To avoid 'us vs. them' in Balkans, rewrite history

A group of historians from Croatia to Turkey are trying to encourage reconciliation.

from the March 14, 2007 edition

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Government support withdrawn

The Serbian government originally supported the CDRSEE's books, and the minister of education appeared at their national launch. But after critics accused the books – and their editor – of being anti-Serbian, the government withdrew its support.

Stojanovic and others are now waiting to see what will happen when a new government is formed, a process that has stalled as political parties negotiate new coalitions in the wake of recent elections.

For organizers, though, the project is not just a matter of putting better books into teachers' hands. It requires them to begin teaching in an entirely new way.

Across much of the region, history is taught largely as a series of facts that students are expected to memorize and regurgitate. The joint history project wants students to analyze the past for themselves. With its focus on cultural and social history, it tries to humanize groups who may have often been thought of as enemies.

"We also like to include children and women in history, not just soldiers and politicians and big men," explains Koulouri. "We try to show that these experiences are not exclusive to one nation."

Not everyone is ready to listen to that perspective. In Greece, a debate is raging over a new history textbook for 12-year-olds, which some groups accuse of softening the atrocities of the Ottoman Empire. The powerful Greek Orthodox Church and nationalist groups want the book removed and say that the CDRSEE's books – which have been approved but are not the official curriculum – are guilty of the same sins.

Waning interest in region hurts funding

One of the project's biggest barriers is finding funding to complete translation into the region's remaining languages and providing enough training. Nenad Sebek, CDRSEE's director, estimates that it needs an additional $1 million in funding. But, she says, donors are losing interest in the region, even though many of its conflicts still simmer: Cyprus remains divided; Kosovo's final status is still uncertain; and tensions occasionally flare between Greece and Turkey, who are both members of NATO but share a land-mined border.

"The international interest, specifically the American interest, has shifted elsewhere," he says. "It's too early for the donors to pull out.... All you need to do is look at Kosovo, or even Bosnia."

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