The event offered research and a scientific exchange on the ideological foundations and practical implementation of communism.

The aim of the conference was to analyse the fascination with communism as an ideology and the extent to which its attractiveness lingers on in the societies of both Eastern and Western Europe.

The central questions were: Was communism a mass movement? In what historic situation did the communist ideology succeed? Was it able to fulfill its promises? And, last but not least, is terror and violence an integral part of the communist ideology and its implementation?

The speakers included: Prof. Oleg Budnitski (historian, Higher School of Economics, Moscow), Prof. Nicolas Werth (historian, Institut d’Histoire du Temps Present, Paris), Prof. Harro von Senger (lawyer, sinologist, Zurich), and Prof. Stefan Plaggenborg (historian of Eastern Europe, University of Bochum). The meeting took place in the Berlin Wall Memorial.