Memory, ethics and education from the mass graves

beyond mourning and monuments

Abstract

This article discusses how communities not only mourn over mass graves of the Spanish War and Dictatorship since 1936, but also begun to produce knowledge and ethical thoughts on the grave’s meaning. The first initiatives in this respect have taken the form of monuments, publications and tributes. Nevertheless, certain groups hunted to have social impact in their communities through workshops, visits and educational activities with young people. The most developed public policies in the area of memory are committed to this same educational work, in which the mass grave plays a key role. It proposes to address the mass grave as a major point. Thanks to the local communities’ preservation of the mass graves it is possible today to face educational programs based on ethical discussions on the past regarding the future society development.