Spatial Memories: World War II Monuments in Brazil and the Geography of Oblivion

Even before the Second World War ended and the soldiers of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) returned home, communities started to erect monuments to their local heroes and fallen neighbors. Brazilians dedicated an astonishing number—especially when compared to the number of Brazilian soldiers who participated in the Italian campaign—of about two hundred monuments to their fighting men.

Brazilians embedded their hopes and anxieties into the stone and bronze of these abundant and socially visible cultural artifacts. Analyzing war monuments and interactions at their feet, this paper argues that when Brazilians commemorated WWII in public spaces they also articulated political messages and passed criticism, as well as expressed their role in their nation.

As time went by and monuments faded against the urban landscape, the collective memory of the Brazilians’ deeds in the war diminished. Or so, at least, educators, veterans, and intellectuals lament. The study of the dispersion of the monuments, however, reveals another story. By analyzing the monuments’ geographical distribution this paper maps the regional differences in the commemoration of the FEB.  It also explains why memory agents, located in the main populated urban centers, claim the FEB was forgotten, while it is still flourishing in the smaller towns around them.