Memory and Power in Post-War Europe: Studies in the Presence of ...

9 Unimagined communities: the power
of memory and the conflict in the
former Yugoslavia
Ilana R. Bet-El
There is a power to the words ‘I remember’: the power of an event long
past, exerting itself upon the present, the power of an individual over a
collective, the power of opinion over fact. It is not one that can simply
be included in academic theory or quantified by statistics, nor can it
easily be discredited as untrue. Often enough, ‘I remember’ is not an
exchange – it is an authoritative statement, based on the stark power of
personal conviction, seemingly resistant to contestation by others. When
the words begin a flow of warmth or love, it is a positive, binding power,
but it is the most divisive and negative one possible when they lead on to
events of death and destruction, allocating blame and defining justice in
terms of personal and national memories. For as the dark recollections
swirl around, enforced by the personal pain of the speaker, the statements
join together into a weapon of hate and fear.
In the former Yugoslavia, it was this divisive, negative power which
underlay the collapse into the wars. From nationalist leaders to village
paupers, as of the mid-1980s memories seemingly poured out in an incessant
stream: some personal, others personalised, some no more than a
myth, others specific recollections – but all reflecting on pain and past ills.
Large chunks of verbal agony, beginning with the words ‘I remember’,
and often ending with a sharp admonition: Remember! These were memories
of aggressive acts committed by the others: Croats upon Serbs
and Muslims; Muslims upon Croats and Serbs; Serbs upon Croats and
Muslims and Albanian Kosovars; Albanian Kosovars upon Serbs. Sin
upon sin, national memories conjured up as if they were real, personal
memories, locking each ethnicity into itself, making all the others abhorrent,
unjust and fearful. Words of the past became weapons of war.
The power of memory was not unique to the Yugoslavs. As the wars
unfolded, they drew in many and various elements of the international
While specific sources and relevant bibliography are given in the footnotes, this chapter
is no less based on personal reflections and countless professional interviews conducted
by me throughout 1995–7 and 1999 – first as political analyst with UN missions in the
region (UNPROFOR and UNMIBH), then as Senior Advisor on the Balkans in the UN
Department of Political Affairs.
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