The National Human Rights Museum’s Jing-mei White Terror Memorial Park welcomed a delegation from the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany Oct. 2 in New Taipei City.
Led by Anna Kaminsky, director of the Berlin-based foundation, the group received a guided tour of the park by Yao Chia-wen, Chin Him-san and Lu Yu, all of whom were victims of political persecution, as well as a briefing on Taiwan’s White Terror period (1947-1987) and government efforts to enact transitional justice in recent years, according to the New Taipei City museum.
NHRM Director Hung Shih-fang said that since its launch in 2018, the museum has been sponsoring research, staging exhibitions and networking with related agencies and organizations to enhance public awareness of the importance of human rights protections.
The museum is stepping up exchanges with counterparts around the world, Hung said, citing cooperation with the International Council of Museums, Federation of International Human Rights Museums and International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.
According to Hung, the government signed a memorandum of understanding in 2019 with Stasi Records Archive in Berlin and invited experts from the EU member state to share their expertise and discuss related issues at a human rights education workshop the same year in Taipei.
The director said Germany serves as a great source of inspiration for Taiwan when it comes to transitional justice. The NHRM will continue collaborating with human rights entities in Germany to preserve Taiwan’s dark past, redress historical injustices and ensure a free and just society both at home and abroad, he added.
In response, Kaminsky said Taiwan is a powerful partner of Germany in promoting transitional justice. Despite the different types of dictatorship the two sides experienced, they have many things they can learn from each other, she added. (SFC-E)
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