European Network Remembrance and Solidarity “Remember. August 23rd!”

The Center for Documentation of Deportations, Expulsions, and Resettlements supports the social campaign of the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity

“Remember. August 23!”

“On August 23, we celebrate the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, established by the European Parliament in 2008. On this day, 86 years ago, the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact was signed – an agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that paved the way for the outbreak of World War II and, in its aftermath, concentration camps, gulags, the Holocaust, long years of the Cold War, and further enslavement for many.

For the eleventh time, the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) invites you to participate in a social and educational campaign under the slogan “Remember. August 23,” which brings the consequences and significance of past events closer to contemporary Europeans. In a year when Europe commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, this initiative takes on special significance.

This year’s campaign focuses on intergenerational trauma – one of the most complex aspects of historical heritage. We invited distinguished researchers to reflect on this topic: Yael Danieli, a psychologist and pioneer in collective trauma therapy; Simona Mitroiu, an expert in post-memory narratives; and Michał Bilewicz, a social psychologist and author of Traumaland, a book on the social effects of violence and collective memory. The interviews with the experts are supplemented by an information brochure that explains in an accessible way what intergenerational trauma is, how to recognize it, and how to deal with it.

The campaign’s main theme is also reflected in a new film spot – the latest installment in a series that has been running since 2019: “Wounds can be healed”

[see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxSlxltVNpA&t=3s] […]

In addition, as part of the campaign, the website www.enrs.eu offers materials that encourage reflection on the legacy of totalitarianism, including a text by Prof. Jan Rydel, in which the author explains the far-reaching consequences of the events of August 1939, and a guide with useful information about the celebrations on August 23.

Source: ENRS.
More information about the campaign can be found at: www.enrs.eu/August23.
and on the Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/enrs.eu