5th International Symposium of European Institutions dealing with 20th-Century History
Budapest, 24-26 May 2016
Participant registration has begun for the 5th edition of the annual “European Remembrance” Symposium organised by the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, which brings together representatives of institutions and organisations dealing with 20th-century history. This year’s edition will focus on memories of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 and will take place from 24 to 26 May in Budapest.
The idea behind the Symposium is based on the conviction that there is a need to have common and multidimensional reflection on the history of the last century which would take into consideration various narrations, sensitivities, historical experiences and their interpretations. This annual Symposium organised by the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity together with its partners aims to facilitate and create new areas of cooperation between institutions and organisations concerned with the study of 20th-century European history and history education.
This year participants will focus on memories of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. Sixty years after the revolution we will discuss the circumstances and conditions of its outbreak as well as its impact on the history of the whole Eastern bloc and how it became a benchmark for other movements in countries under Soviet rule struggling for independence. Participants will be also confronted with the questions of what Stalinism and de-Stalinisation in Eastern Europe was like and why it differed so much from country to country. Much attention will be given to the description of societies in Eastern Europe under communist rule and the techniques that communist regimes used for handling crises in their countries.
In order to discuss such issues we are now extending our invitation to historians, representatives of museums or institutes for remembrance, educational and scientific centres as well as foundations and associations dealing with 20th-century history. This year’s panellists include Professor Mark Kramer, director of the Cold War studies programme at Harvard University, Professor János M. Rainer, director of the Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Professor Andrzej Nowak from the Institute of History at Jagiellonian University.
The three-day event will give the participants plenty of opportunity to attend lectures, discussion panels and workshops. They will also visit memorial sites such as House of Terror, State Security Archives, Plot 301 of Rákoskeresztúr cemetery – one of the most important places in the memory of the 1956 revolution – and ‘Kisfoghaz’ prison.
More information, detailed agenda and registration form available at:
europeanremembrance.enrs.eu. The number of participants is limited.
The “European Remembrance” symposium cycle was launched in Gdańsk in September 2012. Its successive editions were held in Berlin, Prague and Vienna.
Event organiser:
European Network Remembrance and Solidarity
In cooperation with:
Hungarian Committee of National Remembrance
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Partners:
Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship
European Solidarity Centre