Youth against Oblivion: Building a Culture of Memory and Dialogue among Young Slovenes in Austria and Italy

Abstract

Drawing on data from media publications, websites of secondary schools, cultural and educational initiatives, programmes, and projects, as well as on author’s own explorations and relevant scholarly debates, this article offers a theoretically grounded insight into the creation of a culture of memory and dialogue among young Slovenes in Austria and Italy over the past two decades. The study observes that the growing awareness of the passing of witnesses able to recount their often deeply traumatic experiences – particularly those related to Fascism and Nazism – has generated an urgent need to record and preserve the testimonies and memories of these “last witnesses”. Young people, especially high school students, play an active role in this process. It is also important to note that descendants – often members of the generation of grandchildren – are increasingly taking responsibility for engaging with the historical events that shaped their ancestors and the wider Slovene national community to which they belong. They are active in literature, film – particularly artistically conceived documentary film (for example, Mila/Marija by Andrina Mračnikar, a co-production between the public broadcasters ORF/Austria and RTV Slovenia, which portrays the history of Carinthian Slovenes’ resistance against Nazism and features numerous young people as actors and participants) – and science. They address themes such as the transgenerational transmission of trauma, resistance, oblivion, and silence. Moreover, they contribute to the creation of digital “memory landscapes” and participate in a wide range of school and other cross-border and dialogue-oriented projects. Young Slovenes in Austria and Italy are increasingly aware that sensitivity to the horrors of Fascism and Nazism – both in their home countries and globally – is fading, and that it is therefore necessary to act “against oblivion”.