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Crimes of the Communist Regimes - Proceedings of an international Conference held in Prague, 24–26 February 2010 Cover Image

Crimes of the Communist Regimes - Proceedings of an international Conference held in Prague, 24–26 February 2010
Crimes of the Communist Regimes - Proceedings of an international Conference held in Prague, 24–26 February 2010

Contributor(s): David Svoboda (Editor), Cóílín O’Connor (Editor), Neela Winkelmann-Heyrovská (Translator), Ian Willoughby (Translator), Markéta Hofmannová (Translator), Přemysl Fialka (Photographer), Damjan Hančič (Photographer), Pavel Gregor (Photographer)
Subject(s): History, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, Special Historiographies:, History of Communism, Conference Report
Published by: Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů
Summary/Abstract: The conference was hosted by Jiří Liška, Vice-chairman of the Senate, Parliament of the Czech Republic and the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic and organized by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes together with partner institutions from the working group on the Platform of European Memory and Conscience

  • Print-ISBN-13: 978-80-87211-51-9
  • Page Count: 470
  • Publication Year: 2011
  • Language: English
A word of greeting to the conference from the European Commission

A word of greeting to the conference from the European Commission
(A word of greeting to the conference from the European Commission)

  • Author(s):Author Not Specified
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Conference Report
  • Page Range:7-7
  • No. of Pages:1
WELCOME ADDRESS by Jiří Liška - Vice-chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

WELCOME ADDRESS by Jiří Liška - Vice-chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
(WELCOME ADDRESS by Jiří Liška - Vice-chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic)

  • Author(s):Jiří Liška
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Conference Report
  • Page Range:17-19
  • No. of Pages:3
WELCOME ADDRESS by Pavel Žáček - Director, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

WELCOME ADDRESS by Pavel Žáček - Director, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes
(WELCOME ADDRESS by Pavel Žáček - Director, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes)

  • Author(s):Pavel Žáček
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Conference Report
  • Page Range:21-21
  • No. of Pages:1
Harry Wu - Director, Laogai Research Foundation

Harry Wu - Director, Laogai Research Foundation
(Harry Wu - Director, Laogai Research Foundation)

  • Author(s):Harry Wu
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Conference Report
  • Page Range:23-27
  • No. of Pages:5
  • Summary/Abstract:Ladies and gentlemen; dear, distinguished guests, Good Morning. I would like to thank The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes for holding this important conference, and in particular I would like to thank the organizers for bringing together such an incredible group of people. It is an immense honor to stand before you this morning in the hall of the Czech Senate to speak to you on this subject, about which we are all too familiar: crimes against humanity committed by Communist regimes. Despite the decades of tyranny and oppression which have accompanied Communist regimes the world over, the healing process has yet to begin for millions of victims of Communism. Today, I would like to shed some light on the Chinese Communist Party, and how the brutal practices of this regime have forever altered not only my life, but the lives of hundreds of millions of Chinese since 1949. I also hope to remind you that for the Chinese, the brutality of Communism is anything but history.
WELCOME ADDRESS on behalf of the Confederation of Political Prisoners of the Czech Republic

WELCOME ADDRESS on behalf of the Confederation of Political Prisoners of the Czech Republic
(WELCOME ADDRESS on behalf of the Confederation of Political Prisoners of the Czech Republic)

  • Author(s):Naděžda Kavalírová
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Recent History (1900 till today), Criminology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:33-34
  • No. of Pages:2
Martin Mejstřík, Czech Republic

Martin Mejstřík, Czech Republic
(Martin Mejstřík, Czech Republic)

  • Author(s):Martin Mejstřík
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Recent History (1900 till today), Studies in violence and power, Victimology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:35-42
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Summary/Abstract:Mr Vice-chairman, Madam Chairwoman, ladies and gentlemen, I have been given the honour of presenting a text by a professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii, Rudolph Joseph Rummel, who unfortunately could not attend our conference for health reasons. In the second part of this presentation I will take the liberty of appending some of my own words. So now let’s take: “Worse than the Black Death – Marxism.” (I would like to draw attention to the fact that I am abridging this paper and I hope that its full version will be reproduced by the organisers and made available to you)...
Crimes committed by the communist regimes from the point of view of international legislation: Lithuanian case study

Crimes committed by the communist regimes from the point of view of international legislation: Lithuanian case study
(Crimes committed by the communist regimes from the point of view of international legislation: Lithuanian case study)

  • Author(s):Dainius Žalimas
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Criminal Law, International Law, Recent History (1900 till today), History of Communism, EU-Legislation
  • Page Range:43-81
  • No. of Pages:39
  • Summary/Abstract:I appreciate very much the initiative to organise the conference on the issue concerning the crimes committed by the communist regimes. It is my pleasure to give an introduction to the basic legal aspects of the mentioned issue together with the special presentation of the legal analysis of the Lithuanian case. International crimes such as crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes inevitably have to be dealt within the international legal context. They concern not only national measures to implement the justice but also depend on the efforts put forward by the international community to condemn them publicly and create sufficient international legal basis for the effective persecution. Let me first of all go through the general introduction into the notion of the international crimes and specifically crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide; secondly, I will address historical facts and legal instruments relevant in assessing crimes of the communist regimes; thirdly, I will analyse Lithuanian case as an illustration how the crimes of the occupation communist regime are dealt with in our national legal system; and finally, I will touch briefly the existing EU legislation related with a crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and highlight the need for equal treatment of these crimes irrespective of their perpetrators (equal treatment of the crimes committed by Nazi and Soviet regimes).
Crimes of the Soviet regime: Legal assessment and punishment of the guilty ones

Crimes of the Soviet regime: Legal assessment and punishment of the guilty ones
(Crimes of the Soviet regime: Legal assessment and punishment of the guilty ones)

  • Author(s):Nikita Vasilyevich Petrov
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Criminal Law, International Law, Criminology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:87-92
  • No. of Pages:6
  • Summary/Abstract:Political changes that took place in the USSR in August 1991, when the power of the CPSU collapsed, opened access to archives that had been completely secret before. They also made it possible to collect and analyze evidence of the criminal nature of the soviet system. In the first place, these are documents about the “Great Terror” of 1937–1938 and documents that show how Stalin and the top Politburo figures organized mass killings of hundreds of thousands of people. These documents and statistics of repression had been kept secret from the public even during “perestroika” (1987–1991). Stalin’s crimes seemed to be exposed in those years, and a special commission of Politburo studied the history of repression. To date, efforts of Society Memorial and International Foundation “Democracy” have resulted in the publication of many documents about the soviet terror and mass violation of human rights. For example, the “Democracy” Foundation established by Alexander Yakovlev published more than 50 volumes of documentary collections. Society Memorial released a CD “Stalin’s Shooting Lists”. It includes materials about how Stalin and his closest aides issued death sentences as they took up the role of the judiciary bodies. Another CD released by Memorial contains a database about repressions in the USSR. It includes more than 2.6 million names of the repressed. Th us, we now have the documentary basis for making a legal assessment of the soviet crimes. Important documents are published, such as regulations about repressions, implementation reports, and the total statistics of repressions.
About the crimes committed by the totalitarian regimes in Estonia

About the crimes committed by the totalitarian regimes in Estonia
(About the crimes committed by the totalitarian regimes in Estonia)

  • Author(s):Toomas Hiio
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Recent History (1900 till today), Criminology, History of Communism, Fascism, Nazism and WW II
  • Page Range:93-99
  • No. of Pages:7
  • Summary/Abstract:The independence of the Republic of Estonia was proclaimed exactly today 92 years ago. Today is Independence Day in Estonia. Estonia lost its independence in 1940 according to the secret protocol of the non-aggression agreement between the Communist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany and did not regain it after the end of the WWII. Th e occupation and annexation of the Baltic States was never recognised by the United States of America and other Western countries. Estonian diplomatic representations were active in the United States and the United Kingdom for the duration of the Cold War. Estonian passports issued by these representations were accepted as valid travel documents in many Western countries.
The crimes of communism in Latvia

The crimes of communism in Latvia
(The crimes of communism in Latvia)

  • Author(s):Valters Nollendorfs
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Criminal Law, Recent History (1900 till today), Criminology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:101-107
  • No. of Pages:7
  • Summary/Abstract:„My mother had three wishes: returning to Latvia, seeing her brothers and our family and having a flat. All of these wishes have been fulfilled. But even today my mother wakes from a dreadful dream. Again it is night and someone is knocking at the door. Strange men enter and order her to get ready. The deportation nightmare begins, and my mother in despair thinks: “The last time it was a dream. Now it’s real.” On waking she gazes long into the empty night until she calms down and understands: she is home again. In Latvia.“ I have chosen these last lines in Sandra Kalniete’s book With Dance Shoes in Siberian Snows, a book that has been translated into 11 languages, to remind ourselves that the term “crimes against humanity” as a legal abstraction, last defined in Article 7 of the 1998 Rome Statute, is woefully inadequate in terms of fully grasping the human tragedy and its lingering aftermath for which the original crime is only a starting point. The statute concentrates on the perpetrators and their culpability. Any culture of memory must be much more inclusive and never leave sight of the victims and survivors as the direct carriers and inheritors of the memory. It must not only deal with the crime but the entire context in which the crime was perpetrated and even more – the lingering political, social, moral and psychological after-effects. The crime is with us as long as the nightmare persists in the psyches of its victims.
Basic information about the losses during the Soviet occupation in 1940–1941 and 1944–1953

Basic information about the losses during the Soviet occupation in 1940–1941 and 1944–1953
(Basic information about the losses during the Soviet occupation in 1940–1941 and 1944–1953)

  • Author(s):Emanuelis Zingeris, Rolandas Račinskas
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism
  • Page Range:109-111
  • No. of Pages:3
  • Summary/Abstract:Most of political prisoners were subjected to “indispensable measures of interrogation” and experienced torture during interrogation. Physical and mental coercion in the system of NKVD and NKGB were concealed under the terms of “physical affect”, “active interrogation” etc. Torture was sanctioned at the highest level. In 1937 the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolshevik) gave the official permit to apply measures of “physical affect”. The largest group of the deportees found themselves in Altai Krai, from where they were moved to the Laptev Sea in 1942. Miserable conditions of life in exile were further aggravated by the climate with the temperatures below 0 °C eleven months per year. Almost all year round (11 months), the sea is frozen. Th is equals to life in the Arctic. Only a little more than 5 per cent of all the exiled there returned to Lithuania 15 or more years later. Th e largest group of the deportees found themselves in Altai Krai, from where they were moved to the Laptev Sea in 1942. Miserable conditions of life in exile were further aggravated by the climate with the temperatures below 0 °C eleven months per year. Almost all year round (11 months), the sea is frozen. This equals to life in the Arctic. Only a little more than 5 per cent of all the exiled there returned to Lithuania 15 or more years later.
The crimes of the communist regime in Ukraine

The crimes of the communist regime in Ukraine
(The crimes of the communist regime in Ukraine)

  • Author(s):Ihor Yukhnovskyi
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Criminal Law, Recent History (1900 till today), Criminology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:113-124
  • No. of Pages:12
  • Summary/Abstract:Conclusion Th e Soviet Union has disintegrated. Disintegration signs originally appeared in 1960s. Practice is an indicator of the theory validity. Practice of the USSR construction has proved non-viability of the communism theory. Thus, the Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism “doctrine” turned out to be an unscientific doctrine. Th is “doctrine” belongs to the sort of sectarian ones. And the communist party that completely professes the principles laying in the construction of the USSR, cannot be considered to be a party, but rather is, a sect. There were different sects in the history of mankind. They gathered groups of people. They established, quite frequently, extremely severe rules of mutual relations between the members of a sect and finally collapsed. The Communist Bolsheviks sect has done a lot of harm to the people of the former USSR. Th e number of human victims in the USSR exceeded the number of victims that the mankind of the world has suffered throughout the history of its existence. It is necessary to understand and realize all the harm caused by communism in order to prevent such a misfortune in future. Therefore, in each country, especially in Ukraine the process of the society differentiation, into extremely rich and extremely poor is fraught with grave consequences. This process of impoverishment can be halted, first of all, by joint actions of the authorities and the society. We should build a society, specifically Ukrainian society of a predominant middle class. Uncontrolled development of oligarchic structures in the country automatically generates an antipode – communism. Therefore, the only way towards a reasonable, sustainable commonwealth is to provide beneficial political and economic conditions for the revival in Ukraine and in all other countries of a prevailing middle class. Revival and comprehensive support – that is what is necessary. Thus the main issue of our conference should be a consolidation of the nations in order to set up an international tribunal over the communism crimes as it has been made over the nazism. We should also find out who is really guilty in committing such severe crimes of communism. It could be those who had provoked Bolsheviks Communist revolt and had introduced communism principles. We should be able to figure it out by being well-informed through: legislation and true history. And to prevent such events in future, it is necessary to severely ban legitimization of the parties professing a criminal Communist ideology. Most important for, each country is to provide such conditions when the middle class of the country determines its national, political and economic development.
Conviction of Communist regime crimes in Ukraine

Conviction of Communist regime crimes in Ukraine
(Conviction of Communist regime crimes in Ukraine)

  • Author(s):Volodymyr Viatrovych
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Criminal Law, Recent History (1900 till today), Criminology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:125-129
  • No. of Pages:5
  • Summary/Abstract:Ukraine is one of the countries which suffered most from the communist regime crimes. Millions of the Ukrainians had been repressed by the communist regime since 1918 when Ukraine was occupied by Bolshevik’s troops till 1991 when at last it gained independence. Ukraine became an experimental ground for communists where they perfected scenarios of seizure of power and repressions against dissidents. Later, after 1939 these scenarios were used in the Baltic States, and since 1945 – in Central and Eastern European States. A well-known lawyer, the author of term Genocide and one of the authors of Convention On Condemnation of Genocides Rafael Lemkin called the communists policy in Ukraine a classical sample of Soviet Genocide with the following stages: repressions against intelligentsia, liquidation of Ukrainian national church, subduing of the main layers of Ukrainian people – peasants who were violently hit by artificial famine. The last step was the dispersion of the Ukrainians by means of deportation and colonization of their lands by the representatives of other nations. Lemkin saw in communist actions a clear-cut consistent plan aimed at elimination of Ukrainian nation. Apparently this plan was not similar to final solution of Jewish problem by the Nazi and did not provide for Holocaust of all the Ukrainians. However, according to Rafael Lemkin the realization of this plan would have meant that Ukraine would perish just as if all the Ukrainians were killed because it would lose the part of the nation which preserved and developed its culture, belief, unifying ideas which paved the way for it and gave a soul to it i.e. made it not just population but a nation.
Belarus, Ukraine, Eastern Europe – a space stricken by genocide

Belarus, Ukraine, Eastern Europe – a space stricken by genocide
(Belarus, Ukraine, Eastern Europe – a space stricken by genocide)

  • Author(s):Zianon Pazniak
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Geography, Regional studies, Recent History (1900 till today), Criminology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:135-139
  • No. of Pages:5
  • Summary/Abstract:The totalitarian regimes which ruled in Russia and Germany in the 20th century left millions of civilian victims in their wake. In Germany people died in concentration camps and partly also at work camps. In the Soviet Union, they died in forests, in the cellars of the NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs), or in specially adapted ancient Belarusian forts and chateaux. These mass murders were top secret and this genocide was unknown until 1988. Officially the Soviet authorities only spoke about the gulags, though the gulags existed as a system of work camps. The question arises – where did the millions of victims disappear to? Russian communism was based on the NKVD and on lies, though that chalice of lies overflowed in the 1980’s and communism collapsed. Nevertheless, to this day it has not been possible to establish the number murdered by the USSR – figures from five to 70 or more million have been put forward.
Poland - Country Report - Poland

Poland - Country Report - Poland
(Poland - Country Report - Poland)

  • Author(s):Władysław Bułhak
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Criminal Law, International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Recent History (1900 till today), Criminology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:141-152
  • No. of Pages:13
  • Summary/Abstract:The following report applies to the execution of tasks performed by the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, related to the prosecution of communist, Nazi and war crimes, crimes against the humanity as well as those against peace. The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation was called into being by the passing of a parliamentary act of 18 December 1998. The preamble to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation indicated the foundations and leading principles this legal document was supposed to satisfy in regard to the injustices suffered under the totalitarian regimes: The leading principles include: – remembering about the multitude of victims, losses and damages suffered by the Polish Nation during WWII and after its end, – patriotic traditions of the Polish Nation’s fight against the oppressors, Nazis and communists, – civil actions aimed at the independence of the Polish Nation and executed in defense of freedom and human dignity, – the obligation to prosecute crimes against peace, humanity, as well as war crimes, – the duty of the state to satisfy all those harmed by the law violating the human rights.
Slovakia - Country Report - Slovakia

Slovakia - Country Report - Slovakia
(Slovakia - Country Report - Slovakia)

  • Author(s):Ľubomír Morbacher
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Recent History (1900 till today), History of Communism
  • Page Range:153-155
  • No. of Pages:3
  • Summary/Abstract:At the beginning of the 1990s, on the basis of Act No. 119/1990 of the Collection of Laws (Coll.), on judicial rehabilitation, courts in Czechoslovakia rehabilitated more than 220,000 people who had been convicted in political trials in the years 1948–1989. It is an undisputed fact that the Czechoslovak Republic, where the Communist Party seized power in February 1948, executed hundreds of innocent people. Hundreds more were killed at the border attempting to escape to the West, and it subjected hundreds of thousands of its own citizens to extra-judicial persecution in addition to the most severe deprivation of personal liberty, which has already been mentioned.
The Crimes of the communist regime in Hungary, national report

The Crimes of the communist regime in Hungary, national report
(The Crimes of the communist regime in Hungary, national report)

  • Author(s):János Rainer M.
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Politics, Media studies, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Civil Society, Recent History (1900 till today), Government/Political systems, History of Communism
  • Page Range:157-192
  • No. of Pages:36
  • Summary/Abstract:The expression communist regime refers in this report to the Soviet-type system of rule installed in Hungary after WWII, which persisted until the democratic transformation of 1989–90. Historians attach various terms to this system and this period, and there are a number of incompatible frames for discussing events associated with them. János Kornai, for example, calls it the socialist system and lists as its most general attributes a one-party political system, a monopoly for Marxist-Leninist political ideology, predominance of state or quasi-state ownership, bureaucratic coordination, and a centralized command economy. In the 1950s the Soviet-type system (following Hannah Arendt, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Carl Friedrich) was frequently classed among the totalitarian systems, with chiliastic ideology, a single mass party headed by the dictator, state terror, a monopoly of mass communications, and a centralized planned economy as its main attributes. These translate into institutions and /or patterns of conduct. The institutions altered little over the history of the Soviet-type systems, but there was much change in their methods of working, social embeddedness, interactions, approach to the subjugated, social autonomies and individual strategies. But there also exists a concept of the Soviet-type system – particularly that of the post-Stalinist period – as latent pluralism, exemplified by the Western revisionism that flourished in the 1960s. Others see continuity with the efforts of the Russians (or the Chinese in an Asian variant) to build and maintain an empire. A few claim it to be an alternative to the West European/Atlantic form of modernity, or a kind of catch-up modernization dictatorship that reflects that.
The significance of the opening of Stasi files for the legal processing of acts of injustice in the GDR

The significance of the opening of Stasi files for the legal processing of acts of injustice in the GDR
(The significance of the opening of Stasi files for the legal processing of acts of injustice in the GDR)

  • Author(s):Hans Altendorf
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Archiving, Security and defense, History of Communism
  • Page Range:193-197
  • No. of Pages:5
  • Summary/Abstract:I would first like to thank the organizers for the fact they have, within a broad international framework, chosen as the theme of this conference “the crimes of Communist regimes”. And thank you for the invitation from my agency, the Office of the Federal Commissioner Preserving the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic (BStU), which is a partner of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, the initiator of this conference. The co-operation between our institutions was confirmed by a joint agreement just a few months ago. I would like to emphasise one thing – to draw attention to the differing tasks which the law has given us. The German institute the BStU is tasked with dealing with the activities of the East German secret police. However, we are not an institute which uncovers the criminal acts of the East German dictatorship. A distinguished expert, former supreme state attorney Christoph Schaefgen, will inform you about the criminal prosecution of the injustices of the GDR in a presentation tomorrow.
National report on the crimes of communism in Slovenia

National report on the crimes of communism in Slovenia
(National report on the crimes of communism in Slovenia)

  • Author(s):Andreja Valič, Damjan Hančič, Boštjan Kolarič, Jernej Letnar Černič, Renato Podbersič
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Criminal Law, International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Government/Political systems, Criminology, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism
  • Page Range:203-236
  • No. of Pages:34
  • Summary/Abstract:For six centuries the Slovenian lands had been the part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which disintegrated aft er the WWI. According to the will of the Paris Peace Conference and the world super powers the majority of the Slovenian lands in 1918 entered the first Yugoslavia. Th e western part belonged to Italy and the west-northern part belonged to Austria. During the WWI in Slovenia (1941–1945) there were occupation, resistance, revolution, collaboration and the civil war. After the Axis attack on Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941, Slovenia was occupied by Italy, Germany and Hungary. After the Italian capitulation in September 1943, Germany added the Italian Slovenian territory into the Operational Zone Adriatic Littoral. After the German occupation of Hungary, the Third Reich occupied the whole of Slovenia. All three occupying countries had the same goal: to Italianize, Germanize and Hungarize the Slovenians and assimilate the occupied territories.
Marius Oprea, Romania

Marius Oprea, Romania
(Marius Oprea, Romania)

  • Author(s):Marius Oprea
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Recent History (1900 till today), Criminology, History of Communism, History of the Holocaust
  • Page Range:237-238
  • No. of Pages:2
  • Summary/Abstract:I think we all have a big problem – how to condemn communism. How to use democratic tools against a totalitarian system. Th is is our main problem. How to deal with the past. How to condemn, in a practical way, the communist system. Because we don’t have the tools. We have the seminars, like this one, where we give speeches, where we express our many views on this topic… What is the difference? Th e difference is that this is the state. Because the forensics, they have the gloves. But we don’t have gloves. We find bodies buried in common graves. But they have, practically, all the tools. They said those crimes were prescribed as ordinary crimes. Not as crimes against humanity, not as a Holocaust. Why not? Are they not similar?
Country Report - Bulgaria - Crimes committed by the communist regime in Bulgaria

Country Report - Bulgaria - Crimes committed by the communist regime in Bulgaria
(Country Report - Bulgaria - Crimes committed by the communist regime in Bulgaria)

  • Author(s):Vasil Kadrinov, Dinyu Sharlanov, Venelin I. Ganev
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Government/Political systems, Criminology, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism
  • Page Range:239-247
  • No. of Pages:9
  • Summary/Abstract:The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) is responsible for the state governance in Bulgaria from 1944 to 1989 and for the establishment of the totalitarian communist regime in the country. The BCP seized power on 9 September 1944 through a coup supported by a foreign country – the Soviet Union, which had declared war on Bulgaria. Founded in 1903 after a split in the Social-Democratic Party, BCP had failed to assert itself as a significant power in Bulgarian politics. Its efforts to generate big electoral support were unsuccessful, and its parliamentary influence never matched that of the agrarian and social-democratic parties in the country.
Country Report - Serbia - Crimes of the communist regimes – the case of Serbia

Country Report - Serbia - Crimes of the communist regimes – the case of Serbia
(Country Report - Serbia - Crimes of the communist regimes – the case of Serbia)

  • Author(s):Marina Jelić
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Government/Political systems, Criminology, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), History of Communism
  • Page Range:249-254
  • No. of Pages:6
  • Summary/Abstract:My name is Marina Jelic and I’m from the Republic of Serbia. In my case the information where I come from is not irrelevant to the subject of this meeting in general. Because, as you may be aware, the country that I come from was, until the beginning of 1990s, part of a larger administrative territory – the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is interesting to note that collapse of that complex country coincides with the fall of Berlin Wall, or collapse of communist systems in countries of Central and Eastern Europe. From the previously mentioned it is given to conclude that the communist regime can be only discussed in context of Yugoslavia (not Serbia). Serbia, which, aft er the collapse of federal country, went into wars, was in a particular way totalitarian organized state (as the most of former Yugoslav republics), which was in a way logical given the situation of open (or covert) war that prevailed in those newly created countries. It is not possible, however, to talk about classic communist model of government. (One party system, state ownership of property and materials for production, lack of freedom of press, total enclosed mass media, and so on…)
Hubert Gehring, Czech Republic/Germany

Hubert Gehring, Czech Republic/Germany
(Hubert Gehring, Czech Republic/Germany)

  • Author(s):Hubert Gehring
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Recent History (1900 till today), Security and defense, History of Communism, Conference Report
  • Page Range:269-269
  • No. of Pages:1
  • Summary/Abstract:Dear Mrs Němcová, Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great honour for me to welcome you to the second day of this conference in the name of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Prague. I am glad that the conference is today dedicated to important aspects of coming to terms with communist crimes, namely to their legal appraisal and treatment. The presence of eminent national and international discussion participants and chairs, and the patronage of the Czech government no less, attests to the importance of this subject. Special thanks belongs to the organisers, including the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and also partners from the European Platform of Memory and Conscience.
Miroslava Němcová, Czech Republic

Miroslava Němcová, Czech Republic
(Miroslava Němcová, Czech Republic)

  • Author(s):Miroslava Němcová
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Recent History (1900 till today), History of Communism, Conference Report
  • Page Range:271-271
  • No. of Pages:1
  • Summary/Abstract:Ladies and gentlemen, I consider the conference on the theme of the Crimes of the Communist Regimes to be enormously important. In particular, I appreciate the fact that it is being held in the Czech Republic on the grounds of the sovereign legislature on dates that left their mark 62 years ago on the history of our country as a precursor to a very tragic and long epoch. This was the era of the communist totalitarian regime, which crippled the economy of the country, isolated us from freely developing countries in Europe and on other continents, and inflicted irredeemable moral damage.
Classification of crimes committed between 1948 and 1989 and the prosecution of these crimes after 1990

Classification of crimes committed between 1948 and 1989 and the prosecution of these crimes after 1990
(Classification of crimes committed between 1948 and 1989 and the prosecution of these crimes after 1990)

  • Author(s):Miroslav Lehký
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Politics, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Criminology, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism
  • Page Range:277-283
  • No. of Pages:7
  • Summary/Abstract:Dear Ms Němcová, ladies and gentlemen, In introduction, let me present a brief overview of the most grievous crimes committed by the communist regime in Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1989. The period after the Communist Party’s assumption of power in February 1948 saw severe violations of all principal human rights and freedoms as well as civic rights. The fabricated political trials that the communist regime used to eliminate the opponents of the regime, which were based on investigations carried out by the State Security Service (“StB”) using torture and gross physical and psychological violence, resulted in the conviction of more than 257,000 people between 1948 and 1989, and if we include the people convicted by martial courts, the number exceeds 267,000 people. The very archival documents of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (“UV KSČ”) dating back to the 1950s list almost 27,000 people convicted for “anti-state crimes” between 1948 and 1952. The people were sentenced to severe imprisonment (15 or 25 years, or for life) and their personal property was forfeited and their civic and political rights taken away from them. A total of 248 people (including one woman) were executed for political reasons.
The legal aspects of coming to terms with the crimes of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia

The legal aspects of coming to terms with the crimes of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia
(The legal aspects of coming to terms with the crimes of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia)

  • Author(s):Pavel Gregor
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, History of Communism
  • Page Range:285-290
  • No. of Pages:6
  • Summary/Abstract:In regard to the discussed issue of dealing with the communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia, particularly at the level of criminal law, it is impossible not to mention the Office for the Documentation and the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism. I worked in this office from the end of 1995 until August last year, and I had been the head of the investigations department since 2000. Please allow me to first briefly mention the history of this institution. The Office for the Documentation and the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism (hereinafter referred to as the ÚDV) was established thanks to the man who became its first director – the important (alas now deceased) dissident and philosopher PhDr. Václav Benda, who later became a senator. The office was established as of 1 January 1995 via the amalgamation of a police section with investigative powers, but only for the area covering the activity of the State Security (StB) service, which was incidentally defined in its name – the Office for the Documentation and the Investigation of the Activity of the StB and the Centre for the Documentation of the Illegality of the Communist Regime at the Ministry of Justice (originally the Coordination Centre for the Investigation of Violence against the Czech Nation in the Years 1945–1989 at the General Prosecutor’s Office).
Cases of unofficial (private) persecution in Czechoslovakia

Cases of unofficial (private) persecution in Czechoslovakia
(Cases of unofficial (private) persecution in Czechoslovakia)

  • Author(s):Eduard Stehlík
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism
  • Page Range:291-295
  • No. of Pages:5
The prosecution of communist crimes in Germany

The prosecution of communist crimes in Germany
(The prosecution of communist crimes in Germany)

  • Author(s):Christoph Schäfgen
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism
  • Page Range:301-304
  • No. of Pages:4
  • Keywords:GDR; German Democratic Republic;
  • Summary/Abstract:Criminal processing of the injustices committed by the state in the former GDR under the government of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) commenced during the final phase of the GDR era, in the autumn of 1989. Following the reunification of Germany, it continued systematically and without interruption until coming to an end with the last court case in 2005. A timely start and rigorous criminal prosecution was possible because the political will for such an approach was in place and because after reunification Germany had a sufficient number of legal personnel who had not been tainted by the past. Those who called for an amnesty went unheeded. On the contrary, the German parliament passed several bills which pushed the start of a statute of limitations as far back as was legally possible. Staff levels at local state attorney’s offices and courts were beefed up. When deciding about criminal prosecution, the Federal Republic drew on its own experiences of insufficient initial punishment of the crimes of National Socialism, a fact which contributed to social unrest at the end of the 1960s.
The Trial of General Jaruzelski Justice of the Victors, or the Victory of Justice?

The Trial of General Jaruzelski Justice of the Victors, or the Victory of Justice?
(The Trial of General Jaruzelski Justice of the Victors, or the Victory of Justice?)

  • Author(s):Witold Kulesza
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism
  • Page Range:305-312
  • No. of Pages:8
  • Keywords:Wojciech Jaruzelski; transitional justice;
  • Summary/Abstract:The trial is taking place at a district court in Warsaw of General Wojciech Jaruzelski (87) and the other members of a group named the Military Council of National Salvation, which on 13 December 1981 announced martial law in Poland, took power, and during the 15 months of its operation banned the Solidarity opposition movement. It was the final attempt to conserve communism in the so-called real Socialism phase, which lasted for another nine years. Before I present the case presented in the arraignment against General Jaruzelski and his colleagues, I must first describe those events and the backdrop against which the crimes which are today attributed to him were committed. Poles regard the beginning of the collapse of communism as the foundation of the independent trade union organisation Solidarity in the shipyards of Gdansk in August 1980. Soon afterwards almost 10 million people had joined up, both workers and members of the intelligentsia. Many members of Solidarity had previously been members of the Communist Party which the then constitution guaranteed the sole right to run the state. The activities of Solidarity consisted of supporting civil society, publishing a free press and previously banned books, and above all helping to overcome fear of absolute state power.
Responding to crimes against humanity committed in Slovenia after the Second World War

Responding to crimes against humanity committed in Slovenia after the Second World War
(Responding to crimes against humanity committed in Slovenia after the Second World War)

  • Author(s):Jernej Letnar Černič
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Criminology, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism
  • Page Range:313-328
  • No. of Pages:16
  • Keywords:facing communist past in Slovenia; tranistional justice in Slovenia;
  • Summary/Abstract:As many as 130,000 people are estimated to have been summarily executed in Slovenia in the months following the end of the Second World War on 8 May 1945.1 It is further estimated that around 15,000 of those executed were of Slovenian nationality, whereas others included Croats, Serbs, and Germans. They were mostly civilians but also included members of the Slovenian Home Guard and other political opponents of the resistance movement led by the Slovenian Communist Party. These crimes – carried out by members of the Slovenian section of the Yugoslav Secret Police – were committed mostly in the form of systematic summary executions at hidden locations across Slovenia, predominantly in unpopulated rural areas and in forests. They were part of a systematic plan of the Slovenian Communist Party to eliminate their political opponents and their families, civilian or otherwise. It is still unclear whether the order for the liquidation of alleged political opponents and civilian population originated from the head of the former Yugoslav Security Police in Belgrade or the Slovenian branch in Ljubljana.
Transitional criminal justice in post-communist Romania

Transitional criminal justice in post-communist Romania
(Transitional criminal justice in post-communist Romania)

  • Author(s):Raluca Grosescu
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), History of Communism, Post-Communist Transformation
  • Page Range:329-342
  • No. of Pages:14
  • Keywords:Transitional justice; Communist past of Romania;
  • Summary/Abstract:The present article analyses the factors influencing the development of criminal transitional justice in post-communist Romania. In this study, we shall approach the trials against communist dignitaries, responsible for crimes and abuses committed between 1945 and 1989, other than repressing the demonstrations leading to the fall of Ceausescu regime in December 1989. We find this type of trial particularly significant as far as dealing with the past is concerned, as it tackles the injustices of the communist regime as a whole and not only its traumatic end. We find that, while the events of December 1989 were the object of numerous criminal trials (Mioc 2004, Stan 2008), post-communist justice stood almost still concerning the political crimes and abuses committed during 45 years of dictatorship. Despite protests from civic organizations and victims associations, in Romania, an official state policy regarding decommunization and punishing the political actors involved in repression was never implemented. From 1990 to date, only four indictments of crimes committed by members of the repressive apparatus have been filed, only two of which were finalized by verdicts of condemnation.
Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania - Speech at the Conference “Crimes of the Communist Regimes”, Given on 25 February 2010, Prague

Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania - Speech at the Conference “Crimes of the Communist Regimes”, Given on 25 February 2010, Prague
(Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuania - Speech at the Conference “Crimes of the Communist Regimes”, Given on 25 February 2010, Prague)

  • Author(s):Vytautas Landsbergis
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), History of Communism
  • Page Range:345-349
  • No. of Pages:5
  • Summary/Abstract:Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me first to say some remarks on war crimes. The most terrible war crime is the war itself. More precisely, somebody’s initiated war of deliberate destruction and conquest, usually based on conspiracy and betrayal of the given international commitments, without regard for the caused human suffering – this is the war crime Number one. If there is no war, where would war crimes come from? The state – initiator and conqueror – comes there as a perpetrator responsible for its deeds. Sometimes all this, as well as the situation of crime, are fixed immediately, in flagranti. Both initiators of the Second World War were excluded or kicked out of the League of Nations as aggressors and blood-spotted robbers of their smaller neighbours. Th en it was clear: the condemned and politically punished states were Germany and the USSR, not the “regimes” or ideologies, to remind of the usual misty self-deception and self-confusion of nowadays. The common starting point for both in 1939 was Poland and Finland, with Baltic States still anticipating their execution. Just before that latter happened, the looters or marauders were in advance bargaining for the forthcoming conquest of the neighbouring lands.
Jan Fischer, Prime minister of the Czech Republic

Jan Fischer, Prime minister of the Czech Republic
(Jan Fischer, Prime minister of the Czech Republic)

  • Author(s):Jan Fischer
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Recent History (1900 till today), Criminology, History of Communism, Conference Report
  • Page Range:363-364
  • No. of Pages:2
  • Summary/Abstract:First of all, I would like to thank our esteemed guests for having accepted the invitation to this conference. It was indeed a representative selection of speakers from whom we can learn a great deal about the nature of the crimes of communism, about the causes which led to them and about the solutions which we need to adopt in order to prevent a repetition of history. I would also like to thank the organisers for the idea of convening this meeting, which was not only about describing the past, but also the present and the ways in which the post-communist countries are coping with the shadows of totalitarianism. And of course also about the future, about seeking ways how to prevent any future possible loss of our freedom. Because it is the future and freedom which should be on our minds above all. History never repeats itself literally. “Real socialism” in its concrete form belongs to the past. And the practices of the current communist regimes differ from one another widely, oftentimes like fire and water. It is not sufficient to state simply that the essence of communist crimes lies in the elimination of democracy. Their essence lies above all in the elimination of freedom.
Jana Hybášková, Czech Republic

Jana Hybášková, Czech Republic
(Jana Hybášková, Czech Republic)

  • Author(s):Jana Hybášková
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, History of Communism, Fascism, Nazism and WW II, Conference Report, EU-Legislation
  • Page Range:365-367
  • No. of Pages:3
  • Summary/Abstract:It is a tremendous honour for me to be here today in the presence of the Czech prime minister. I can thank him for one very important thing. You are well aware that when we met before two years ago, we put together the Prague Declaration. I would like to thank the tens of thousands of signatories who have signed the declaration up to now. I would also like to thank the parliaments who have signed up to it. The European Parliament’s European Conscience and Totalitarianism resolution arose out of this declaration. And it was at the last meeting of the General Council of the European Union under the Czech Presidency (which was already under the patronage of the prime minister) that the Council of Ministers of the European Union adopted and supported the European Parliament resolution. And ensuing from the European Conscience and Totalitarianism, it also made a commitment in this sense of the word that this history is a common European history, that communism was not some exotic eastern deviation, that it is a common horrific European legacy, and that we must also recognise it in the future and attempt to pass judgement on it. These conclusions from July’s Council of the Czech presidency were already established under the patronage of our Czech prime minister. And so far it is actually the most important legal proof that we have; it is a European Union document; and it is a European Union decision. This document has also given rise to the creation of a Platform of institutions dealing with the history, studying and passing judgement on communist and totalitarian regimes throughout Europe. And I hope that it will be the Czech government which will take this commitment further and actively support the establishment of the Platform so that it does not simply remain as a Council of Europe decision, but that we are actually able to accomplish this together as active Europeans, from the north, south, east and west.
Anders Hjemdahl, Sweden

Anders Hjemdahl, Sweden
(Anders Hjemdahl, Sweden)

  • Author(s):Anders Hjemdahl
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Criminology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:371-377
  • No. of Pages:7
  • Summary/Abstract:Ladies and gentlemen, excellencies, honored guests, I would like to begin by expressing that I’m honored to be here in Prague, and how happy I am to see so many people here from so many organizations and institutions in so many countries. I would also like to thank the prime minister of the Czech Republic and commend our Czech hosts and organizers for their excellent and hard work in bringing us all together here in Prague, right in the heart of the reunified Europe. We are all here for basically the same reasons. One reason is a wish to, at long last, bring the crimes of communism to light, and make this tragic part of European, and indeed of World history, an integral part of the general, public knowledge of recent history. Another reason is to, finally, see at least some measure of justice be done, to the still unpunished perpetrators of these crimes, the effects of which will continue to haunt and affect hundreds of millions of people for generations to come.
Petr Brod, Czech Republic

Petr Brod, Czech Republic
(Petr Brod, Czech Republic)

  • Author(s):Petr Brod
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Jewish studies, Recent History (1900 till today), History of Communism, Fascism, Nazism and WW II, History of the Holocaust
  • Page Range:379-383
  • No. of Pages:5
  • Summary/Abstract:This conference is subtitled “The View of Historians and Legal Experts”. I myself am neither a professional historian nor an expert on the law. Rather, I speak from personal experience as somebody who comes from a family that suffered in various ways under both totalitarian systems, and as somebody who lived in exile and in his own way took part in activities aimed against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia – in my case, at foreign radio stations. There are in essence two strands to what I would like to speak about. I will partly attempt to answer certain questions which come under this panel’s heading. And I would also like to consider certain aspects of these issues from the Jewish perspective. That is because we find in the histories of both the 20th century’s totalitarian regimes tragic and interesting links to Jewish history. Some have already been discussed, and I have my own perspective on them.
Milan Zver, Slovenia

Milan Zver, Slovenia
(Milan Zver, Slovenia)

  • Author(s):Milan Zver
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Politics, Education, Media studies, Government/Political systems, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010)
  • Page Range:385-388
  • No. of Pages:4
  • Summary/Abstract:My intention is not to intimidate but rather to warn or remind all of us of the “fragility”, weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the newly established democracies in Europe and beyond, although – I have to stress right at the beginning – I do not agree with H. P Martin (former MEP), who produced the thesis of the End of (EU) democracy. However, let me present you with some facts and expectations from 20 years ago – which I would argue are important to explain my point of view. Well, what happened at the end of the eighties? Firstly: Democracy triumphed in Europe. At that time the third wave of the spread Democracy took place in Europe and in the world and so it seemed the end of totalitarian regimes in Europe had finally materialized. Secondly: Even more, some talked about the Triumph of Western Civilisation over the rest of the world, with the domination of its culture and market economy. The End of Ideologies and History is Fukuyama’s famous thesis. Thirdly: On that basis a rapid and successful transition to a democratic system was predicted by mass movements and new elites. The phenomenon of a new democratic culture seemed at the time to be unstoppable.
Heidi Hautala, Finland

Heidi Hautala, Finland
(Heidi Hautala, Finland)

  • Author(s):Heidi Hautala
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Politics, Political behavior, Politics and society, Criminology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:391-394
  • No. of Pages:4
  • Summary/Abstract:Dear participants of the conference Crimes of the Communist Regimes, I can’t unfortunately be present in the conference, as I am taking part on a European Parliament’s fact-finding delegation visit to Belarus. Twenty years after the fall of the Iron Curtain and almost six years after the accession of post-communist countries to the EU, it is natural to ask how one should deal with the past of the communist states. How should we evaluate the actions of the communist regimes behind the Iron Curtain? For me the points of departure are definitely human rights and justice. It is undisputed that the communist regimes violated human rights, as the Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of 25 January 2006 states. However, it is not as clear how we should deal with this past. In my contribution I will touch upon the question of the power of interpretation, the need for a free and tolerant public debate, the complex issue of transparency and the diverse roles of politicians and researchers in Vergangenheitspolitik. The question is: who interprets the truth?
International Justice: UN tribunals, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

International Justice: UN tribunals, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(International Justice: UN tribunals, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission)

  • Author(s):Ivana Janů
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Recent History (1900 till today), History of Communism, Fascism, Nazism and WW II
  • Page Range:399-418
  • No. of Pages:20
  • Keywords:UN Tribunal; transitional justice; South Africa; reconciliation; Truth Commission;
  • Summary/Abstract:A society in a moral crisis, whose origins lie in an authoritarian, totalitarian regime from the recent past, cannot be healed unless it holds a mirror up to itself. Above all it must ask itself what relationship it actually has with the past. Consequently, it is not enough for it to be about documents based on the opinion of specialists and professional analysts such as intellectuals. The opinion of the majority should ensue from a relatively sophisticated survey of public opinion, which would distinguish what direct participants in the period of national history that is being examined think and how young people are informed about it. Naturally, information on the standard of history teaching at primary and secondary schools should also be added to this. Only then is it possible to effectively influence the convictions of society with a view to restoring the values that were destroyed by the previous regime.
Alexandra Mihalcea, Romania

Alexandra Mihalcea, Romania
(Alexandra Mihalcea, Romania)

  • Author(s):Alexandra Mihalcea
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), History of Communism
  • Page Range:419-425
  • No. of Pages:7
  • Summary/Abstract:Dear conference participants, It is not easy for the speaker to make the presentation before such an overwhelmingly important and prestigious audience. Moreover, it is quite certain that most of the issues treated in the presentation itself are to be debated fundamentally in previous contributions. (At the time of the presentation, on Friday – 26 February, this will be a “fait accomplit”). When, between July and December 1999, I experienced international justice for the first time (and still the last time, at present), being close to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, little did I imagine that ten years after I would officially link this close encounter to one of the most dramatic and painful efforts of my own people in the course of its history: the fight against communism.
Ntsiki Sandi, South Africa

Ntsiki Sandi, South Africa
(Ntsiki Sandi, South Africa)

  • Author(s):Ntsiki Sandi
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Social differentiation, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), History of Communism, Fascism, Nazism and WW II
  • Page Range:427-436
  • No. of Pages:10
  • Summary/Abstract:Chairperson, I first want to thank the organizers of this very important conference for inviting me to come and be one of the speakers today, and share the experiences of our respective countries since the collapse of dictatorships. I thank the Czech Republic’s office in South Africa for quickly arranging that I get the visa to enter this country. My sister the Honourable Ambassador Madam Sandra Botha and her staff , for their very prompt assistance in this regard. I think this is a very important conference which will pave the way forward not only for the people of the Czech Republic but for all the nations of the Central and Eastern Europe. As South Africans we wish you well in your endevours to transform your justice systems in the post-communist era, but more importantly the need to dig out the truth about the past so that your people can be reconciled.
Killing on the Inner German border – a Crime against Humanity?

Killing on the Inner German border – a Crime against Humanity?
(Killing on the Inner German border – a Crime against Humanity?)

  • Author(s):Boris Burghardt
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Criminal Law, International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Criminology, History of Communism
  • Page Range:437-448
  • No. of Pages:12
  • Keywords:GDR; German Democratic Republic; Inner-German border; Firing Order;
  • Summary/Abstract:Were the killings on the Inner German border a crime against humanity? Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, nearly two decades after the demise of the GDR, this question may seem passé. Why should we be interested in a question, when from the criminal justice point of view the issue of injustices in the GDR has been closed for a long time? We can put forward two reasons. The first is purely academic interest, without benefit, which in this concrete case gathers impetus from the fact that answers put forward to date have not been satisfactory. The second is that the border policy of the GDR regime is of such historical significance that it calls for evaluation by means of normative criteria for judging the criminal responsibility of individuals in the framework of concrete prosecutions. Clear proof of this is seen in the recently begun, passionate debate on the classification of the GDR as a country afflicted by injustice. Finally, this presentation should offer the first thoughts at this conference on to what extent the international legal category of crimes against humanity can play a role in the legal processing of the injustices of Europe ’s Communist regimes.
Pavel Žáček, Czech Republic

Pavel Žáček, Czech Republic
(Pavel Žáček, Czech Republic)

  • Author(s):Pavel Žáček
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Recent History (1900 till today), History of Communism
  • Page Range:451-453
  • No. of Pages:3
  • Summary/Abstract:Dear conference participants, I would like to start the final panel, which should comprise an overview of everything that has happened at our conference entitled Crimes of the Communist Regimes, which we have jointly dedicated ourselves to over the course of three days. At the same time, I would like to outline some steps to be taken in the future. I perceive this international conference on the most serious subject from our recent past, which constantly affects us in this geopolitical area, to be the culmination of the activity of our Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes thus far. I can say that our involvement in work on an international level, as anticipated by our law, has been successful and has smoothly continued on from the activity of the Slovenian presidency. This is where the hearing at the Council of Europe was which has already been mentioned several times. We have followed up on this, strengthened by our own initiating source, the Prague Declaration from the summer of 2008.
Declaration on Crimes of Communism

Declaration on Crimes of Communism
(Declaration on Crimes of Communism)

  • Author(s):Author Not Specified
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, History of Communism, Conference Report
  • Page Range:454-456
  • No. of Pages:3
  • Summary/Abstract:We, the participants of the international conference “Crimes of the Communist Regimes” held in Prague on 24-26 February 2010, declare the following...
About the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

About the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes
(About the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes)

  • Author(s):Author Not Specified
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Education, Government/Political systems, Management and complex organizations, History of Communism, Fascism, Nazism and WW II
  • Page Range:467-467
  • No. of Pages:1
  • Summary/Abstract:The Institute was founded based on Act No. 181/2007 Coll. passed by the Parliament of the Czech Republic. It assumed work on 1 February, 2008. Its mission includes the study and evaluation of the period of Nazi occupation and communist rule in former Czechoslovakia, the anti-democratic and criminal activities of the state, especially its security services, and of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia; the analysis and documentation of the reasons for the liquidation of the democratic regime, and of the active support for and resistance against the dictatorships, as well as the documentation of Nazi and communist crimes. Through and together with its subordinate entity, the Security Services Archive which administers over 18 km of files, the Institute acquires relevant documents, ensures their digitisation and makes them accessible to the public. The Institute’s further mission is to raise awareness, disseminate information and educate the public, in cooperation with like-minded institutions and persons at home and abroad.
About the working group on the Platform of European Memory and Conscience

About the working group on the Platform of European Memory and Conscience
(About the working group on the Platform of European Memory and Conscience)

  • Author(s):Author Not Specified
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Information Architecture, Management and complex organizations
  • Page Range:467-468
  • No. of Pages:2
  • Summary/Abstract:The working group was founded on the eve of the Czech EU-Presidency in November 2008 in Prague by the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. It was convened in response to calls formulated by the European public hearing “Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes” during the Slovenian EU-presidency on 8 April, 2008 and the Prague Declaration of 3 June, 2008. The Institute is the coordinator of the working group which today counts about 36 governmental and non-governmental institutions and organisations from 18 European countries.
Partner institutions from the working group on the Platform of European Memory and Conscience participating in the conference

Partner institutions from the working group on the Platform of European Memory and Conscience participating in the conference
(Partner institutions from the working group on the Platform of European Memory and Conscience participating in the conference)

  • Author(s):Author Not Specified
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Information Architecture, Management and complex organizations
  • Page Range:469-469
  • No. of Pages:1
  • Summary/Abstract:Memorial, RU Institute of historial memory, EE Museum of Occupation of Latvia 1940-1991, LV International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania, LT Branch State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine, UA Ukrainian institute of National Memory, UA Institute of National Remembrance, PL Nation’s Memory Institute, SK Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, HU BStU, DE Study Centre for National Reconciliation, SI Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes, RO Hannah Arendt Centre Sofi a, BG Center for Peace and Democracy Development, RS ÚSTR, CZ
About Authors

About Authors
(About Authors)

  • Author(s):Author Not Specified
  • Language:English
  • Subject(s):Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, Conference Report
  • Page Range:0-0
  • No. of Pages:20
  • Keywords:about authors;
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