What should we remember?

An interesting question was posed in a report by Austrian researchers into commemoration.

But what should we remember if existence and memory are no longer part of what we remember?

It’s a great little sound-bite, but what does it mean? Ultimately, if we do not remember existence or memory, then what can we remember? Reflecting on the question, the initial reaction may be to think that it’s all a bit too clever, and if it manages anything, it is only to close down debate, to force a preferred narrative upon the reader. Maybe. But there is an alternative. Perhaps the question is not that vacuous or circular.

In certain contexts the question has an emphatic grip on the reality of the situation, and constitutes a call to action.  The story of the Chinese Labour Corps is a good example. Until recently (certainly for the majority of the last century) the story of the Chinese Labour Corps was not so much hidden as lost.  Lost through neglect, indifference and maybe a touch of indignation (following China’s refusal to sign the Treaty of Versailles). Fete conspired to ensure their story remained lost when bombing raids by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War destroyed the British records on the Chinese  Labour Corps. Fragments of it’s narratives scattered, buried in files seldom opened let alone read, in government departments or in archives in far-off lands.  If we think of these things, and ask ourselves,

But what should we remember about the Chinese Labour Corps if existence and memory are no longer part of what we remember?

The answer must surely be in defiance of the question, and is simple. It is stated on countless memorials, churches and across so much literature on the first world war:  we will remember them.

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