The time of the communist dictatorship left painful traces in the lives of many Romanians. It has also deformed social structures and processes to this day. At the same time, of course, many also have memories of beautiful experiences and loved ones from that time. Sometimes nostalgia overrides knowledge about crimes and suffering. For various reasons, it has not always been possible to deal with the communist dictatorship in Romania in sufficient depth and breadth. A new generation of Romanians is now asking what role the past plays in their lives and the present. A responsibility for the future derives from the communist past: Democracy must be defended again and again against auto-terrorist attacks.
What are we doing in 2025?
Together with renowned Romanian academics and our partners from the University of Babes-Bolyai in Cluj-Napoca and Fundația Academia Civică, we are organising a summer school for students and doctoral candidates in Sighet, as we do every year. This year for the tenth time!
In a joint project with the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Bucharest, we provide students with the necessary broad political and historical background knowledge to categorise current political developments in Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe as part of the lecture series ‘Solutions for tomorrow's challenges’. Only those who are familiar with the methods and patterns of authoritarian systems from the past can recognise their application in the present - even if they ‘re-dress’ - and defend themselves against them.
Since the subject ‘History of Communism’ has been newly introduced into the Romanian school curriculum, we are working intensively with the Ministry of Education, schools and teachers throughout the country. We want to contribute to an appealing didactic communication of this complex and important subject to pupils.
