Memoricide is the destruction of the memory, extermination of the past of targeted people. It also refers to destruction of the traces (such as religious buildings or schools) that might recall the former presence of those considered undesirable.
Memoricide is used in support of
ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...
. Since memoricide refers to intentional attempts to erase human memory about something, it usually takes the form of destruction of physical property. The term was coined by Croatian doctor
Mirko Grmek Mirko Dražen Grmek (9 January 1924 – 6 March 2000) was a Croatian and French historian of medicine, writer and scientist. He was one of the pioneers and founders of the history of medicine. His entire opus promotes the historical research of me ...
in a text published in ''
Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...
'' on 19 December 1991.
Allegations of memoricide
According to some accounts memoricide was employed by
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
toward
Macedonians of Slavic origin.
The dissident historian
Ilan Pappe Ilan may refer to:
Organization
*ILAN, Israeli umbrella organization for the treatment of disabled children
Given name
*Ilan (name), a Hebrew/Israeli name
* Ilan Bakhar, a retired Israeli footballer
*Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna, a Brazilian footballer ...
deployed the concept of cultural memoricide as systematic attempt of post-1948
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in relation to
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
.
Grmek used the term to describe activities of the rebel
Serb forces in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
during the first year of the
Croatian independence war.
See also
*
Cultural genocide
Cultural genocide or cultural cleansing is a concept which was proposed by lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944 as a component of genocide. Though the precise definition of ''cultural genocide'' remains contested, the Armenian Genocide Museum defines ...
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Memoricide
1990s neologisms
Cultural genocide