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Guest of H.E. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland Mr Marcin Czepelak, Phd

On December 6 we were guest of H.E. Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in the Hague, Mr Marcin Czepelak, Phd. During the meeting we presented the vision of our Institute and the scope of our activities and actions. We discussed together the possibilities of further cooperation. By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska

The 30th anniversary of the defence of the restored independence of Lithuania

Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska   On the 13th of January victims of the Soviet military aggression of 1991 are commemorated. The candle, as symbol of the memory, today is lit across Lithuania and by the Lithuanian communities abroad. On 13 January 1991 armoured Soviet forces drove through peaceful crowd which gathered to protect the symbol of Lithuania’s […]

The ‘Heritage from the Cold War’ map is now online and available for everyone to view

The Menno van Coehoorn Foundation has started an inventory of Cold War heritage in the Netherlands. The aim of this is to obtain as complete an overview as possible of what has been achieved in this period of 40 years of the Cold War and against which historical backgrounds. The Cold War map, as compiled […]

Recent Posts

Baltic film weekend in the Netherlands

Ambassadors of Lithuania, H.E. Mr. Neilas Tankevičius, Latvia H.E. Ms. Aiga Liepiņa and Estonia H.E. Mr. Lauri Kuusing invite to the 3rd edition of online Baltic Film Weekend in the Netherlands which will take place from 27 till 29 January. ”The 2023 edition is devoted to the courage and resolve of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians whose combined […]

Why should we remember August 23, 1939

Roger MOORHOUSE British historian and Germanist specialising in the history of modern Central Europe, with particular emphasis on Nazi Germany, the Holocaust and the Second World War. He is the author of “First to Fight: The Polish War 1939”.   Shortly after midnight, on the night of August 23, 1939, Joseph Stalin drank a toast […]

Communism in Albania through children’s eyes

Review of Lea Ypi, Free. Coming of Age at the End of History, 978-0241481851, 313 pages.   Patrick van Schie   Lea Ypi is a curious girl full of questions. That may not be so special, but it is a challenging feature because she grew up in the eighties in Albania, which was then the […]

Maserati, Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Cadillac… a glimpse into comrade Brezhnev’s luxurious car choices

By Beata Bruggeman-Sękowska   It is 1980. Not far from Zavidovo, Soviet Republic. Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev is driving recklessly from his dacha his black Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, a gift from the Queen Elizabeth II and suddenly he is driving under a truck. His limousine gets demolished but he survives the accident. Not the only car […]

Hill of Crosses in Lithuania a pilgrimage destination and a site of peaceful resistance

By Beata Bruggeman-Sękowska Hill of Crosses situated about 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania is a pilgrimage destination and is extremely impressive. It has been a place of courageous peaceful resistance against the Russian and Soviet oppressors. Crosses are a symbol of faith, hope and freedom. During the Soviet era they were removed […]

Refugee bleeding to death symbolizes the brutality of the Berlin Wall

August 17, 1962: Peter Fechter killed by GDR border troops   By Patrick van Schie   Peter Fechter bleeds to death on the wrong side of the Wall The young East Berlin construction worker Peter Fechter became world famous because of his flight to freedom. More than a year after the construction of border barriers […]

A life in Romania under Ceausescu

Description of Nausicaa Marbe, Waiting for the West (Amsterdam, 2022) ISBN 9789044647280   Patrick van Schie   The Iron Curtain fell away more than thirty years ago. What happened behind that Curtain is history for most Western Europeans. It is different for those people in or from Eastern Europe who are old enough to have […]

This war has never been honestly accounted for

By Roger MOORHOUSE   September 1 is the conventional start date for the European war.  But little in life is set in stone.  Of course, a pedant might want to point out that the British and French only declared war on Germany on September 3, so that date marks the expansion of a German-Polish war […]

The Hungarian Uprising, October 23 to November 4, 1956

By Patrick van Schie   65 years ago, an uprising against communist rule took place in Hungary. It was not the first uprising behind the Iron Curtain (in June 1953 an uprising took place in the GDR, in June 1956 in the Polish city of Poznan) but it was the largest. The Hungarian uprising was […]

MDM and Constitution Square in Warsaw remnants of communist past and witness of freedom

By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska When you are in the capital city of Poland Warsaw you definitely cannot miss Marszałkowska Residential District (MDM) and the Constitution Square, which will bring you back in the communist times. When the construction of the Warsaw W-Z route was successfully completed in 1949, the communist authorities intended to create a flagship […]