The ethnic cleansing in Kosovo has shocked the world, but NOT the British historian Mark Mazower. He says ethnic violence has plagued Europe throughout history. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the legacy of war. Also, renowned writer Salman Rushdie makes the case for cultural IMpurity.

Historian Mark Mazower tells Jim Fleming that modern Europe is founded on ethnic violence. He suggests that minority populations can only be protected by international treaties enforced by international bodies like the old League of Nations. Makower's book is called "Dark Continent." Also, fiction writer and journalist Aleksander Hemon was born in Sarajevo, and now lives in Chicago. He tells Judith Strasser about his own mixed ethnic background; the cultural mix in Sarajevo; and what it's like to go back and visit his native city.

Helen Fremont was raised Roman Catholic, and was in her thirties when she discovered that her parent were actually Jewish Holocaust survivors. She tells Steve Paulson what happened when she confronted them with the truth and how it affected their relationship. Her book is "After Long Silence."

Salman Rushdie tells Steve Paulson that whenever someone starts talking about ethnic purity, large numbers of people start dying. He says cultures borrow from each other, and he thinks cultural IM-purity is a good thing. Rushdie is the author of several novels including, "The Satanic Verses" (which caused Iranian fundamentalists to sentence him to death) and "The Ground Beneath Her Feet."

Distribution dates:

• week of 04/18/99 - hour 1