ABSTRACT
For more than 40 years, the communist dictatorships of Central and Eastern Europe left a bitter memory of pain and violence. Much of this was caused by the political police agencies that made up an integral part of the system from its inception to its last days. In this chapter, we shall examine the institutions – the “Centres of Remembrance” – that have taken charge of their legacy, focusing on the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, excluding the former Soviet Union and its successor states. We shall then analyse some of the debates that have emerged in the aftermath of the fall of communism, placing these in the broader context of an assessment of the communist dictatorships of the past. Although we will mention some other cases, we shall focus specifically on three institutions that represent many other examples of national debate: the German BStU; the Polish IPN; and the Rumanian CNSAS.
