From National Victims to Transnational Bystanders? The Changing Commemoration of World War II in Central and Eastern Europe

Hackmann examines recent changes of public and historiographical discourses on the Second World War, with a focus on Poland and the Baltic States. The argument is that in East Central Europe a transnational perspective on the war has emerged, which has challenged national discourses of victimhood as well as traditional Western perceptions of the war and its consequences in Eastern Europe. Without any doubt, there is on the one hand a public interest in discussing the connection between Nazi and Stalinist past as well as comparing their impact in those societies that had experienced both regimes. On the other hand, m´emoire collective is becoming increasingly transnational and globalized.