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.