Politics of the Past: the Use and Abuse of History
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Cover History and Politics:Mise en page 1 3/20/09 4:04 PM Page 1 Twenty years after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism the battles about the right interpretation of the twentieth century past are still being fought. In some countries even the courts have their say on what is or is not the historical truth. But primarily politicians have claimed a dominant role Politics of the Past: in these debates, often mixing history and politics in an irresponsible way. The European Parliament has become the arena where this culminates. Nevertheless, not every Member of Parliament wants to play historian. That is the The Use and Abuse of History background of Politics of the Past, in which historians take the floor to discuss the tense and ambivalent relationship between their profession and politics. Pierre Hassner: “Judges are no better placed than governments to replace open Edited by dialogue between historians, between historians and public opinion, between citizens and within and between democratic societies. That is why this book is Hannes Swoboda and such an important initiative.” Jan Marinus Wiersma Politics of the Past: The Use and Abuse of History The of the Past: Politics Cover picture: Reporters/AP 5 7 2 6 2 3 2 8 2 9 ISBN 92-823-2627-5 8 7 QA-80-09-552-EN-C ISBN 978-92-823-2627-5 9 Politics of the Past: The Use and Abuse of History Edited by Hannes Swoboda and Jan Marinus Wiersma Dedicated to Bronisław Geremek Bronisław Geremek, historian, former political dissident and our dear colleague, was one of the speakers at the event which we organized in Prague to commemorate the Spring of 1968. As always, his contribution to the debate was balanced and full of insights. His life was devoted to just causes whether writing his famous history of poverty or being one of the leaders of Solidarność. To him we dedicate this publication. He was a true citizen of Europe who always looked forward, as his article, which we were allowed to reprint, illustrates. The contributions in this publication do not represent the Socialist Group’s official position ISBN 978-92-823-2627-5 doi: 10.2861/23116 © 2009 – The Socialist Group in the European Parliament Table of contents Preface: Never Again 7 Martin Schulz Preface: The Past Does Not Go Away 9 Karl Duffek Introduction by the Editors 11 Politics of the Past: The Use and Abuse of History 15 Jan Marinus Wiersma THE PAST AS PRESENT 29 Common Memory and European Identity 31 Bronisław Geremek The Word Concentration Camp means different 43 Things to different People An interview with Norman Davies It Does Not Hurt to Apologise 61 An interview with György Konrád HISTORICAL DILEMMAS 69 Beyond History and Politics 71 Pierre Hassner Memory Wars 81 Krzysztof Pomian Historians and Political Agendas 87 Wim van Meurs The Use of History to Legitimize Political Power: 97 The Case of Germany Martin Sabrow Historical Bias in Poland: Lustration as a Political Instrument 105 Andrzej Friszke European Social Democracy and 20th Century Totalitarianism 113 Bernd Faulenbach The Interpretation of the Soviet Union’s History: 121 The Baltic Dimension Česlovas Laurinavičius Comparing Fascism and Communism 129 Constantin Iordachi HISTORY IN PRACTICE 145 The Real Problem Latvians Have with History 147 Viktor Makarov Diversity in Historical Education: A Balkan Example 155 Hannes Swoboda For the Record: PSE MEPs react 159 Helmut Kuhne, Miguel Angel Martinez, Justas Paleckis and Józef Pinior SPECIAL REPORT: SLOVAKS AND HUNGARIANS 165 The Historical Dimension of the Relations between 167 Hungarians and Slovaks History – A Fundamental Pillar of National Identity 171 Milan Zemko A Common Past, a Divided History 181 László Szarka History and National Identity 193 Stefan Šutaj MEMORIES 205 Resistance and Exile 207 Miguel Angel Martinez Remember August 23, 1939 215 Marianne Mikko Moscow versus Prague 219 Boris Orlov Social Democracy and the Prague Spring 223 Jiři Paroubek Renaissance of Democratic Socialism 227 Józef Pinior My Personal Encounters with History 229 Hannes Swoboda Witness, not Victim 2 37 Jan Marinus Wiersma Memory is a Loaded Gun: An Epilogue 243 Hannes Swoboda and Camiel Hamans Preface Never again Martin Schulz Collective memory gives people a sense of belonging. History helps to explain the world. A shared view of history can motivate people to take action that changes the future. History is subjective and open to different interpretations. Many politicians have used a partisan view of history to further their own ends. Each country and every generation has to deal with their own past, but this should not be done by promoting myths or by using politi- cally motivated interpretations of history to attack opponents. We inherit the collective memory and the history our predecessors left for us and we should use this appropriately and honestly. As a German, I feel strongly that I have to live with the horror of the Third Reich and Auschwitz, the lowest point in human history. The history of the European Union is a history of the determination that grew out of the ruins of 1945 – it is a history of 'never again'. The EU has led to the longest period of peace in Europe since Roman times. The lesson we have learnt is that this determination must be renewed every day. Despite the lessons of history, right wing extremism and populism are alive in Europe. The current eco- nomic crisis must not be allowed to lead to a greater resurgence of the Far Right. Europe’s tragic history did not end in 1945 with the defeat of the Nazi regime. I come across this everyday when I am talking with colleagues from Central and Eastern Europe who suffered under communist dictatorships. We cannot walk away from our history, and today’s politics are of course related to events that happened in the past. We should refrain, however, from abusing history for political gain. Martin Schulz is President of the Socialist Group in the European 7 Parliament. That is the reason why the Socialist Group has published this book and that is why we asked historians, not politicians, to take the lead. Reading their contributions, I have the distinct impression that the history of Europe and its nations is better understood by these experts than by those politicians who choose to emphasise con- flict and make inappropriate distinctions. This gives me the confidence to repeat that the continuation of European unification lends a moral and intellectual basis to the European Union right up to the present day, and I believe the Euro- pean Union is therefore one of the best answers to the divisions that have torn Europe apart in the past. 8 Preface The Past Does Not Go Away Karl Duffek At the heart of the project of European integration there has always been the idea to prevent wars and violent conflicts on our conti- nent by means of economic co-operation. Let the past be the past, let us now – after 1945 – open a new chapter of our history, that was the concept. After the demise of communism this project has finally been extended to the whole of Europe. The past, however, proved to be quite nasty. It did not go away as easily as some of us might have expected. Ethnic or national conflicts, civil wars of former days, allegations of various kinds, the obvious burden all post-authoritarian societies have to bear – all this is still very much alive in the Europe of our days. And that is why, to my mind, this publication is so very important. The only way to tackle the repeated intrusion of the past in the political debate of today is to face it, to discuss it, to explain the myths each and every nation in Europe has developed and to confront them with the historical truth. Take the case of my country, Austria, for example. In the course of the 20th century we had two periods of fascism. First, our very own kind of Austro-Fascism in the years from 1933 to 1938, when the conservative forces abolished democracy, banned the labour move- ment and, in some respect, paved the way for the Nazi dictatorship which immediately followed. It took us, with a few notable exceptions, a number of decades until we began to develop a more complex picture of Austria’s role during the Third Reich – with Austrians being not just the victim of foreign invaders, but also contributing in a substantial way to the atrocities of Nazi terror. After 1945, after the liberation from Nazism by the Allied Forces it was, of course, important to re-build a democratic society. And it was certainly a difficult task of our post-authoritarian nation how to 9 Karl Duffek is the Director of the Renner Institute in Vienna. treat those large numbers of people who in one way or another were involved with the regime that had just been destroyed. To find the right balance between the necessary cleansing of a so- ciety and punishing of strongly involved people on the one hand, and the integration of all the others into the new society, on the other, cannot be easy. Shortly after the end of the war a large con- sensus was formed in favour of a fast and very broad re-integration. If this is often criticized today – and in many cases rightly so – one should also remember the words of Eugen Kogon who immediately after the war spoke of a “right of political error” and the challenge of convincing former followers of Nazism that democracy is better than what was there before.