The European Parliament joint motion for a resolution – approved by a large majority on 19 September – on ‘the importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe’, is a wrongheaded political and cultural act and should be vigorously rejected.
In the first place, it has to be said that it is not the province of an institutional or political organism to assert a specific reconstruction of history by majority decision. A use of history that wishes to impose a revisionist vision of the principal events of the last century to turn them into weapons in the current political battles should have no place in a true democracy.
In the second place, the statements about the history of the twentieth century in the resolution contain unacceptable errors and unilateral distortions and visions. It asserts that the pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, the 23 August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, ‘paved the way to the outbreak of the Second World War’. This omits any reference to the enabling behaviour of the liberal democracies in the face of Nazi expansionism, which dates at least from the invasion of Ethiopia (1935) and the Spanish Civil War triggered in support of General Franco’s extreme right coup (1936) and continued with the Anschluss of Austria to Germany on 12 March 1938, the appeasement at Munich (1938) and the consequent dismembering of Czechoslovakia not only by Germany but also by Poland and Hungary.
Moreover, the resolution does not mention the enormous contribution to the victory over Nazism, decisive for the very fate of Europe and of humanity, made both by the Soviet Union (with more than 20 million dead) and by those who, everywhere in Europe and the world, often guided by the ideals and symbols of the various currents of the international communist movement, fought Hitler’s troops and those allied to him. It "forgets" Altiero Spinelli, Italian Communist and political prisoner between 1927 and 1943 and co-author of the Manifesto of Ventotene who is widely known as one of the founding fathers of the European integration and therefore rightly became name giver to one of the buildings of the European Parliament.
It manages to mention Auschwitz without saying that it was the Soviet army that liberated it and the prisoners destined for extermination. Or it deliberately forgets that in many countries (among them France and Italy but not only) the communists were the principal component of the Resistance to Nazism/fascism, making a major contribution to its defeat and the rebirth in those countries of a constitutional democracy that reaffirmed political, trade-union, cultural, and religious freedoms. Not to mention the decisive support that communist states and communist ideals gave to the liberation of entire peoples from colonial oppression and sometimes slavery.
Remembering these facts, which the resolution culpably omits, does not mean ignoring and being silent about the disgraceful aspects of what is generally called ‘Stalinism’, about the errors and horrors that also occurred in that camp. But these cannot erase a fundamental distinction: While Nazism/fascism, in giving birth to a ruthless dictatorship and in cancelling every space of democracy, liberty, and even humanity, in persecuting, including through proclaimed and planned extermination, religious, ethnic, cultural, and sexual minorities, was merely attempting to put into practice its openly proclaimed programmes, the communist regimes before and after the war, when they defiled themselves through grave and unacceptable violations of democracy and liberty, were by contrast betraying their own ideals and values and promises they had made. All of which needs to generate questions, reflections, and investigations but – taken together with the contribution made by activists and by the USSR to the defeat of Nazism – in no way permits the equating of Nazism and communism at the heart of this resolution of the European Parliament nor the identification, as occurs several times in the motion, of communism and Stalinism in view of the great variety of currents of thought and political experience to which the former gave birth.
These falsifications and omissions cannot be made the basis of a ‘shared memory’, still less become the basis of a common history syllabus in schools, as the motion recommends. It cannot become the platform for a ‘European day of remembrance for the victims of totalitarian regimes’ asked for by the motion. Nor can it provide the motivation for removing ‘commemorative monuments and places (parks, squares, streets, etc.), which, with the excuse of a struggle against an indistinct totalitarianism, is in reality an invitation to erase the clear and transparent pages of the history of those who contributed, through their own sacrifice, to defeating Nazism and fascism.
We note that the European Parliament’s motion necessarily contains unavoidable gestures at balancing its main thrust by affirming the wish to struggle against the ‘reversion to fascism, racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance’. But these justified calls to struggle against racism and fascism cannot be based on a distorted and even false use of history or on the declared intention to sever the roots of a fundamental component of anti-fascism, that is, the communist component. The peoples of Europe must not permit this.
Signatories
| Last name | Name | Chair / Institute / Function | University | Country |
| Baier | Walter | Political coordinator transform! europe | AT | |
| Edlinger | Fritz | AT | ||
| Garscha | ||||
| Mugrauer | Manfred | Alfred Klahr Society | AT | |
| Artinian | Arto | Member, Institute for Critical Theories of Supermodernity | Borough of Manhattan Community College – City University of New York | BG / USA |
| Deyanov | Deyan | Institute for Critical Theories of Supermodernity, Sofia | BG | |
| Deyanova | Liliana | Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" | BG | |
| Tsoneva | Jana | Centre for Collective Intervention, Sofi | BG | |
| Arsenijević | Damir | University of Tuzla | BiH | |
| Grigorov | Emil | Laval Universtiy Quebec | CA | |
| Birač | Dimitrije | CRO | ||
| Čakardić | Ankica | University of Zagreb | CRO | |
| Đurašković | Stevo | University of Zagreb | CRO | |
| Horvatinčić | Sanja | University of Zagreb | CRO | |
| Hromadžić | Hajrudin | University of Rijeka | CRO | |
| Jović | Dejan | Professor of political science at Zagreb University, former Croatian president advisor | University of Zagreb | CRO |
| Kapović | Mate | University of Zagreb | CRO | |
| Klasić | Hrvoje | University of Zagreb | CRO | |
| Mikulić | Borislav | University of Zagreb | CRO | |
| Peović | Katarina | University of Rijeka | CRO | |
| Hudeček | Jiří | Department of Biochemisty, Faculty of Science | Charles University Prague | CZ |
| Keller | Jan | Former MEP SD | University of Ostrava | CZ |
| Švihlíková | Ilona | CZ | ||
| Bidet | Jacques | historian | University of Paris-Nanterre | FR |
| De Cock | Laurence | historian | FR | |
| Larrère | Mathilde | historian | University of Paris XIII | FR |
| Laurent | Pierre | Senior Secretary-General of the French Communist Party (PCF) | FR | |
| Le Hyaric | Patrick | Chairman of the Board and Director of L’Humanité | FR | |
| Martelli | Roger | historian and director of Regards | FR | |
| Sève | Lucien | philosopher | FR | |
| Wurtz | Francis | Senior Chairman of the Group of the "European United Left – Nordic Green Left" | FR | |
| Buden | Boris | Bauhaus University, Weimar | GER | |
| Dahn | Daniela | Writer | Ger | |
| Demirovic | Alex | University of Frankfurt | GER | |
| Deppe | Frank | University of Marburg | GER | |
| Dörre | Klaus | University of Jena | GER | |
| Ernst | Cornelia | Mitglied des Europäischen Parlaments, DIE LINKE. | GER | |
| Gysi | Gregor | President of the Party of the European Left | GER | |
| Kessler | Mario | University of Potsdam | GER | |
| Rilling | Rainer | University of Marburg | GER | |
| Wolf | Frieder Otto | Free University of Berlin | GER | |
| Athanasiou | Athina | Panteion University of Athens | GR | |
| Benveniste | Rika | University of Thessaly | GR | |
| Douzinas | Costas | Birkbeck University | GR / UK | |
| Golemis | Haris | GR | ||
| Karpozilos | Kostis | Director Contemporary Social History Archives (ASKI) | GR | |
| Spourdalakis | Michalis | Dean School of Economics & Politics | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens | GR |
| Vaiou | Dina | National Technical University of Athens | GR | |
| Krausz | Tamás | Eötvös Loránd University Budapest | HU | |
| Artner | Annamaria | Academy of Sciences | HU | |
| Tamás | Gáspár Miklós | Central European University Budapest / Vienna | HU / AT | |
| Abramo | Cinzia | Università Perugia | IT | |
| Attardi | Giuseppe | Università Pisa | IT | |
| Attardo | Elda | Università Milano | IT | |
| Bertinotti | Fausto | former President of the Italian Parliament | IT | |
| Boscaino | Marina | IT | ||
| Carella | Donata Maria | Università Roma | IT | |
| Castellina | Luciana | Journalist and former MP | IT | |
| Ciofi | Paolo | Honoary President | Futura umanità. Associazione per la storia e la memoria del PCI | IT |
| Collotti | Enzo | Historian | IT | |
| Conti | Davide | Historian | Anpi, consulente dell’Archivio Storico del Senato della Repubblica | IT |
| Cutrufelli | Rosa Maria | Author | IT | |
| Di Luzio | Flavia | Università Bologna | IT | |
| Di Quarto | Francesco | Università Palermo | IT | |
| Falà | Leila | Università Bologna | IT | |
| Favilli | Paolo | IT | ||
| Ferrara | Gianni | former MP | IT | |
| Ferrero | Paolo | vicepresidente della Sinistra Europea | IT | |
| Forenza | Eleonora | former MEP | IT | |
| Fratoianni | Nicola | deputato Sinistra Italiana | IT | |
| Gagliasso | Elena | Università Roma | IT | |
| Gianni | Alfonso | former MP | IT | |
| Lavenia | Vincenzo | Università Bologna | IT | |
| Levi | Giovanni | Università Venezia | IT | |
| Licausi | Luciano | Università Siena | IT | |
| Liguori | Guido | Università della Calabria, presidente della International Gramsci Society | IT | |
| Mariani | Giorgio | Università Roma | IT | |
| Maselli | Citto | film director | IT | |
| Melandri | Lea | IT | ||
| Menapace | Lidia | Former senator and member of the Italian resistance | IT | |
| Mencarelli | Fabio | Università Pisa | IT | |
| Micheli | Maria Rita | Università Perugia | IT | |
| Mincer | Aleksander (Olek) | Università Genova | IT | |
| Modonesi | Massimo | Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico | IT | |
| Mordenti | Raul | Università Roma | IT | |
| Musacchio | Roberto | former GUE/NGL MEP | IT | |
| Napoletano | Pasqualina | former GUE/NGL MEP | IT | |
| Natoli | Claudio | Università Cagliari | IT | |
| Okić | Tijana | University of Pisa | IT | |
| Petrella | Riccardo | Italian economist, political scientist | IT | |
| Pomeranzi | Bianca | IT | ||
| Previtali | Franco | Università Milano | IT | |
| Punzo | Luigi | Università Cassino | IT | |
| Quercioli Mincer | Laura | Università Genova | IT | |
| Rinaldi | Rosa | segreteria nazionale prc | IT | |
| Riolo | Claudio | Università Palermo | IT | |
| Rodano | Giulia | former regional councilor | IT | |
| Romitelli | Valerio | Università Bologna | IT | |
| Ruggieri | Franca | Università Roma Tre | IT | |
| Rui | Marina | Università Genova | IT | |
| Sampaolo | Giovanni | Università Roma | IT | |
| Soliani | Riccardo | università Genova | IT | |
| Spagnolo | Luigi | Università Siena | IT | |
| Spinnler | Hans | Università Milano | IT | |
| Suvin | Darko | McGill University | IT | |
| Tortorella | Aldo | Honoary President Associazione per il Rinnovamento della Sinistra | IT | |
| Violante | Francesco | Università Foggia | IT | |
| Vitiello | Ondina | Università Padova | IT | |
| Voza | Pasquale | università "Aldo Moro" di Bari | IT | |
| Zunino | Franco | Associazione Ricreativa Culturale Italiana (Arci), Associazione Nazionale di Amicizia Italia-Cuba | IT | |
| Kolozova | Katerina | Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities, Skopje | NMK | |
| Cardina | Miguel | PT | ||
| de Sousa Santos | Boaventura | Institute of Sociology | University of Coimbra, Portugal | PT |
| Flunser Pimentel | Irene | PT | ||
| Loff | Manuel | Institute of Contemporary History | University NOVA Lisbon | PT |
| Breznik | Maja | University of Ljubljana and Peace Institute | SLO | |
| Kirn | Gal | University of Dresden | SLO / GER | |
| Kržan | Marko | Institute for Workers’ Studies | SLO | |
| Mesec | Luka | party coordinator Levica | SLO | |
| Močnik | Rastko | University of Ljubljana | SLO | |
| Piškur | Bojana | Modern Galery, Ljubljana | SLO | |
| Tomić | Violeta | party coordinator Levica | SLO | |
| Vrečko | Asta | University of Ljubljana | SLO | |
| Alonso Montero | Xesús | Professor Of Galician Literature, Former President Of The Royal Galician Academy | University Of Santiago | SP |
| Andrade Blanco | Juan | Profesor De Historia Contemporánea | Complutense University Of Madrid | SP |
| Aragón | Mariano | Associació Catalana D’investigacions Marxistes | SP | |
| Barrio Alonso | Ángeles | Professor Of Contemporary History | University Of Cantabria | SP |
| Bueno Lluch | Manuel | Trabajador Del Archivo Histórico De Ccoo De Andalucía, Excoordinador Sección De Historia Fim | SP | |
| Duarte Montserrat | Ángel | Professor Of Contemporary History | University Of Córdoba | SP |
| Erice Sebares | Francisco | Professor Of Contemporary History | University Of Oviedo | SP |
| Ferrer González | Cristian | Profesor De Historia Contemporánea | Autonomous University of Barcelona | SP |
| Gallego Margaleff | Ferran | Professor Of Contemporary History | Autonomous University Of Barcelona | SP |
| Gálvez Biesca | Sergio | Archivero, Doctor En Historia, Madrid | SP | |
| Ginard I Feron | David | Profesor Titular De Historia Contemporánea | Universitat De Les Illes Balears | SP |
| Gómez Alén | José | Catedrático Jubilado De Historia De Enseñanza Media, Doctor En Historia, Galicia | SP | |
| Hernández Sánchez | Fernando | Profesor De Historia Contemporánea | Universidad Autónoma De Madrid | SP |
| Hernández Sandoica | Elena | Professor of Contemporary History | Complutense University of Madrid | SP |
| Hinojosa Durán | José | Profesor De Historia De Enseñanza Media, Doctor En Historia, Extremadura | SP | |
| López López | Pedro | Profesor De Historia Contemporánea | Complutense University Of Madrid | SP |
| Mainer Baqué | Juan | Catedrático Jubilado, Coordinador De La Federación Icaria | SP | |
| Molinero | Carme | Professor of Contemporary History | Autonomous University of Barcelona | SP |
| Núñez Díaz-Balart | Mirta | Professor Of History Of Social Communication | Complutense University Of Madrid | SP |
| Puig Valverdú | Guillem | Profesor De Historia Contemporánea | Universitat Rovira I Virgili | SP |
| Ramos | Josep Lluis Martín | Professor of Contemporary History | Autonomous University of Barcelona | SP |
| Robledo Hernández | Ricardo | Professor of Contemporary History | University Of Salamanca / Pompeu Fabra University | SP |
| Santidrián Arias | Víctor | Profesor De Historia De Enseñanza Media, Doctor En Historia, Galicia | SP | |
| Sanz Hoya | Julián | Professor Of Contemporary History | University Of Valencia | SP |
| Saz | Ismael | Professor of Contemporary History | University of Valencia | SP |
| Suárez Cortina | Manuel | Professor Of Contemporary History | University Of Cantabria | SP |
| Vadillo Muñoz | Julián | Profesor De Historia Contemporánea | Universidad Carlos Iii | SP |
| Vega Sombría | Santiago | Profesor De Historia Contemporánea | Complutense University Of Madrid | SP |
| Viñas Martín | Ángel | Catedrático Jubilado De Economía Aplicada Y De Historia Contemporánea | Complutense University Of Madrid | SP |
| Ysàs Solanes | Pere | Professor of Contemporary History | Autonomous University of Barcelona | SP |
| Bakić | Jovo | University of Belgrade | SRB | |
| Balunović | Filip | faculty for Media and Communication | SRB | |
| Kuljić | Todor | University of Belgrade | SRB | |
| Manojlović Pintar | Olga | Historian at the Institute for Recent History of Serbia, President of the Reconstruction Women’s Fund Managing Board | University of Belgrade | SRB |
| Matković | Aleksandar | Regional Science Center, Novi Sad and University of Belgrade | SRB | |
| Pantić | Rade | Faculty of Media and Communication | Singidunum University, Belgrade | SRB |
| Samardžić | Miroslav | Zrenjanin Social Forum | SRB | |
| Štiks | Igor | Faculty for Media and Communication, Belgrad | SRB | |
| Fraser | Nancy | Philosophy and Politics | New School NYC | USA |
| Matilde Eiroa San Francisco | Profesor Titular de Historia Contemporánea, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid | ESP | ||
| Francisco Sánchez Pérez | Profesor Titular de Historia Contemporánea, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid | ESP | ||
| Miguel Ángel del Arco Blanco | Profesor Titular de Historia Contemporánea, Universidad de Granada | ESP |