The way a society remembers violent conflict profoundly shapes its present and future.
In post-war contexts such as Croatia, collective memory has largely been institutionalized through selective, ethnically exclusive, and militarized narratives that prioritize combatant experiences while marginalizing civilian suffering—particularly that of minority communities. Such approaches reinforce social divisions, normalize inequality in recognition, and perpetuate political manipulation of the past. The Memory Program responds to these challenges by establishing inclusive, civilian-centered remembrance as a normative and institutional standard. It treats memory not merely as a symbolic or commemorative issue, but as a core human rights concern directly linked to dignity, equality, the prevention of future violence, and democratic resilience.
The Memory Program combines permanent institutions, place-based education, and youth-led remembrance to ensure that civilian suffering is recognized across generations and geographic contexts. Rather than relying on episodic commemorations, the program seeks to create durable structures that: (i) preserve and present individual civilian experiences, (ii) transform sites of neglect or denial into sites of remembrance, and (iii) empower young people to engage critically and responsibly with the past. By anchoring remembrance in human rights and universal dignity, the program actively counters denial, relativization, and nationalist appropriation of memory.
Museum of Memory for Civilian Victims of War — Initiatives for inclusive remembrance are rare and, to date, have almost exclusively come from civil society organizations. Institutionally supported memorialization efforts are generally one-sided, focusing primarily on combatants, while civilians—especially those from minority communities—are overlooked. For this reason, several years ago YIHR Croatia launched an advocacy effort for the establishment of a Museum of Memory for Civilian Victims of War, with mentorship support from the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience and financial support from the Franco-German Cultural Fund.
The museum is envisioned as a dynamic institution that researches, collects, and preserves the memories of civilians, as well as of the families and friends of civilian victims of war. YIHR Croatia was initially supported by other significant actors, including the President of the Republic of Croatia and the Minister of Culture. However, the City of Petrinja, where the museum was first planned, withdrew its support under pressure from nationalist political actors. As the societal need for a place of inclusive remembrance has only grown, during this strategic period YIHR Croatia will establish and work toward opening the Museum of Memory for Civilian Victims of War in Zagreb.
The museum will also host exhibitions in smaller communities that were particularly affected by war. This will fulfill the vision of creating a central space for inclusive remembrance in Croatia, contribute to understanding diverse perspectives and experiences, and help reduce social divisions stemming from the recent conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the wider region. The museum will further feature decentralized programming aimed at marking unmarked sites of suffering, transforming them from places of oblivion into places of remembrance. This will also include the development of youth-focused educational tours.
School of Peace — While dominant narratives of the wars of the 1990s emphasize violence and division, far less attention has been given to local experiences of peace, solidarity, and civilian protection. One such experience is found in the Gorski Kotar region, which remained one of the few areas in Croatia where peace was maintained throughout the 1991–1995 conflict, as a result of deliberate, locally led efforts to preserve interethnic trust and dialogue.
Central to this effort was Professor Franjo Starčević, a philosopher and educator from Mrkopalj, who facilitated communication between Croatian and Serbian community leaders and, in 1994, founded the original School of Peace, bringing together Croatian, Serbian, and Bosniak children for joint learning and intercultural exchange during wartime. Despite its significance, the legacy of the School of Peace and the broader Goranski peace experience remains under-documented and largely absent from public discourse and education. Archival materials are dispersed, and younger generations are mostly unfamiliar with this example of active, locally sustained peace.
In response, YIHR Croatia, in cooperation with academic institutions, civil society partners, and local actors, will renew and further develop the School of Peace in Mrkopalj as a place-based educational initiative grounded in peace heritage. During this strategic period, the School will function as a platform for peace education, intergenerational learning, and civic engagement, connecting local historical experience with contemporary human rights and peacebuilding practice in Croatia and the wider region.
The Youth Remembers — A growing rise in ethno-nationalist attitudes among young people in Croatia reflects a broader problem: successive generations have not been meaningfully engaged in responsible public discourse about the wars of the 1990s, transitional justice, and inclusive remembrance. In public space and political debate, selective narratives that omit or marginalize civilian suffering and contested aspects of the recent past continue to shape how young people understand history, identity, and rights. This contributes to prejudice, interethnic mistrust, and resistance to accountable confrontation with the past.
In response, YIHR Croatia developed The Youth Remembers as a structured, youth-focused initiative that enables young people to actively engage with neglected or forgotten episodes and sites of suffering from the wars of the 1990s and earlier. Through educational-activist activities, study visits to unmarked or under-recognized places of civilian suffering, critical reflection, public exhibitions, and advocacy, participants learn to recognize and document the multifaceted impacts of conflict, challenge exclusionary narratives, and advocate for a more inclusive culture of memory.
During this strategic period, YIHR Croatia will operationalize The Youth Remembers as a central component of its Memory pillar. This will expand youth participation, strengthen educational and advocacy elements, and connect experiential learning with broader public engagement and institutional memory efforts, including exhibitions, public actions, and partnerships with educational institutions. Through this work, YIHR Croatia will help cultivate a generation of young people equipped to resist forgetting, advance inclusive remembrance, and foster a more tolerant and rights-based society.