From Argentina to Zaire, dozens of nations are building a new future after years of rule by dictators. One of the toughest questions these emerging democracies have to face is how to learn from the past. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, new definitions of political justice.

SEGMENT 1

John Comaroff is a native South African who teaches at the University of Chicago. He talks with Jim Fleming about South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its struggle to balance the need for individual justice with the demands of nation-building. Also, Daniel Chirot teaches International Studies and Sociology at the University of Washington. He tells Steve Paulson that what makes twentieth century tyrants more lethal than their historical brethren is that they're out to change the world and have both the technology and the bureaucracy to do it.

SEGMENT 2:

Agate Nesaule is the author of a Holocaust memoir called "A Woman in Amber: Healing the Trauma of War and Exile." She tells Judith Strasser about life in a Nazi forced labor camp and explains how therapy and writing helped her face her past and recover from it.

SEGMENT 3:

Canadian poet Anne Michaels has published a critically acclaimed novel called "Fugitive Pieces." It tells the stories of a Holocaust survivor and a son of survivors. Michaels talks with Anne Strainchamps about the book and the process of recovering belief in the beauty of the world.

Distribution dates:

• week of 05/04/97 - hour 1