ARTE Re: Späte Versöhnung, nach Krieg und Terror

The devastating war in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been over for almost 30 years. But the resentment between the different ethnic groups, Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, is still deep. The country is divided, atrocities from the war are hushed up or suppressed. Reconciliation seems difficult or even impossible. But there are young peace activists who are trying to change this. They put up signs in front of former torture camps to publicize the sites. And, almost more importantly, they are inviting veterans and prisoners of all former enemies of the war to visit these places with them. There, the former arch-enemies tell each other their moving stories. This leads to genuine processes of reconciliation.
The first tentative signs of reconciliation can also be seen in Spain. The country has suffered for decades from the brutal attacks by the Basque terrorist organization ETA. The state itself often responded with ruthless violence. Now that ETA no longer exists, there are the first signs of rapprochement between victims and perpetrators. So-called restorative talks are taking place in private. Important players in the reconciliation process: a victim who survived the largest ETA attack and the sister of a suspected ETA sympathizer who was killed by a Spanish secret police force.