Politics of the past: the use and abuse of history - Socialists ...

Molotov-Ribbentrop protocol? How did the demographics of
Lithuania’s main cities change in such a short period and how did
Lithuanians become predominant? Who is responsible for the fact
that entire national communities disappeared from Lithuania?
And, could it not be that the reparations awarded to Lithuania for
any damage done to her will actually be for a smaller amount than
the bill presented to Lithuania itself? Who will pay that bill? Perhaps
those politicians who demand such historical reckoning are
prepared to pay it? Unfortunately, it is more likely that ordinary
Lithuanians would have to bear the cost of such a historical settlement
and not for the first time. A determined and unmerciful push
for reparations from Russia could lead to collapse.
The culture of historical memory
Biased interpretations of history arouse moral and intellectual discomfort
and also increase insecurity. Yet, leaving history to the historians
is not a genuine or realistic alternative. It is impossible to
abstract public life from history, just as it is impossible to take away
society’s memory. The big question is this: what is memory culture
and where is it heading?
Today an undisputed criterion of memory culture is democracy. In
this context, it would seem logical to criticise and condemn the
criminal acts of various regimes in history. Understandably, attention
is focused on crimes involving the largest number of victims, in other
words, on the condemnation of the crimes of totalitarian regimes
like those of Nazi Germany or the Stalinist Soviet Union. However,
when campaigns condemning these regimes are being repeated,
the more they seem to satisfy political rather than cultural-humanist
goals. Ultimately all the criticism becomes directed against modern
Russia alone. In practice, an attempt is being made by a united
front, including representatives of territories where Stalin is to this
day remembered with the greatest respect, to blame Russia alone
for Stalinism. This attack is not so much directed against manifestations
of Stalinism in Russia as it is against the Russian state itself.
There is a thinly disguised goal – the destruction of Russia. The
Russians, of course, see this and, feeling threatened as a nation,
unite behind a regime that is moving further away from democracy.
This is not for the first time that this happens. From as early as the
125 Česlovas Laurinavičius