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By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska On May 13th at the Nederlands Fotomuseum a launch of the ‘’Siberian Exiles’’ part 2 by a talented documentary photographer Claudia Heinermann took place, a very special project devoted to the oppression of communism, abuse of power and crimes against humanity. In part 2 of the trilogy Claudia Heinermann follows the […]
Book review: Barbara Skarga, ‘’After the liberation. Notes on the Gulag’’, 1944-1956 (Amsterdam, 2022) ISBN 9789403107226; 432 pp., €34.99 by Patrick van Schie In May, the Netherlands and Europe invariably look back at the end of the Second World War. First the stories about the horrors of the time under National Socialism, followed by the […]
Book report: Jasper Becker, Why communism failed (London, 2022) ISBN 9781787388062; price € 28.99 By Patrick van Schie Wherever Communism has been tried, everywhere it has led to impoverishment – except for the party elite and the associated leadership of the “security” apparatuses (army and intelligence services) – and often famine, with many […]
Patrick van Schie After having ruled the Soviet Union for more than a quarter of a century, Josef Stalin died seventy years ago, in the early morning of March 5, 1953. “The news of Comrade Stalin’s passing will cause deep sorrow in the hearts of the workers, collective peasants, intellectuals and the entire working […]
This month it is exactly 75 years ago that the communists finally seized power in Czechoslovakia (at the time, the current Czech Republic and Slovakia formed one country). In all the countries that would disappear behind the Iron Curtain after the Second World War, a similar process took place of the elimination of pro-democratic forces and the establishment of the dictatorship of the communist party. In Czechoslovakia, however, this took longer, which is why many people – both among the democratically minded Czechoslovaks and in the West – harbored the illusion for the longest time that the country would be spared an ‘equalisation’.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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