Working off the past - seeking redemption
Neiman writes in Chapter Three, Cold War Memory, in her book Learning From The Germans “There are crucial facets of any successful attempt to work off a nation’s criminal past.” p.84 Then she lists five of these facets:
A coherent and widely accepted national narrative.
Narratives start with words and are reinforced by symbols, and many symbols involve remembering the dead.
Narratives are transported by education.
Words are more powerful when set to music.
Things like prison cells and cash.
I would add a few things from moral psychology:
Naming the crimes and sins.
Providing an opportunity for an offender - victim reconciliation meeting
Taking responsibility for engaging in the harmful behavior by giving those harmed their say about what happened to them, engaging in a good faith explanation of the factors that contributed to the behavior occurring, expressing a heartfelt apology, making amends to repair the harm.
The most difficult hurdle to restoration of healthy relationships is step one and often must be initiated by a third party.
God said to Adam and Eve in the Garden Of Eden when they ate the forbidden fruit, “What have you done?” At this point, self awareness was born in the human psyche. Sometimes the tree described to children as an apple tree is called the “tree of knowledge of good and evil.” It might better be called the tree of self awareness.
The memory of evil is the first step in restoration or redemption. If it can’t be named it can’t be redeemed.