Memoricide is the destruction of the memory, extermination of the past of targeted people.[1] It also refers to destruction of the traces (such as religious buildings or schools) that might recall the former presence of those considered undesirable.[2]
Memoricide is used in support of ethnic cleansing.[3] Since memoricide refers to intentional attempts to erase human memory about something, it usually takes the form of destruction of physical property.[4] The term was coined by Croatian doctor Mirko Grmek in a text published in Le Figaro on 19 December 1991.[5]