European Network Remembrance and Solidarity

European Network Remembrance and Solidarity
Name	European Network Remembrance and Solidarity
Formation	2005
Headquarters	Warsaw
Region served	Europe
Leader title	Director

European Network Remembrance and Solidarity is an international institution established to document, research, and commemorate the diverse experiences of 20th-century conflicts and authoritarian regimes across Europe. The institution works with national ministries and transnational institutions to organize exhibitions, support scholarship, and foster dialogue among scholars, curators, and cultural practitioners from Poland, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic and other European states. It engages with commemorative practices related to the Second World War, Cold War, partitioned territories, forced migrations, and political repression.

History and Foundation

The initiative emerged after the enlargement debates involving the European Union, following consultations among representatives from Poland, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania and discussions at forums attended by delegations from the European Parliament, Council of Europe, and national parliaments. Founders cited comparative memory debates sparked by controversies over sites such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Katyn, and memorializations of the Soviet Union's wartime role. Early meetings referenced frameworks like the Treaty of Lisbon debates on shared values and drew expertise from curators involved with institutions including the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the Topography of Terror, and the House of European History.

Mission and Objectives

The core mission aligns with transnational initiatives to reconcile divergent narratives produced by events such as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Yalta Conference, and postwar expulsions from territories affected by the Potsdam Conference. Objectives include promoting comparative research on episodes like the Nazi occupation and Stalinist repression, supporting exhibitions on episodes such as the Warsaw Uprising, the Prague Spring, and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and facilitating dialogues among stakeholders including historians linked to the Institute of National Remembrance, curators from the Imperial War Museums, and scholars from universities such as Jagiellonian University, Charles University in Prague, and Central European University.

Organizational Structure and Membership

Governance combines a supervisory board with representatives from participating states and academic advisors drawn from institutions like the Polish Academy of Sciences, the German Historical Institute, and the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. Membership involves national ministries of culture, national museums such as the National Museum in Warsaw, and research centers including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Yad Vashem advisory network, and regional archives like the National Archives of Romania. Partnerships extend to cultural foundations such as the Getty Foundation and philanthropic bodies engaged with projects on sites like Treblinka and Majdanek.

Programs and Activities

Programs encompass traveling exhibitions addressing themes from the Second World War to the Cold War crisis, conferences convening experts who have worked on cases like the Soviet deportations from the Baltic states, the Berlin Wall, and the Balkan conflicts. Activities include workshops for curators from the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, symposiums involving participants from Oxford University, Harvard University, Humboldt University of Berlin, and public commemorations tied to anniversaries such as the liberation of Majdanek and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Residency programs host artists and filmmakers with ties to festivals like IDFA and institutions like the European Cultural Foundation.

Publications and Research

The network publishes research reports, edited volumes, and exhibition catalogues in collaboration with university presses and museum publishers associated with entities like the Cambridge University Press, Routledge, and the Polish Scientific Publishers PWN. Research topics include archival projects on files from the NKVD, studies of forced labor systems tied to the Reichsarbeitsdienst, and comparative analyses of postwar trials such as those following the Nuremberg Trials and regional prosecutions in the Hague. Scholarly output features contributions from historians linked to Timothy Snyder, researchers from the European University Institute, and comparative memory scholars connected to the International Center for Transitional Justice.

Educational and Cultural Projects

Educational initiatives produce curricula and digital resources for teachers in partnership with schools inspired by models from the European Schools network and museum education programs at the Imperial War Museum and the Jewish Museum in Prague. Cultural projects include film screenings, theater co-productions with companies that have collaborated with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Avignon Festival, and music programs referencing repertoires associated with composers affected by displacement like Witold Lutosławski and performers linked to the Soviet dissident milieu. Youth exchanges and seminars draw on networks such as the European Youth Parliament and training exchanges with institutions like the Deutsche Welle Akademie.

Funding and Partnerships

Funding stems from national contributions from participating states, grants from multinational bodies including the European Commission, sponsorships from cultural foundations like the Open Society Foundations, and project funding from agencies such as the National Endowment for Democracy. Strategic partnerships include collaborations with memorial institutions like Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, research centers such as the Institute of Contemporary History, and cultural diplomacy actors like the Goethe-Institut, British Council, and the Polish Institute. Joint ventures have linked the network to EU cultural programs, UNESCO heritage initiatives, and bilateral projects with ministries overseeing sites such as Wieliczka Salt Mine and memorials in cities like Kraków and Bratislava.

Category:European cultural organizations