U.S. service members remained deployed around the world and Operation Inherent Resolve continues to target the Islamic State (in April 2023, the U.S. military and its partners executed thirty-five missions against ISIS in Iraq and Syria alone), this year's celebrations came six weeks after the U.S. Senate repealed the two-decade-old Authorization for the Use of Military Force that had made possible the 2003 invasion of Iraq.1 It was also only the second Memorial Day since U.S. troops left Afghanistan, abruptly and somewhat disastrously, in August 2021. As a result, the holiday was arguably the first in which the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be understood as having transitioned from “current events” to events whose legacies Americans were beginning to imagine and define.

Unified in remembrance: reflections on collective war commemoration by war-affected immigrants in the Netherlands

Decades after World War II, major commemorations are still organised to collectively remember this war. Aiming for inclusive societies, the perspectives of immigrants with different war experiences are important to be heard in relation to these commemorations. Research reveals that commemorations can kindle difficult emotions such as sadness and bring distressing memories to the fore. Concurrently, psychosocial factors such as societal support and meaning making may buffer the emotional distress and contribute to a beneficial impact. It is not well known how this applies to immigrants. The present study explores how war-affected immigrants in the Netherlands relate to the Dutch Remembrance Day. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 war-affected immigrants from 8 different countries (including countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America). Qualitative analyses revealed that participants experienced multiple and mixed emotions during the Dutch Remembrance Day, including sadness, longing, and gratitude. Memories about own war experiences and losses often arose, of which the impact varied from distress to relief. The context of war in participants’ countries of origin, such as ongoing conflict or a contested history, often hindered commemoration of these wars. Through the Dutch commemoration, most war-affected immigrants experienced social connectedness and openness for (emotional) expression which contributed to dealing with their past experiences. Insights from this study may guide counsellors working with war-affected immigrants and help societies to organise optimally appealing commemorations within an inclusive society.

Milesian Rewritings of the Annunciation to the Virgin in ‘The Martyr’s Crown’ via Petronius, Dante, and Shakespeare

Reading ‘The Martyr’s Crown’ as a parody of the Biblical Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, this article presents a previously unrecognised intertextual source to which the title of Brian Nolan’s story alludes: the liturgy of the Roman Catholic mass celebrated on the memorial day of Our Lady of Sorrows. As will be shown, this liturgical source serves as a key for an additional cluster of three interrelated literary echoes in Nolan’s short story. First, ‘The Martyr’s Crown’ is discussed as an ironic rewriting of the Biblical Annunciation story via the Mock-Marian imagery featured in the Paolo and Francesca da Rimini episode of the Divina Commedia – an indecent story or fabliau inserted in Dante’s epic framework. Secondly, Nolan’s tale is examined as a rewriting of the Biblical Annunciation story via Ophelia-related passages from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Thirdly, the story is approached as a rewriting of the ancient tradition of the naughty Milesian tale, as reflected in the ‘Widow of Ephesus’ episode inserted in Petronius’s Satyricon. Within the frame of ‘The Martyr’s Crown,’ the fabliaux- and Milesian tale-inspired mockery of the Biblical Annunciation to the Virgin recurs in the embedded narrative of the widow Mrs Clougherty told by the unreliable narrator Mr Toole. Finally, the article shows how this intertextual cluster is queered in the narrative situation of ‘The Martyr’s Crown.’

Producing Truth: Public Memory Projects in Post-Violence Societies

ABSTRACT: How do societies remember historical political violence? We draw on an original dataset of more than 150 memorialization projects proposed by truth commissions in 28 post-violence countries, from 1970 to 2018. These projects include the removal of monuments, installation of museums, inauguration of national days of remembrance, and more. Truth commission recommendations data allows us to not only consider memory sites once established, but also to examine blueprints for the types of memory that could have been made. We develop a typology and inductively generate a theory of the political contests and conflicts that different memory projects are likely to trigger—contests and conflicts that we expect influence the likelihood of project initiation and completion. We conduct an initial probe of the theory using our new data. In so doing, we offer the first systematic, global study of setting and implementing the memorialization agenda in post-violence societies.

Narativi o Holokaustu i komemoracije u Srbiji i Španiji, s posebnim osvrtom na 2005. godinu

This paper aims to analyze the approach of Serbian and Spanish authorities towards Holocaust commemoration during the year 2005. During the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, there was further institutionalization of Holocaust memory by designating January 27 as the official day of remembrance on a global and European level. Adapting old forms of commemoration to new transnational frameworks brought other issues to the forefront – the memory of wars, the question of suffering of the Serbian/Spanish and Jewish people and the interpretation of the role of local fascist forces in the Holocaust.

From the Journal Editor

Haere mai! Welcome to volume 1, edition 1 of the New Zealand Journal of Health and Safety Practice! The Journal is open access and online and subscriptions are free. Although published in New Zealand we hope it will be read by workers everywhere who work in the field of health, safety and wellbeing. This edition is published at the time of International Workers' Memorial Day and the 29th anniversary of the New Zealand Cave Creek tragedy. I hope the Journal will grow to share practical, research-based knowledge that will help every worker (and visitors to workplaces) to go home physically and mentally unharmed. Much work went into the development of the Journal and I thank: the authors who spent time writing and revising the articles our anonymous reviewers who spent their time reading the submissions and making comments: you have helped set the standard for the Journal. Nik Crombie and Max Sullivan in the Victoria University of Wellington Library who helped with the backroom work and technology making the Journal free to publish. The editorial team also thanks HASANZ, Engineering New Zealand, Faculty of Asbestos Management of Australia & New Zealand, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of New Zealand, Institute of Organisational Psychology, New Zealand Institute of Safety Management, New Zealand Occupational Health Nurses Association, New Zealand Occupational Hygiene Society, New Zealand Safety Council, AVID Plus Limited and Risk Management Ltd for financial and other support to help establish the Journal. Terje Aven, a Norwegian academic, wrote that “safety science is multidisciplinary. Its contributors and its audience range from psychologists to chemical engineers”; that safety science “covers the physics and engineering of safety; its social, policy and organisational aspects; the management of risks; the effectiveness of control techniques for safety; standardization, legislation, inspection, insurance, costing aspects, human behaviour and safety and the like.” The founding organisations of NZJHSP are similarly drawn from those disciplines. A call for papers for the July 2024 edition will go out shortly. I look forward to submissions for future editions of this Journal those focused on the practice of workplace health and safety through implementing the broad subject area of safety science to help protect workers and others and achieve good work conditions. References Aven, T. (2014). What is safety science? Safety Science, 67, 15-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2013.07.026

The World Must Put Hunger to Shame: The Hidden Story of Homowo, Ngmayem and Ngma

This message calls our world to put hunger to shame using the revealed examples of Homowo and ngmayem, an original ethnic food systems in Ghana. The occurrence of hunger over the centuries can be understood from hunger’s proverbial mood. The results of hunger on humans due to its numerous causes and it associated lessons compelled early Ga-Adangbe settlers in Ghana to independently initiate the concepts of ‘Homowo’ (hoot at hunger) and ‘Ngmayem’ (celebrate life foods) as food systems. The hidden systems and basics in these unique food systems of ‘hoot at hunger’ and that of ‘celebrate life foods’ was studied. Some notable findings from the concept of ‘hoot at hunger’ involves a comprehensive layout of hooting at hunger using sustainable agriculture and the following principles: an appropriate food with or without therapeutic effect, applicable technology, basic knowledge in food and nutrition, building a suitable organizational system driven by skilled humans across several communities, by recalling historical records of hunger in society, a set day of remembrance, eating good foods all day, by the story of who we are and where we come from, with unity of purpose as a community lead by honest leaders, and also by proper symbols, designs and expressions. A remarkable outcome from ‘celebrate life foods’ norm was that it showed a notable historical record about a people, their decisions, actions, dealings and group effort in time during a hunger crisis. Once again, both concepts call for the establishment of specialized centers for advanced studies on unique food systems of old and hunger around the world with a museum chronicling the past stories of hunger challenges among a people, district, nation and the world, their probable causes and its impact on their health, and how they invented exceptional systems and products to solve those problems. All these concepts are intended to transform or strengthen food systems.

Galectin-9 and Tim-3 are upregulated in response to microglial activation induced by the peptide Amyloid-β (25–35)

Galectins are a group of β-galactoside-binding lectins associated with regulating immunological response. In the brains of AD patients and 5xFAD (familial AD) mice, galectin-3 (Gal-3) was highly upregulated and found to be expressed in microglia associated with Aβ plaques. However, the participation of other galectins, specifically galectin-9 (Gal-9) and T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3 (Tim-3) receptors, are unknown in the inflammatory response. The experimental model of the Aβ25–35 peptide will allow us to study the mechanisms of neuroinflammation and describe the changes in the expression of the Gal-9 and Tim-3 receptor. This study aimed to evaluate whether Aβ25–35 peptide administration into the lateral ventricles of rats upregulated Gal-9 and Tim-3 implicated in the modulation of neuroinflammation. The vehicle or Aβ25–35 peptide (1 μg/μL) was bilaterally administered into the lateral ventricles of the rat, and control group. After the administration of the Aβ25–35 peptide, animals were tested for learning (day 29) and spatial memory (day 30) in the novel object recognition test (NOR). On day 31, hippocampus was examined for morphological changes by Nilss stain, biochemical changes by NO2 and MDA, immunohistochemical analysis by astrocytes (GFAP), microglia (Iba1), Gal-9 and Tim-3, and western blot. Our results show the administration of the Aβ25–35 peptide into the lateral ventricles of rats induce memory impairment in the NOR by increases the oxidative stress and inflammatory response. This result is associated with an upregulation of Gal-9 and Tim-3 predominantly detected in the microglia cells of Aβ25–35-treated rats with respect to the control group. Gal-9 and Tim-3 are upregulated in activated microglia that could modulate the inflammatory response and damage in neurodegenerative processes induced by the Aβ25–35 peptide. Therefore, we suggest that Gal-9 and Tim-3 participate in the inflammatory process induced by the administration of the Aβ25–35 peptide.

A group that grieves together stays together: Examining the impact of Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel on affective polarization

AbstractAffective polarization is defined as the tendency to dislike, distrust, and maintain hostile attitudes towards supporters of other political parties or ideologies. In its extreme form, affective polarization may pose a severe threat to these groups' cohesion, functionality, and existence. The current study explored the role of sadness, elicited by memorial days, in temporarily reducing affective polarization and protecting societies from its destructive outcomes. In a longitudinal study (517 participants), participants were surveyed prior to Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), during HMD, and after HMD. The findings suggest that affective polarization declined during HMD. This effect was partially mediated by an increase in sadness. It is argued that one main function of memorial days is to harness the power of sadness to maintain cohesion and integrity among national groups.

Memory of Communist Crimes in Croatia and the Influence of the European Culture of Remembrance

Abstract Dealing with various aspects of 20th century history still poses a significant challenge to Croatian society. This also includes dealing with the socialist period. In the last fifteen years, propelled by the Eastern enlargement (2004, 2007), the EU has developed a common European memory of the totalitarian and authoritarian regimes of the 20th century, including communism. This article analyzes the impact of a common European culture of remembrance on Croatian commemorative culture, especially remembrance of communist crimes. The analysis will include the political discourse of selected mnemonic actors and commemorative practices. In 2011, the Croatian Parliament passed a law to commemorate the European Day of Remembrance of Victims of All Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes every August 23. However, the article argues that a shared European memory had only limited success on Croatian debates and conflicting narratives on communist crimes and the socialist period. The main reason is the dominantly antagonistic mode of remembering and representing of the communist period in Croatia.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day