Parliamentarium Museum Will Add Content Illustrating Soviet Aggression

In response to a letter sent by MEPs Sandra Kalniete (Latvia), Doris Pack (Germany), Jacek Protasiewicz (Poland), Tunne Kelam (Estonia), Vytautas Landsbergis (Lithuania), and Monica Macovei (Romania) the Parliamentarium Museum will add content illustrating Soviet aggression.

In their letter sent on May 22^nd 2013, MEPs expressed their concern that the museum of the European Parliament did not adequately address the role of the Soviet Union in starting World War Two and their perpetration of grave crimes against humanity. “While the Parlamentarium museum addresses the grave atrocities committed by the Nazi Regime and Nazi Germany’s role as aggressor in World War Two, we find it disheartening that similar acts committed by the Soviet Union and their role as ally of Nazi Germany and co-aggressor at the start of the war are not mentioned.”

After reviewing the content, the Directorate General for Communication of the Parliamentarium Unit has confirmed that the section addressing the history before the European Union will be revised. Currently consultation is taking place with museums dedicated to Soviet crimes in order to select the most appropriate images. As the content has been confirmed we will update this article.

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The ban of totalitarian symbols is not considered necessary by the President of the EP

In December 2013, Transylvanian MEP László Tőkés, Hungarian MEP George Schöpflin, Latvian MEPs Sandra Klaniete and Inese Vaidere, Lithuanian MEPs Laima Liucija Andrikiené and Vytautas Landsbergis, as well as Slovenian MEP Milan Zver addressed a letter to the President of the European Parliament, in which they requested a ban of symbols of totalitarian regimes.

Referring to the epoch-making European Parliament Resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism, the undersigning EPP Group Members reminded the Socialist President that “Europe will not be united unless it is able to form a common view of its history, recognizes Nazism, Stalinism and Fascist and Communist regimes as a common legacy and brings about an honest and thorough debate on their crimes in the past century.” Further, they draw the attention of Martin Schulz to the fact that while the usage, denial and/or disparagement of totalitarian symbols is prohibited and considered a criminal offense in some Member States, these virulent phenomena occur on a daily basis in other Member States.

“We turn to you, Mr. President with the respectful request that you ban the use of symbols of dictatorships inside the European Parliament and all its public premises, in particular the swastika, red star as well as the hammer and sickle. We similarly recommend that the European Parliament make a proposal on the ban of dictatorial symbols in all EU member states. It is our firm conviction that it would be truly worthy of the EU’s spirit and image, as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize,” concluded the letter.

“As you surely are aware the European Parliament has been throughout its existence an undeniable pillar of freedom, democracy, non-discrimination and rule of law in Europe and indeed at a global level and has never hesitated to reaffirm the values it stands for,” replied The President on 14 February 2014, however he did not consider the ban of genocidal totalitarian symbols necessary. Nevertheless, a general ban of totalitarian symbols would have had a strong message to the European people who had suffered under the brutality of both rightist and leftist dictatorships.

Diplomatically avoiding the request itself, President Schulz cited the Rules governing cultural events and exhibitions on Parliament’s premises, stating that “these rules are, and will be in the future, an effective tool to avoid any undue displays of potentially disturbing images or symbols within the European Parliament.”

On 25 February, the Memorial Day for the Victims of Communism, Transylvanian MEP Tőkés said that 25 years after the fall of soviet-communist dictatorships double standards still prevail in the European Union, and the silent toleration of communist symbols continues violating the memory of millions of victims.  

Strasbourg, 25 February 2014

Former Communist prison commander charged with genocide denies charges, says he has no regrets

Source: January 14, 2014, Associated Press

A man charged with genocide for the deaths of political prisoners at a lockup he commanded when Romania was a Communist country pleaded innocent on Tuesday.

Alexandru Visinescu, 87, is accused of responsibility for the deaths of six inmates at the Ramnicu Sarat prison from 1956 to 1963. Prosecutors said prisoners there were routinely subjected to beatings, hunger, insufficient medical treatment, and exposure to the cold.

No date has been set for Visinescu’s trial.

During a closed hearing Tuesday, he denied the charge.

Afterward, reporters asked the defendant whether he had any regrets, and Visinescu replied: “No way.”

About 500,000 Romanians were condemned as political prisoners in the 1950s as the nation’s Communist government sought to crush all dissent. Prosecutors say Visinescu participated in efforts to wipe them out. One-fifth of these prisoners died in custody, historians have said.

In October, Ion Ficior was charged with genocide for his alleged roles in the deaths of 103 political prisoners when he served as deputy commander, then commander, of the Periprava labor camp in 1958-1963.

Prosecutors say he “introduced and coordinated a repressive detention regime, which was abusive and inhuman” against political prisoners.

Both cases were brought to light by a Romanian government institute that investigates Communist-era crimes.

About 3,500 former Romanian political prisoners from the 1950s and 1960s are still alive. That is far below the 40,000 who were alive when Communism was overthrown in Romania in 1989.

Link to original

Members of the REH group, in the European Parliament, welcomed the decision to dismantle symbols of totalitarianism in Georgia

Chair of the Reconciliation of European Histories group (REH), MEP Sandra Kalniete, in a letter to the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament expresses satisfaction with the amendment to the Liberty Charter, adopted by the Georgian Parliament on December the 25^th. The new amendment is aimed at actual enforcement of measures to prevent public displays of symbols of totalitarian regimes. This act should effectively stop the construction of monuments dedicated to Joseph Stalin, started last year.

Last year, on behalf of the REH group, Ms. Kalniete turned to senior officials in the Georgian government, expressing outrage at the fact that Georgia had approved plans to erect monuments in honour of the murderous leader of the Soviet Union. In addition, steps were taken for the European Parliament to formally condemning such behaviour. With the recent decision, Ms. Kalniete feels satisfaction that the work of the REH group may have contributed to the Georgian Parliament’s decision.

After Georgia’s decision to amend the law, MEPs were pleased to learn that the Stalin monument recently built in the city of Telavi was immediately removed. The law now provides real penalties for the glorification of communist and fascist regimes and facilitates the creation of a panel to identify and prevent such violations.

In the letter sent to the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Ms. Kalniete expressing support for the parliamentary decision and emphasised that this decision corresponds with European values and will help strengthen the already strong relationship between the EU and Georgia.

 Link to an article on the Georgian decision

 

 

Platform will seek establishment of a supranational court for international crimes committed by Communists

Source: The Platform of European Memory and Conscience
Prague/Brussels, 7 June 2012.

The Platform of European Memory and Conscience is calling for the creation of a supranational judicial body for the gravest crimes committed by the Communist dictatorships. The call was announced at the conclusion of the international conference “Legal Settlement of Communist Crimes“ held on 5 June, 2012 in the European Parliament in Brussels under the auspices of a number of Members of the European Parliament, including its two former Presidents, Mr Jerzy Buzek and Mr HansGert Pöttering.

Materials from the Conference “Legal Settlement of Communist Crimes”

Overview of the Event
 Agenda of the Event with audio recording of the sessions
Photos of the Event
Programme Booklet for the Event
Press release by the Platform of European Memory and Conscience
Press release by the EPP political group
New Tang Dynasty Television report on the Event

Materials from the Conference “Occupation after Liberation”

Agenda 
Speakers Bios
Summary of the Event
Audio Recording of the Entire Event
Photos of the Event
Speech of President Daul
Speech of MEP Vaidere
Speech of MEP Schopflin
Speech of MEP Landsbergis
Power Point of Mr. Mezmalis

Materials from the Seminar ‘Life After the Soviet Union’

 Agenda
Speakers Bios
Video address of Joseph Daul (MEP), President of the EPP Group in the European Parliament
Video address of Jerzy Buzek (MEP), former President of the European Parliament
Audio recording of the entire seminar
Photos from the event
EPP TV report on the event

Meeting of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group

On February the 28th, the Reconciliation of European Histories group had its first meeting of the New Year. At the meeting, group members as well as guests representing NGOs were addressed by Hungarian MEP Ágnes Hankiss on the condition of Member State archives related to the repressive apparatuses of former dictatorships and the role which the EU plays in preserving such archives. Mrs. Hankiss, the founder of an archive research institute in Hungary, described the complex differences in the legislation on archives in MS and the better and worse practices applied. She also made an overview of the existing EU documents on EU institutions archives and the efforts to promote the EU institutions archival procedures in MS. During the discussion Members expressed their opinion that the EU should have a greater say in how such archives are preserved, kept, and how the information is made accessible for researchers and the larger public, as auch archives are a valuable source for the common history ofEurope. Also, Members suggested that the issue of accessibility of archives in candidate countries should be addressed in future EU accession negotiations. The group decided to organize a hearing on the state of archives and the best practices in the MS in the latter part of the year.

Bulgarian documentary “Goryani” (2011) reveals Bulgarians’ resistance against communism

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

At the end of 2011 Andrey Kovatchev, Vice-chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament and Member of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group, supported the distribution of the Bulgarian documentary “Goryani” (“mountain dwellers” in Eng.) directed by Mr Atanas Kirjakov. 

“Goryani” is devoted to one of the most traumatic, but also most remarkable moments of the new Bulgarian history – the resistance movement of the Goryani against the communist rule in the period between 1944 and 1956. The film is based on authentic archival and documental evidence, as well as the memories of living members of the movement and their successors. The film was first presented on 27 September 2011 and it was greeted with huge interest by the Bulgarian civil society.

Spain’s Franco-era probe judge Baltasar Garzon on trial

BBC News, 24 January 2012

A high-profile Spanish judge has gone on trial accused of violating a 1977 amnesty law by investigating civil war and Franco-era crimes.

Baltasar Garzon is accused by two right-wing groups of overstepping his powers by trying to prosecute crimes committed between 1936 and 1975.

The case has reignited the debate about the way Spain has dealt with its past.

Bulgaria condemns communist Turkish assimilation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Daily News, January 11 2012

Bulgaria’s parliament adopted on Wednesday a special declaration condemning the forcible assimilation of the country’s sizeable Turkish minority under communism.
 
The declaration specifically centred on the so-called “revival process” in the mid-1980s when Bulgaria’s ethnic Turks were forced to change their Muslim names to Bulgarian ones.
 

Germans visit HQ of ex-Stasi boss Mielke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BBC World News, 16 January 2012

The heart of the former East German police state – the office of Stasi chief Erich Mielke – has been opened to the public in Berlin.

The original plush furnishings have been restored at “Haus 1” – the former communist secret police headquarters, which is now a museum.

Before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 about 8,000 Stasi agents worked there, isolated from ordinary citizens.

Twenty-two years ago protesters stormed the HQ and saved many secret files.

Spain commission seeks removal of Gen Franco’s remains

BBC World News, 29 November 2011

A commission set up by the Spanish government has recommended that the remains of General Francisco Franco should be exhumed.

The dictator’s tomb is inside a Catholic basilica, at a politically divisive civil war memorial.

The site, near Madrid, has been a rallying point for the far right.

The commission said the remains of Gen Franco – who ruled between 1936 and his death in 1975 – should be handed over to his family for reburial.

Materials from the EPP hearing on the European Commission’s Report: The memory of the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes in Europe

 Multi Media

Photographs from the Hearing
EPPpress release
EPP TV coverage
Latvian TV

Materials from the Hearing

Statement of the Reconciliation of European Histories group: On the Occasion of the Founding of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience

The Reconciliation of European Histories group in the European Parliament welcomes the establishment of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience as a significant step towards the reconciliation and converging of the European historical narratives. In 2004 when the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, became Member States, the true history of the Iron Curtain still had to be written. Following the enlargement we faced the challenge of including the experience of the post-communist nations into the common narrative of European history. In seven years we have accomplished much to raise the public’s awareness about Europe’s troubled past and the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes. As the December 22nd 2010 Commission Report on the memory of crimes committed by totalitarian regimes and the June 8th 2011 Council Conclusions of the same title show, these years of work have brought this most important topic to the highest reaches of EU governance

Platform of European Memory and Conscience to be established in Prague on 13-14 October, 2011 as a parallel event of the summit of the Prime ministers

Heads of 19 partner institutions and organisations specialised in the subject of totalitarian history from 13 EU member states will sign the founding document of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience in Prague on 14 October, 2011. The ceremony, which will take place in the presence of Prime minister Petr Nečas and Vice-President of the European Parliament László Tökés, is an accompanying event of the summitof the Prime ministers of the Visegrad group.  

General Court of the EU: The Soviet coat of arms may not be registered as a Community trade mark

On 20 September 2011, the General Court of the European Union has ruled in case Case T‑232/10, Couture Tech Ltd vs. Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM), that the Soviet coat of arms may not be registered as a Community trade mark. In this precident it was decided that “its registration as a Community trade mark must be refused even if it is contrary to public policy and to accepted principles of morality in only one Member State.”

Press Release: http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2011-09/cp110095en.pdf

Judgment: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62010TJ0232:EN:HTML

Warsaw Declaration on the occasion of the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, 23rd of August 2011

The ministers of Justice of 16 Euroepan Member States and the President of the European Parliament signed the Warsaw Declaration on the occasion of the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, 23rd of August 2011. Please find the link to the document here.

MEP Milan Zver: How to come to terms with the past?

One of the key questions of contemporary societies is how to come to terms with the past,  and particularly with the ‘dark’ heritage of the turbulent 20th century. This – individual as well as collective – reconciliation with the past should be based on truth, but the truth is sometimes bitter and often painful. Hence the dilemma: Is it worth opening old wounds, disturbing tranquillity by ‘counting the bones’ and dealing with the past instead of with the future? It can often even be heard that those opening this discussion are doing it for possible political gain. But the truth might be quite the opposite – those who want to close it are doing it on the basis of certain political calculations.

Commemorating 70 years from the first mass deportations from the Baltic States: “Your past is our past”. Tunne Kelam MEP

(MEPs also gathered by the memorial plaque, honoring those deported from the Baltic nations.)

At the opening of the plenary session, the Members of the European Parliament commemorated 70 years from the first mass deportations from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, conducted by the Soviet Union.

In his statement, the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek stressed that we need to remember many thousands of victims in the Baltic States which had been occupied since 1940 by the Soviet Union.   (see the full video of debate in the Plenary)

Letters from Siberia in the European Parliament

On June 14th, the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels will hosted an exhibition “Birch Bark Letters from Siberia.” The exhibition was organized by MEP Sandra Kalniete (EPP,Latvia), in collaboration with the Tukums Museum in Latvia. For one week, MEPs, staff and guests were able to acquaint themselves with letters which were written on birch bark and sent to the loved ones of Latvians who were forcefully deported to Siberia. Today, from several thousand such examples only 19 remain in the collections of Latvian museums, as historical evidence of this most tragic past. Elza Serdāne, the author of one such letter which has miraculously survived to this day, also took part in the official opening ceremony of the exhibition. At the age of 73, Elza is the active leader of the Politically Repressed Society in her home town of Madona. 

Statement by Sandra Kalniete, Chairwoman of the REH group: On ex-Yugoslav secret communist police archives in Slovenia

Member of the European Parliament from Latvia, Ms Sandra Kalniete, is chairing an informal parliamentary group, the “Reconciliation of European Histories”. A group which consists of 38 MEPs from six political groups (EPP, SD, ALDE, Greens, ECR, and EFD) and therefore has broad political support in the EP.

This week a referendum will take place in Slovenia and voters will decide whether to allow new legislation that proposes to limit individual’s access to the Slovenian archives of the ex-Yugoslav secret communist police (SDV or UDBA). As this topic is of a great importance for the Reconciliation of European Histories group I would like to present my opinion on that matter. 

Meeting of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group

On May 10th, the Reconciliation of European Histories group had its group meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. At the meeting, the group discussed plans for the upcoming EPP hearing in the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) on the December 22nd 2010 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and to the Council: The memory of the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes in Europe. 

Statement of the Reconciliation of European Histories group

Due to the fact that a few journalist of international newspapers have been using the most unfortunate phrase “a Polish concentration camp” in regards to the Nazi German camps in occupied Poland, the Reconciliation of European Histories group would like to remind those concerned that the usage of this wording is incorrect. Moreover, such a misrepresentation is insensitive and can be hurtful towards the people who were the victims of Nazi persecution, their descendants, and all nations whose territories were occupied by Nazi Germany. It is important for all of us to remember that the Polish people, as well as other European peoples, were also prisoners of Nazi concentration camps.

Materials from the conference, held in the European Parliament, about education on totalitarianisms

Providing objective comprehensive information about the totalitarian past leading to a deeper understanding and discussion is a necessary condition for sound future integration of all European nations. There is a need of adjustment and overhaul of European history textbooks and curricula so that young generations could learn about totalitarian regimes.  

Draft Program of the Event
EPP Press release
 EPP news broadcast video
Speech of György Schöpflin (video) 
Latvian TV news on the event (video in latvian )

Conclusions 

  

Meeting of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group

On February 2nd, the Reconciliation of European Histories group in the European Parliament held its fourth meeting. Guest speakers at the meeting were Dr. Pavel Žáček, the Advisor to the Director of The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Prague, Czech Republic, his colleague Dr. Neela Winkelmann-Heyrovská and former Member of Swedish Parliament Mr. Göran Lindblad. The speakers discussed with the group their work related to the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism and the so called Prague Process.

Members of the European Parliament ask that a Statue of Lenin be Removed

January 27th 2011, Members of the European Parliament (EP) have sent a letter to the Regional Council responsible for the French city of Montpellier, in which they request that a statue of Lenin is taken down and that a statue of the founder of China’s communist party, Mao Zedong, is not built. Sixty-eight MEPs, from 18 Member States, signed the letter drafted by Sandra Kalniete, Member of European Parliament (MEP) and chair of the Reconciliation of European Histories group in the EP. The letter was also signed by the Vice President of the EP, László Tőkés, and the former President of the EP, Hans-Gert Pöttering.

Materials from the Panel Hearing in the European Parliament ‘The Endured European Dream of Bulgaria: 1944-1989’

November 17, 2010
European Parliament

 

 

Brochure and Programme of the event (including biographies of the speakers)
Speech by Professor Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament
Speech by Hans-Gert Poettering , former President of the European Parliament
Speech by Joseph Daul, President of the EPP political group (in French)
Speech by Sandra Kalniete, Chair of the Reconciliation of European Histories group 

 

Meeting of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group

On September 22 2010 the informal group of MEPs in the European Parliament ‘Reconciliation of European Histories’ held its group meeting in Strasbourg, France. The group, whose main objective is “to reconcile the different historical narratives in Europe and to consolidate them into a united European story,” met with Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education in the European Parliament, MEP Doris Pack. The meeting centred on the topic of how to promote in the European population a better understanding and more knowledge of the most tragic pages of the 20th century.

Commemoration of the 70 year anniversary of the occupation of the Baltic’s takes place in the European Parliament

Strasbourg, 15th of June 2010 – Members of the European Parliament gathered by the memorial plaque, honoring those deported from the Baltic nations, to commemorate the 70 year anniversary of the occupation of the Baltic nations. In order to prevent such historical mistakes from reoccurring, many MEPs continue to remind the world of the horrors committed by the Stalinist regime.

Documents and Information Regarding the ‘House of European History’ Project

Speech by MEP Heidi Hautala at the conference “Crimes of the communist regimes” held in Prague

Contribution of Heidi Hautala, chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee of Human rights, at the conference “Crimes of the Communist Regimes” in Prague 24-26 February 2010:

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.

A pivotal judgment of the ECHR: “No impunity for perpetrators of war crimes,” Sandra Kalniete MEP

Press release
Strasbourg, 18 May 2010 

Yesterday, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg upheld the war crimes conviction of a “Red Partisan” who was found guilty of ordering the killing of civilians while fighting for Soviet forces in Nazi-occupied Latvia in 1944.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has said the Soviet Union was “totalitarian”

Baltics welcome Medvedev concession
The Baltic Times, Oskars Magone, May 07, 2010

MOSCOW — Leaders from the Baltic States have welcomed statements from Russian President Dmitri Medvedev concerning the alleged crimes of the Soviet Union.

A major bone of contention in diplomatic relations between the Baltic States and Russia lies in crimes committed by the Soviet Union.

First meeting of the ‘Reconciliation of European Histories’ informal group

On Thursday, 6 May 2010, 35 MEPs from five political groups established ‘Reconciliation of European Histories,’ an informal group of MEPs. 

Russia posts Katyn massacre documents on the Internet

The Russian Archives have posted documents which shed light on the Soviet Union’s World War II massacre of more than 20,000 Polish officers and other prominent citizens. The Soviet Union had blamed the massacres on Nazi forces who invaded in 1941. This explanation had remained the official state position until Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledged Soviet responsibility in 1990. The current Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, has promised that more similar documents would also be released. The documents are available on the following site:

http://rusarchives.ru/publication/katyn/spisok.shtml (In Russian)

Also see:  Excerpts: Beria letter to Stalin on Katyn (From BBC news in English)