Page 11 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 11(2) (2023)

permanent exhibition of the recently inaugu- interdisciplinary case study about the role of the
rated Documentation Centre for Displacement, school, as an institution and as architecture, in
Expulsion, Reconciliation in Berlin by focus- the framework of the post-WWII establishment
ing on the approaches and discourses presenting of the Slovene state, within the Yugoslav feder-
the issue of the “flight and expulsion of the Ger- ation, in the historically multicultural and con-
mans”. It then compares different types of mu- tested borderland region of Istria, between Ita-
seums (Heimatmuseum, Landesmuseum), not ly and Slovenia. Two primary schools in the city
from a museological perspective, but through of Koper/Capodistria are at the core of the anal-
the lens of political history and anthropology. ysis. The older of the two schools was built in
By looking at which objects are presented and 1951 and was the first post-war school that ini-
how, it addresses the question of presenting loss, tially hosted pupils of both Slovene and Italian
absence and violence, and their roles within the mother tongues, and was promoted as a symbol
different narratives. It concludes with a double of the brotherhood of the two cohabiting eth- 11
critical thought, first by challenging the format
nicities, under the aegis of the communist ideol-
ti of such space between memorial, museum, ar- ogy. Yet, since the educational system was a pri-
chive, and meeting place. Secondly, it questions
mary tool for re-establishing the region’s Slovene
the aim and effect of such new interpretations identity, after the final integration of the region
ta raise awareness about the issue in an empathic became a central space for (re)creating the Slo- uvodnik • editorial • editoriale
into Slovenia and Yugoslavia in 1954, the school
of difficult history and silenced memories that
vene and Yugoslav identity of the northern Istri-
way within the wider society, but do so at the ex-
an urban space. The article ends with a reflection
pense of shedding light on the specificities of the
di flight and expulsion processes. on the heritage significance of these buildings
The last three papers are dedicated to issues
and the institution itself, especially since both of
of historic and current memorialisation narra-
the two first post-war schools were torn down 15
tives in the contested region of Istra/Istria, on
the border between Slovenia and Italy. The histo- years ago.
The last paper is provided by a young re-
here focuses on the early post-WWII period in Istria, the aforementioned Proteus project. The pa-
rian Petra Kavrečič reflects on the impact of the
searcher from the field of history, Leon Vr-
tovec, whose contribution comes from outside
bordering process on people’s everyday lives. She
by analysing the effects of a new Yugoslav-Ital-
per is dedicated to elucidating the circumstanc-
ian border – established after 1945 and again in
es and factors that contributed to the erection of
the monument to Nazario Sauro in Koper/Cap-
1954 – on everyday life, as well as the economic
and social interactions among local inhabitants.
From the perspective of social history, she anal-
aly. Nazario Sauro was a sailor and a soldier, an
studiauniversitatis
yses the process of “bordering” and the new po- odistria in the 1930s, during the Kingdom of It-
active Italian irredentist who was born in Kop-
litical division that affected the northern Istri- er/Capodistria under Austria and was hanged by
an territory. Key attention is placed on how past the Austrian authorities for having deserted the
interconnections and relations changed radical- army. As a result, he was considered a martyr and
ly and were interrupted after the establishment became a central symbol of the Italian nation-
of the new, previously non-existing border. It re- al struggle in Istria. The analysis provides a de-
veals especially how communication, coopera- tailed account of the central personalities of the
tion and exchange of goods were able to contin- fascist regime, from Rome to the local author-
ue when the border caused a strong territorial ities who influenced the decision about the site
division. and symbolism of this central landmark in the
The historian Aleksej Kalc and the architec- ethnically contested region of Istria, perceived
tural historian Neža Čebron Lipovec present an during fascism as the “finally redeemed Italian