ABSTRACT
Since the end of the Cold War, “de-communization,” “transitional justice,” the “politics of memory,” and “political justice” have been among the terms and concepts commonly used to describe the wide range of inter-related processes of coming to terms with the recent dictatorial past in post-communist Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. As in other parts of the world, most notably South Africa, Southern Europe, and Latin America, in post-communist countries democratization has turned into an effort to envision a better future and to navigate an uncertain present as much as to investigate, reevaluate, and redress the mistakes of the ancien regime. Bit by bit, the touching personal testimonials of former political prisoners, the reserved memoirs of communist officials and secret agents, the testimonials of silent by-standers, and the independent research carried out in the newly-opened archives have lifted the veil of secrecy surrounding the activity of the communist parties hegemonic in the region, their privileged relationship with the ruthless secret political police forces, their alternate use of repression and cooptation to maintain monopoly of political power, and their victimization of countless individuals arrested, imprisoned, tortured, exiled, murdered or reduced to silence. Although much more work needs to be done in order to unravel the entire mechanism of communist repression and terror, and sort myth from truth regarding the identity and role of victims and victimizers, today we have incontestable proof for many human rights trespasses and violations we knew about only from unsubstantiated rumors prior to 1989. The challenge is to come to terms with these atrocities, while continuing to establish the truth and strengthen the rule of law.
