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This article is part of the special section titled From the Iron Curtain to the Schengen Area, guest edited by Wolfgang Mueller and Libora Oates-Indruchová. This article analyses the formation of the two mutually opposing memory poles of the communist past that crystalized in Czechia after 1989. To this end, it focuses on the issue of communist state borders, which slowly developed into one of the most controversial memory conflicts. Anti-communist Iron Curtain discourse established a new mainstream "national memory" using the previous border regime as a prime example of the non-democratic rule that violated values that were constitutive of liberal democratic order after 1989. Nevertheless, the Communists' border discourse did not fade away after 1989. It was sustained by communist politicians, party members and former Border Guards. It still influences the public memory of state borders by stressing their legitimacy, legality, and ultimately the inevitability of protecting them. The search for unequivocal heroes and evil-doers of the communist state border regime strengthens this split memory and makes embracing its complexity hardly possible. The existence of these two opposing memory discourses, which refute one another, is not just an example of group conflict over the "right" memory. It also illustrates deep postcommunist divides in Czech society going beyond the watershed events of 1989.

The main goal of the research is to show the functional dimension of the political rituals associated with the celebrations of the Katyń massacre anniversaries in 1990-2010. Using the method of political linguistics, the study makes it possible to identify ten topoi organizing the Katyń anniversary discourse. They include the topos of "an innocent victim", "violated justice", "compensation", "fair Russians", "friends Muscovites", "elite", as well as the topos of "a shared field of remembrance, reconciliation" ("from foes to friends"), the topos of mutual forgiveness and the anniversary as a special occasion, or the topos of "inhuman land". The pragmatic-semantic analysis of the contents of media reports accompanying the Katyń celebrations allows the author to show a number of functions that the Katyń ritual performed in the Polish culture of remembrance in 1990–2010. The study of functions proceeds from emotional, through normative, legitimization, integration and educational functions, to the performative function.

"20.000 soviet soldiers were buried on the cemetery of the former Bergen-Belsen prisoner-of-war-camp.Located near the Bergen-Belsen Memorial is one of the largest war cemeteries in the Federal Republic of Germany. Between 1941 and 1945, nearly 20,000 Soviet soldiers, Italian military internees and Polish prisoners-of-war who had died in the Bergen-Belsen POW camp were buried there.The authors Silke Petry and Rolf Keller use texts and photos to recount the history of the Bergen-Belsen POW camp and reconstruct the configuration and design of the cemetery by the Wehrmacht during the war. They document the placement of monuments, efforts to redesign the cemetery and political debates in the decades that followed and contemplate how memory culture has changed since the end of the war.With an essay by Natalja Jeske about the artist Mykola Muchin." (Verlagsinformation)

Increasingly, non-state actors exercise unofficial forms of influence within international affairs. Analyzing the actions and platforms in which they operate offers a broader perspective on their influence within diplomatic spheres traditionally occupied by state actors. This paper explores the relationship between victim-oriented advocacy roles taken by the NGO 'Mothers of Srebrenica' and the resulting formulation of a 'culture of remembrance' as an unofficial part of Bosnia and Herzegovina's cultural and public diplomacy portfolio. We examine the Mothers' advocacy work in promoting genocide remembrance and fighting genocide denial within the country's foreign policy agency framework. We scrutinize under which circumstances their advocacy shapes or is formulated in parallel with official state diplomacy. We trace three types of advocacy engagement and discuss the influence in contributing to the country's cultural and public diplomacy. This analysis contributes to scholarship on the influence of non-state actors in public diplomacy by examining the role of advocacy organizations on local, regional, and global levels and expanding the scholarship about the intersection of non-state actors and cultural and public diplomacy to include states undergoing transition, particularly post-conflict states.

Increasingly, non-state actors exercise unofficial forms of influence within international affairs. Analyzing the actions and platforms in which they operate offers a broader perspective on their influence within diplomatic spheres traditionally occupied by state actors. This paper explores the relationship between victim-oriented advocacy roles taken by the NGO 'Mothers of Srebrenica' and the resulting formulation of a 'culture of remembrance' as an unofficial part of Bosnia and Herzegovina's cultural and public diplomacy portfolio. We examine the Mothers' advocacy work in promoting genocide remembrance and fighting genocide denial within the country's foreign policy agency framework. We scrutinize under which circumstances their advocacy shapes or is formulated in parallel with official state diplomacy. We trace three types of advocacy engagement and discuss the influence in contributing to the country's cultural and public diplomacy. This analysis contributes to scholarship on the influence of non-state actors in public diplomacy by examining the role of advocacy organizations on local, regional, and global levels and expanding the scholarship about the intersection of non-state actors and cultural and public diplomacy to include states undergoing transition, particularly post-conflict states.

This article focuses on the factors inhibiting a productive rethinking of the past in contemporary Lithuanian-Russian relations. The rethinking of the past is understood as a process facilitating the reconsideration of historical meanings through adjusting them to the expectations and values of the contemporary society. The author argues that in this process historical research — as an important tool for encouraging the co-existence of communities —should fulfil certain social functions. Having chosen the Lithuanian-Russian communication space as a case, the author emphasizes the need to develop an interest in mutual knowledge of cultures of remembrance in this space. Outlining the strategies specific to the prevailing cultures of remembrance in contemporary Russia and Lithuania, the author addresses the issue of their proper relationship, as well as that of the appropriateness of historical policy. The criminalisation of certain evaluations of the past and the academic dialogue between historians are regarded as two opposite extremes of historical policy actually existing in the Lithuanian-Russian communication space. The author stresses that research into the values and interpretations of the past peculiar to certain social groups in both Lithuania and Russia may be considered as a basis for further development of the historical dialogue. It is assumed that such research may contribute to the improvement in the field of politics of history.

This article focuses on the factors inhibiting a productive rethinking of the past in contemporary Lithuanian-Russian relations. The rethinking of the past is understood as a process facilitating the reconsideration of historical meanings through adjusting them to the expectations and values of the contemporary society. The author argues that in this process historical research — as an important tool for encouraging the co-existence of communities —should fulfil certain social functions. Having chosen the Lithuanian-Russian communication space as a case, the author emphasizes the need to develop an interest in mutual knowledge of cultures of remembrance in this space. Outlining the strategies specific to the prevailing cultures of remembrance in contemporary Russia and Lithuania, the author addresses the issue of their proper relationship, as well as that of the appropriateness of historical policy. The criminalisation of certain evaluations of the past and the academic dialogue between historians are regarded as two opposite extremes of historical policy actually existing in the Lithuanian-Russian communication space. The author stresses that research into the values and interpretations of the past peculiar to certain social groups in both Lithuania and Russia may be considered as a basis for further development of the historical dialogue. It is assumed that such research may contribute to the improvement in the field of politics of history.

This article focuses on the factors inhibiting
a productive rethinking of the past
in contemporary Lithuanian-Russian relations.
The rethinking of the past is understood
as a process facilitating the reconsideration
of historical meanings through adjusting
them to the expectations and values
of the contemporary society. The author argues
that in this process historical research
— as an important tool for encouraging
the co-existence of communities —
should fulfil certain social functions. Having
chosen the Lithuanian-Russian communication
space as a case, the author emphasises
the need to develop an interest in mutual
knowledge of cultures of remembrance
in this space. Outlining the strategies specific
to the prevailing cultures of remembrance
in contemporary Russia and Lithuania,
the author addresses the issue of their
proper relationship, as well as that of the
appropriateness of historical policy. The
criminalisation of certain evaluations of the
past and the academic dialogue between
historians are regarded as two opposite extremes
of historical policy actually existing
in the Lithuanian-Russian communication
space. The author stresses that research
into the values and interpretations of the
past peculiar to certain social groups in
both Lithuania and Russia may be considered
as a basis for further development of
the historical dialogue. It is assumed that
such research may contribute to the improvement
in the field of politics of history.

Democratic societies can function only when their citizens are actively committed to coexisting with equal rights. The remembrance of the crimes committed under National Socialism can also provide an impetus to reflect on current ills. The youth participation project "Wie wollt ihr euch erinnern?" ("How do you wish to remember?"), which enabled young people to get involved in the creation of a new memorial and education centre in Hamburg, is an example of how geo-information can be used in extra-curricular education work for the purposes of civic education.

Democratic societies can function only when their citizens are actively committed to coexisting with equal rights. The remembrance of the crimes committed under National Socialism can also provide an impetus to reflect on current ills. The youth participation project "Wie wollt ihr euch erinnern?" ("How do you wish to remember?"), which enabled young people to get involved in the creation of a new memorial and education centre in Hamburg, is an example of how geo-information can be used in extra-curricular education work for the purposes of civic education.

'Es ist die mutmaßlich wirkmächtigste 'Meistererzählung' der Weimarer Republik: Die Erinnerung an die gefallenen Soldaten entfaltete in den Jahren von 1918 bis 1933 eine suggestive Massenkraft, die hinsichtlich ihrer nachhaltigen Sinnstiftung keine ernstzunehmende Konkurrenz hatte: Weder die junge Republik noch das untergegangene Reich generierte Erinnerungsszenarien, die in dieser nachhaltigen Form rezipiert wurden. Am Beispiel der zweitgrößten Stadt des Reiches - Hamburg - geht es in diesem Text um Funktionsweisen, Akteure und Sinnstiftungen im Rahmen des politischen Totenkultes in der Weimarer Republik, der sich maßgeblich an Gedenktagen wie Volkstrauertag und Totensonntag etablierte. Entwickelt wird hierbei die Kernthese, dass der Volkstrauertag mit der starken Einbeziehung nationalprotestantischer Sinnstiftungen in erster Linie zur vorbereitenden Entwicklung eines Heldenkultes diente, den wenig später die Nationalsozialisten für wirkmächtige Propaganda-Zwecke nutzten.' (Autorenreferat)