ekimondo – the Directory of Responsible Destinations and Traveling

Remembrance Tourism - So they won’t be forgotten :: by Inês Lopes

Written by ines June 18th

When memory fades, when, as a fragile cliff pounded by both the sea and time, it starts to have entire walls crumble into the abyss of loss, it is time to gather everything that remains, afterwards it shall will be too late.
(Free translation from Vercors’s book La bataille du silence)

Photo credit: Jean-Simon Chartier (Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum)

What is remembrance tourism?  “Remembrance tourism focuses on emblematic historic sites, particularly those of major conflicts.” (Deperne, 2006; free translation).  Remembrance tourism is a testimony of a people’s history.  It aims to recall those moments we would rather forget, but that we must not, in order to retain lessons from the past.

“Remembrance tourism is first and foremost a means to save and establish an identity, a cultural identity; it is unquestionably a vector of citizenship.” (Deperne, 2006; free translation)

Here are two examples of remembrance tourism sites: the du Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Cambodia and the Caen Memorial Peace Museum in France.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Cambodia

A former high school, Tuol Sleng was modified to hold prisoners under the Khmer rouge regime. Under code name “Security Prison 21” or “S21”, Pol Pot and his henchmen used this facility to torture and execute around 20 000 prisoners between 1975 and 1979. Upon liberation… only seven survivors remained.   Through a visit of the buildings and the site, the museum allows us to remember the atrocities that took place on the premises.

The Caen Memorial Peace Museum
The Caen Memorial in Normandy, France, is a museum which focuses on the history of the 20th Century.  This Peace Museum proposes an historic journey and reflection about the future through three spaces:  the Second World War, the Cold War and Peace.  The Caen Memorial also aims to remind us of peace’s fragility and of the requirements for peace and human rights. Beyond its role concerning memory, in some cases, remembrance tourism is also a leverage for local development.

Although we often associate tourism to hedonism, such sites allow us to truly discover a people’s culture, its history, its suffering, its memories.  So that they are not forgotten. So we can retain lessons from the past.  It is nevertheless important to keep a critical judgement on the facts. History is seen through the eyes of those who tell it.  One people’s heroic acts are often accompanied by the suffering of others.

References

Deperne, H. (2006).  « Le tourisme de mémoire » [Remembrance tourism].  Dans Le tourisme durable (sous la direction de Hervé Deperne).  Actes du Colloque national. 19-20 octobre 2006.  Le Touquet – Paris-Plage.  Éditions L’Harmattan. p. 75-80.

Vercors (1992).  La Bataille du silence - Souvenirs de minuit.
Les Éditions de Minuit, 352 pages. Cité sur le site du Mémorial de la Résistance en Vercors. www.memorial-vercors.fr

Websites

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum ekistop

Tuol Sleng through photographies 

Caen Memorial in France (in French)