Videos

On 27 January, on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau German Nazi concentration camp, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated. For this occasion, the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity and the House of the Wannsee Conference have prepared a short animated film entitled “Memento”, directed by the Hungarian auteur Zoltán Szilágyi Varga. The short spot is available on the organisers’ websites and it will also be shown across European TV channels. We would like to invite your institution to join our commemorative event by sharing this film on your internet platforms.
The half-a-minute-long spot based on charcoal drawings recalls one of the most tragic events in human history. As its director Zoltán Szilágyi Varga says, when trying to grapple with the Holocaust “we stand in front of human nature’s distortion without any answer despite all the research we know, the number of victims counted, the exact description of the events.” The film evokes symbolism which is easily recognised by Europeans: cattle railway cars, railway tracks, paper snippets or abandoned flats, yet it shows them from a child’s perspective, thereby posing the question whether it is possible to comprehend that tragedy and stressing the need to uphold the memory of those days.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Day was designated as such by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005 in order to make future generations sensitive to the tragedy of the Holocaust and so prevent in that way any future acts of genocide. The Day is commemorated on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau German Nazi concentration camp, the site that witnessed the carnage of at least a million of Hungarian, Polish, French, Czech, Slovak and Greek Jews as well as those from other countries, and around a hundred twenty thousand other prisoners (Poles, Roma, Soviet captives and others). The European Network Remembrance and Solidarity wishes to be involved in activities commemorating the Day in public awareness.

The partners of the campaign include such institutions as: the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site and Museum, the Berlin-based Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Warsaw-based POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and the Federal Institute for Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe.

Elżbieta Ficowska was born in Warsaw ghetto in 1942 to Henia and Jossel Koppel. She survived because she was smuggled to the "Aryan side" and hid from Germans by Stanisława Bussold – a 56-year-old midwife and member of the underground helping Jews. The only thing left from her Jewish parents is a little silver spoon bearing the girl's name and birth date. Her story is among those presented at the traveling exhibition "Between Life and Death".

Mala Zimetbaum and Edek Galiński's is a unique love story. After an unsuccessful attempt at escape, both perished in the Nazi German concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Sound in the Silence is an intercultural and international remembrance project for youth. At historically challenging locations students work with artists representing different artistic fields in order to understand how the past is connected to their questions in the present.

This video portrays the editions of 2022, which took place in Lithuania at the Kaunas 9th Fort and in Austria at Gusen & Mauthausen Memorial Sites, and 2023, which took place in Germany at the House of the Wannsee Conference and Croatia at the Jasenovac Memorial Site.

Sound in the Silence is co-funded by the European Union.

Co słychać na Górnym Śląsku? Czym brzmi(ała) Warszawa?
Mikrokosmosem dyskusji z cyklu “Zrozumieć Pamięć” to budynek, dom, mieszkanie; Kamil Iwanicki i Marta Michalska zabierają nas na spacer po Górnym Śląsku i Warszawie. W ślad za ich książkami zaglądamy do familoków i kamienic, ale też wyglądać z nich na place, podwórka i ulice.

Kamil Iwanicki w swojej publikacji „Familoki. Śląskie mikrokosmosy” skupia się na środowisku śląskich robotników i ich życiu domowym. Opisuje izby górników i ich rodzin, ich zachowania, przyzwyczajenia, tradycje.
Marta Michalska w swojej pracy „Dźwięki, ludzie i nasłuchiwanie miasta. Wybrane elementy fonosfery Warszawy na przełomie XIX i XX wieku” przenosi nas w czasie do dziewiętnastego wieku i uczy nas nasłuchiwania historii. Podsłuchuje grające na pianinach dziewczyny, krzyczących kupców, sprzedawców, kataryniarzy.

Wystąpili:
Kamil Iwanicki autor publikacji „Familoki. Śląskie mikrokosmosy”
Marta Michalska autorka publikacji „Dźwięki, ludzie i nasłuchiwanie miasta. Wybrane elementy fonosfery Warszawy na przełomie XIX i XX wieku”
Prowadzenie: Małgorzata Pakier

Dyskusja jest tłumaczona na polski język migowy.

Panellists:
- Filip Binder (Czech Academy of Sciences): “Castles of the 19th Century as Sites of Memory of the Aristocracy Based in the Czech Lands”
- Luděk Němec (University of Vienna): “The 'Pearl of South Bohemia': Hluboká Castle between Aristocratic Memory, Cultural Symbol, and Tourist Attraction”
- István Kollai (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship): “Genius Loci around Castles in Slovakia: Built Heritage of Feudal Past in the “Cultural Landscape” and in the ‘Social Mindscape’”

Discussant: Simon Donig (Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe) (ZOOM)
Moderation: Joanna Wawrzyniak (University of Warsaw/Memory Studies Association)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Panellists:
- Siarhei Marozau (Independent Researcher): "Aristocracy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Memory Policy of Belarus (1988–2023): Competition of Historical Narratives" (ZOOM)
- Tomasz Błaszczak (Vytautas Magnus University), Agnieszka Nowakowska (University of Warsaw): "Villains or Benefactors: Images of Nobility in Lithuanian and Polish Textbooks"
- Rafał Slaski (Zofia and Jan Włodek Foundation/Polish Gentry Association): "Educational Activities Restoring Knowledge about History and Achievements of Polish Landowners"

Discussant: Michał Łuczewski (University of Warsaw)
Moderation: Małgorzata Pakier (ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

A round table discussion with discussants Tomasz Zarycki (University of Warsaw), Constantin Iordachi (Central European University) and Radmila Švaříčková Slabáková (Palacký University Olomouc).
Moderation by Anna Wylegała (Polish Academy of Sciences).

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Panellists:
- Saara Tuovinen (University of Oulu): “Rare Birds, Military Heroes, and Influencers – Nobility at late 18th Century and early 19th Century Northern Finland”
- Silke Marburg (Independent Researcher): “'One Can Not Be Overlooked.' Forestal Investment and the Visibility of Aristocracy as a Memory Group After 1918”
- Róbert Szabó (Eötvös Loránd University): “Military Nation or Ultramilitarist Aristocrats? A Genealogical Analysis in The Horthy-Hungary” (ZOOM)
- Kseniya Liubaya (University of Warsaw): “Duchess Magdalena Radzivil: Construction of a Positive and Negative Image of the Aristocracy in the 20th and 21st Centuries” (ZOOM)

Discussant: Dina Guseinova (London School of Economics and Political Science) (ZOOM)
Moderation: Konrad Bielecki (ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Panellists:
- Mikołaj Getka-Kenig (Polish Academy od Sciences): "Aestheticizing the Class Enemy. The Musealization of Feudal Heritage in Post-War Poland and East Germany"
- Uladzimir Karalenak (Museum in Nieborów and Arkadia): "Dismantling the Aristocratic Legacy: The Cultural Heritage of the Radziwiłłs in the Political Landscape of the Polish People's Republic and the Soviet Union"
- Jakub Wiśniewski (Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland): "The Totalitarianism against the Gentry Heritage. The Politics of the Communist Regime in Poland Towards Manors and Manor Complexes and its Comparison to the Third Polish Republic"
- Salvijus Kulevičius (Vilnius University): "Enemy of the Nation and Class or Cultural Heritage? The Fate of Manorial Legacy in Lithuania during the Soviet Era"

Discussant: Małgorzata Łukianow (University of Warsaw)
Moderation: Bartosz Dziewanowski-Stefańczyk (ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Panellists:
- Teresa Klimowicz (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University): "Unveiling Nobility in the Myth of the One-Day Jewish King of Poland"
- Katarzyna Kuligowska (Adam Mickiewicz University): "Linguistic View of Landowning Elites in Polish Proverbs and Sayings"
- Uladzimir Kananovich (Indepentend Researcher): "King Mindowe (Mindouh) in Navahrudak. An Aristocratic Social Memory in Contemporary Society"
- Péter Erdősi (Eötvös Loránd University): "From 'Neo-Baroque Society' to Baroque Heritage: Changing Perceptions of the Hungarian Aristocracy (20th and 21st Centuries)"

Discussant: Elżbieta Kwiecińska (Polish Academy of Sciences)
Moderation: Gábor Danyi (ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Panellists:
- Cezary Lusiński (Polish Academy of Sciences): "How the Owners of Palaces are Perceived by Local Communities in the Western Part of Poland?"
- Justyna Szklarczyk (University of Warsaw): "Palace Possibilities and Potentiality of Dwelling. The History of State Farms in Socialist Poland" (ZOOM)
- Elena Gibson (University of Leeds): "Re-Imagining the Big-House - Local Community Relationship: The Case of Wentworth Woodhouse" (ZOOM)
- Yehoshua Ecker (University of Florida): "Remembering the Feudal Order in Newer Times: The Jewish Turn in Eastern Galician Landed Estates" (ZOOM)

Discussant: Marta Kurkowska-Budzan (Jagiellonian University)
Moderation: Monika Haber (ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Panellists:
- Maciej Radziwiłł (Foundation Trzy Trąby): "Polish Aristocracy after WWII. Does it still exist?"
- Ling Li (Erfurt University): "Power Continuities of Kinship Dynamics in Modern Urbanization: Comparative Perspectives from China and Europe"
- Attila Kálmán (Sapientia University): "Surviving Strategies of the Transylvanian Aristocracy during the Communist Period (1949 – 1989)"

Discussant: Sofia Tchouikina (University of Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis/Research Centre CRESPPA)
Moderation: Bartosz Dziewanowski-Stefańczyk (ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Panellists:
- Jan Wasiewicz (Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts Poznan): "'We’ve Forgotten Nothing…', Peasant Memory of Serfdom and Enforced Labour in Debates over Land Reform in the Second Polish Republic (1918-1939)" (ZOOM)
- Mateusz Wyżga (University of the National Education Commission): "Oblivion. Social Relations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Present Day"
- Naum Trajanovski (University of Warsaw): "Remembering Serfdom at the Turn of the Century Balkans: Dime Bojanovski-Dize and the Pioneering Research of Chifliks in Socialist Macedonia of the 1950s" (ZOOM)

Discussant: Michał Rauszer (University of Warsaw)
Moderation: Ewelina Szpak (Polish Academy of Sciences/ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Panellists:
- Łukasz Lubicz-Łapiński (The Polish Nobility Association): “Representation of the Nobility in Modern Day Poland”
- Rafał Smoczyński (Polish Academy of Sciences): “The Reorganization of Polish Nobility: Post-WWII Strategies for Collective Identity Building” (ZOOM)
- Sokol Lleshi (University of New York Tirana): “Restorative Memory, and Temporalities of past Social Formation in the Absence of Historical Justice: Representation of Landowning Elites in Post-Communist Albania”
- Gergely Fejérdy (Péter Pazmany Catholic University/Otto von Habsburg Foundation): “Otto von Habsburg and Hungarian Noble Networks” (ZOOM)

Discussant: Éva Sztáray Kézdy (Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary) (ZOOM)
Moderation: Małgorzata Pakier (ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Panellists:
- Maciej Rydel (Polish Gentry Association): "Status of Material, Cultural, and Heritage of the Gentry in Poland: Manors, Palaces and Parks"
- Anna Damięcka-Wójcik (University of Warsaw): "Lehndorff Palace in Sztynort: From 'Non-Place' to 'Post-Place'"
- Ewa Manikowska (Polish Academy of Sciences): "Collecting: A Distorted Tradition"

Discussant: Paul Zalewski (Europa-Universität Viadrina) (ZOOM)
Moderation: Konrad Bielecki (ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Keynote: Longina Jakubowska (Utrecht University)
Moderation: Jan Rydel (ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Johann “Rukeli” Trollmann (1907-1944) was a German Sinti boxer. He won the German light heavyweight title, only to have it stripped by the Nazis due to his heritage and "un-German" style. He endured forced sterilization, forced labour, and eventually died in a concentration camp, reportedly beaten to death by a kapo he had once defeated in a boxing match.

As every year on 23 August, the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, the ENRS recalls those persecuted in the name of totalitarian and authoritarian ideologies.