Benjamin Gazda | University of Edinburgh (original) (raw)
Life-long learner. Interested in History and how we perceive it. Ardent baseball fan.
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After the conclusion of World War II, Estonia ceased to exist as an independent country. It was a... more After the conclusion of World War II, Estonia ceased to exist as an independent country. It was absorbed into the Soviet Union, which it would remain a part of until 1991 and the collapse of the Soviet Union. This dissertation will examine how Estonia constructed a collective memory from the Soviet repression by examining several lieux des mémoire. This reconstruction of collective memory has caused conflict among Estonians and the Russian speaking community, who are having their memory of past events forced into the shadows. Indeed, Estonians have embraced the identity of victim of communism, and have argued that collaboration with the Nazis was the lesser evil. Estonian remembrance of the Holocaust is emblematic, and hasn't become a meaningful memory within Estonian civil Society. Estonian identity centered around anti-communism has also expressed itself on the pan-European stage. Estonia, along with other European nations are pushing for official recognition from the EU of their traumatic memory under communist rule, and the narrative that Stalin's crimes were equal to Hitler. This paper will then discuss how the Estonian collective memory of victimization under the Soviets helps shift European memory to reconcile Hitler with Stalin.
After the conclusion of World War II, Estonia ceased to exist as an independent country. It was a... more After the conclusion of World War II, Estonia ceased to exist as an independent country. It was absorbed into the Soviet Union, which it would remain a part of until 1991 and the collapse of the Soviet Union. This dissertation will examine how Estonia constructed a collective memory from the Soviet repression by examining several lieux des mémoire. This reconstruction of collective memory has caused conflict among Estonians and the Russian speaking community, who are having their memory of past events forced into the shadows. Indeed, Estonians have embraced the identity of victim of communism, and have argued that collaboration with the Nazis was the lesser evil. Estonian remembrance of the Holocaust is emblematic, and hasn't become a meaningful memory within Estonian civil Society. Estonian identity centered around anti-communism has also expressed itself on the pan-European stage. Estonia, along with other European nations are pushing for official recognition from the EU of their traumatic memory under communist rule, and the narrative that Stalin's crimes were equal to Hitler. This paper will then discuss how the Estonian collective memory of victimization under the Soviets helps shift European memory to reconcile Hitler with Stalin.