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War and Forgiveness

From: Soundprint
Length: 58:55

Two emotional long-form features about victims and perpetrators of wartime atrocities, presented by Radio Netherlands, WNYC, and SOUNDPRINT. Read the full description.

Apoligizebeforeus_small As the prison abuse scandals in Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us, events that occur far away are no longer so easily hidden. This can have profound moral, psychological, emotional and legal consequences, especially for those who were directly involved. In "War and Forgiveness," Soundprint presents two powerful half-hour documentaries about the victims and perpetrators of wartime atrocities. The first, by Judith Kampfner of WNYC, is about the Korean "Comfort Women" who were commandeered by Japanese forces during World War II. The second, by Dheera Sujan of Radio Netherlands, is about Dutch soldiers who are only now speaking publicly about atrocities they committed in Indonesia during a rebellion following that same war. The full hour of War and Forgiveness won a 2005 AWRT Gracie Allen Award, and Korean Sharing House recieved a Newswomen's Club Front Page Award.

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Piece Description

As the prison abuse scandals in Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us, events that occur far away are no longer so easily hidden. This can have profound moral, psychological, emotional and legal consequences, especially for those who were directly involved. In "War and Forgiveness," Soundprint presents two powerful half-hour documentaries about the victims and perpetrators of wartime atrocities. The first, by Judith Kampfner of WNYC, is about the Korean "Comfort Women" who were commandeered by Japanese forces during World War II. The second, by Dheera Sujan of Radio Netherlands, is about Dutch soldiers who are only now speaking publicly about atrocities they committed in Indonesia during a rebellion following that same war. The full hour of War and Forgiveness won a 2005 AWRT Gracie Allen Award, and Korean Sharing House recieved a Newswomen's Club Front Page Award.

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This show has dated material

In the intro, this show refers to the Public Radio Collaboration produced in 2005 and tell listeners that all this week, public radio is looking at the affects of globalization. This is really not an evergreen program

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Review of War and Forgiveness

This hour, under Soundprint auspices (with intros to each half hour) is about people haunting and being haunted; about seeking, offering, avoiding apology; about ways in which war subverts the human heart and about how the spirit struggles to survive. The Korean Sharing House brings us into a Buddhist charity’s home for former “comfort woman” -- those stolen by the Japanese to service the troops. Brutal details provided by academics and the voices of surviving grandmothers, the term the women prefer, will linger long in my mind. That some of these once young virgins, given numbers and treated like “pieces of military supplies,” sometimes tortured beyond the torture of daily rape by scores of men, can be heard singing and laughing is a miracle of spirit. The second half hour portrays veterans of Holland’s ugly “police actions” in Indonesia. Undeclared war still feels like war to those involved and in this piece we hear from men who uncomfortably followed orders and are now unhappily followed by their memories. Academics offer historical context and we hear excerpts from a Queen Beatrix speech in which she awkwardly acknowledges Indonesia’s suffering without in any way owning the brutality of Holland’s colonial violence. There is much that resonates in this country, in this time. Such fine journalism touches the heart and prods the mind.

Broadcast History

War and Forgiveness originally aired as a special, and part of SOUNDPRINT's weekly series, May 26 and 28, 2004. Will also feed on SOUNDPRINT's weekly series on Friday, May 20, 2005.

Timing and Cues

Timing Cues

***DETAILED CLOCK RUNDOWN***

00:00 - 28:29 SOUNDPRINT program content:
"The Korean Sharing House"
beginning with Host Lead with Barbara Bogaev
[In cue: "Welcome to SOUNDPRINT,
I'm Barbara Bogaev..."]

[Out cue: "...I'm Barbara Bogaev"] @ 28:24
[followed by :05 theme music.
Please note that music ends cold]

28:29-28:30 1 second black

28:30-28:59 Music bed [an opportunity for stations to do
local forward promoting and underwriting
credits]

28:59-29:00 1 second black

29:00-29:29 Forward promo for "Holland?s Black Page?
with Host Barbara Bogaev

29:29- 29:30 1 second black

29:30-29:59 Music bed [an opportunity for stations
to do local forward promoting and underwriting
credits]

29:59-30:00 1 second black

30:00-58:29 SOUNDPRINT program content:
"Holland?s Black Page"
beginning with Host Lead with Barbara Bogaev
[In cue: "You're listening to SOUNDPRINT,
I'm Barbara Bogaev..."]

[Out cue: "...I'm Barbara Bogaev"] @ 58:26
[followed by 00:03 SOUNDPRINT theme music in
the clear; music ends cold at 58:29]

58:29-58:30 1 second black

58:30-58:59 Music bed [an opportunity for stations to
do local forward promoting and underwriting
credits]

58:59 1 second black

59:00 Ends
59:00 to 59:59 Black

**** PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS ****
"The Korean Sharing House"
produced by Judith Kampfner
In part one, The Korean Sharing House, Producer Judith Kampfner from WNYC follows seven women aged between 75 and 85 who live together in a communal house outside Seoul, South Korea. These Korean Comfort Women, the name given by the Japanese to women forced into sexual slavery during WWII, have never received an apology from the Japanese government. In pursuit of their goal, they travel weekly to protest outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul. They talk about how they were taken by force as young girls to outposts of the Japanese empire. How they were raped 40-50 times a day. How they were tortured and electrocuted. How they had to keep their secrets and how they had to live in shame. And yet through their songs and sharing, they have managed to find a measure of peace.

"Holland?s Black Page"
produced by Dheera Sujan
In part two, Holland?s Black Page, Producer Dheera Sujan from RADIO NETHERLANDS, traces the stories of four former soldiers who tortured and killed Indonesian prisoners. Now in their seventies, they remember the details of quieting an open rebellion in the late 1940?s. They remember the electrocutions, the torture and the killing. They also remember how they had to live in shame with the secrets. They call for the Dutch government to accept some measure of responsibility for what they say they were ordered to do. Their solace lies in being able to publicly discuss the events.

Promo Text Copy:

[30 sec promo text] Today on SOUNDPRINT, two very different perspectives on wartime atrocities ? we?ll hear from Korean Women who were forced into prostitution for the Japanese Military during World War Two, and from Dutch Soldiers who committed so-called ?indiscretions? during military actions in Indonesia. They tell their stories in War and Forgiveness, a SOUNDPRINT special, part of Think Global, public radio?s week of special coverage, on the next Soundprint at (insert time & station).

[15 sec promo text] On the next SOUNDPRINT, we present two very different perspectives on wartime atrocities ? from the victims, and from the perpetrators. That?s War and Forgiveness, part of Think Global, public radio?s week of special coverage.

Additional Files

Related Website

http://war_forgiveness.soundprint.org/