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In After Genocide, Nicole Fox investigates the ways memorials can shape the experiences of survivors decades after mass violence has ended. She examines how memorializations can both heal and hurt, especially when they fail to represent all genders, ethnicities, and classes of those afflicted. Drawing on extensive interviews with Rwandans, Fox reveals their relationships to these spaces and uncovers those voices silenced by the dominant narrative—arguing that the erasure of such stories is an act of violence itself.

This documentary recounts the tragic fate of Dr Halina Rotstein. A Polish-Jewish doctor, Halina worked in the Warsaw Ghetto treating patients until she was deported to Treblinka in September 1942. The story is told through the eyes of Halina’s daughter, Wanda Albinska, who survived the Holocaust along with her three siblings and will be screened at the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre on 13 December 2022 at 6pm.

An event honouring Pinchas Gutter organised by the South African Holocaust & Genocide Foundation with a keynote address from Dr Stephen D. Smith.

Transitional Justice (TJ) developed as a concept of being able to bring truth, justice, reconciliation and democracy to countries emerging from conflict or authoritarianism. However, with the expansion of the field, more and more contradictions have appeared as to how to implement TJ-policy successfully. Is there a value in comparing the approaches of different countries, or are their experiences so fundamentally different and unique that any attempt to see one approach as a ‘model’ proves counterproductive?<br /><br />This is the final session in the (Im)Possibilities of a Comparative Approach to Transitional Justice Online Discussion Forum.<br /><br />Helen Scanlon is the convenor of the Justice and Transformation Programme in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. Before joining UCT, she was the Director of the International Center for Transitional Justice’s (ICTJ) Gender Justice Programme.<br />Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik, is a China specialist with a special focus on contemporary history and politics. She was a professor of Sinology at the University of Vienna until she went into retirement in October 2020 and has published extensively on topics related to historiography, memory studies and international relations.<br />Jimmy Chia-Shin Hsu (許家馨) is an Associate Research Professor of the Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. His research interests include legal philosophy, constitutional theory, and the philosophy of punishment. His other projects include philosophical studies on the roles of indignation, forgiveness, and remorse in the contexts of criminal and transitional justice.<br /><br />This talk was moderated by Aleksandar Novakovic

Germany enjoys an international reputation of doing exceptionally well in “dealing with its past”. Research conducted on the Holocaust and East Germany continues to grow, archive material is meticulously preserved and made accessible to the public, some perpetrators have been held accountable, and reparations are still being paid to this day. But is this the whole story? Is the international reputation in line with the assessment of experts on Germany today? <br /><br />This is the third session in the (Im)Possibilities of a Comparative Approach to Transitional Justice Online Discussion Forum.<br /><br />Matthias N. Lorenz is a Professor of German and Comparative literature at Leibniz Universität Hannover (Germany) and an Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University (South Africa). He has published monographs on literary antisemitism, censorship in democracy and postcolonial intertextuality.<br />Jürgen Zimmerer is a German historian of Africa and colonialism. He is Professor of Global History at the University of Hamburg, head of the research center “Hamburg’s (Post-)Colonial Legacy” and was the founding president of the International Network of Genocide Scholars (INoGS) between 2005 to 2017.<br />Jenny Wüstenberg is an Associate Professor of Twentieth Century History and Director of the Centre for Public History, Heritage and Memory at Nottingham Trent University. She is the co-founder and Co-President of the Memory Studies Association.

The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is internationally remembered as attempting to bringing reconciliation to post-apartheid South Africa by implementing “restorative justice”. Did this encompass mainly refraining from holding perpetrators accountable, and rather putting emphasis on repairing the social fabric, through truth telling and reparation? What are the achievements and failures of the TRC process? And why is there growing dissatisfaction with the TRC in today’s South Africa?<br /><br />This is the second session in the (Im)Possibilities of a Comparative Approach to Transitional Justice Online Discussion Forum.<br /><br />Panellist:<br />Justice Albie Sachs is a distinguished lawyer, activist, scholar and former high justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He took part in the negotiations that made South Africa a constitutional democracy and was appointed to the Constitutional Court by Nelson Mandela.<br />Lwando Xaso is a lawyer, writer and speaker. She is a trustee of the Constitutional Court, a member of the Constitution Hill Trust, and also the founder of Including Society. She is the author of Made in South Africa; A Black Woman’s Stories of Rage, Resistance and Progress.<br />Shirley Gunn is the executive director of the Human Rights Media Centre (HRMC). The HRMC is a founding member of the South African Coalition for Transitional Justice (SACTJ) campaigning for truth, accountability, justice, and reparations for which Shirley currently serves as chairperson.<br /><br />Moderator: Aleksandar Novakovic

The establishment of a Transitional Justice Commission (TJC) in May 2018 seemed like a milestone in Taiwan’s democratic history. However, its work was simultaneously accompanied by public criticism and political disputes. How did resistance against an organization committed to the pursuit of truth, justice and reconciliation – arguably universally desirable goals – arise? And how is the TJC’s work evaluated today after the handover of its Conclusive Report to the government?<br /><br />This is the first session in the (Im)Possibilities of a Comparative Approach to Transitional Justice Online Discussion Forum.<br /><br />Dominic Yang Meng-Hsuan (楊孟軒) is an Associate Professor of East Asian History in Department of History, University of Missouri-Columbia. His research focuses on the massive human exodus out of China in the mid-twentieth century.<br />Agnes Hsiao Ling-Yu (蕭伶伃) is working as chief staff of policy planning and implementation in the Mayor’s Office in Taipei City. Agnes is also a member of the International Association for Reconciliation Studies (IARS).<br /><br />This talk was moderated by Aleksandar Novakovic

Chava Erlanger shares testimonies and life lessons she learnt, curated and witnessed first hand from survivors. Within this topic she discusses the impact of being stripped of basic human rights and the long lasting impact on survivors. Chava shares stories of humanity, resilience as well as of survivors who have not managed to overcome their traumas. <br /><br />Check out our website and social media pages:<br />Website: https://ctholocaust.co.za<br />Facebook: https://facebook.com/CTHGCentre <br />Twitter: https://twitter.com/CTHGCentre<br />Instagram: https://instagram.com/CTHGCentre

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Awards

We were awarded the Traveller’s Choice Award by Tripadvisor in 2020 for being in the top 10% of attractions worldwide.

We received the ministerial award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Promoting Social Inclusion‘ at the 18th Annual Western Cape Cultural Affairs Awards.

The award acknowledges the Centre for developing innovative programmes to promote social inclusion using the history of the Holocaust over the past 20 years.