“The International Spread of State Intervention in History and Historical Memory” by Prof. Georges MINK

European Union countries have been developing new systems for managing conflictual pasts, and new uses of history and representations of historical memory have been manifesting themselves. Public policies for legally and normatively framing historical memory are multiplying across Europe. Policies originating from memory-driven issues and causes at a national level are often elevated to an international frame so as to amplify externalization benefits. In Poland, where the representation of the Second World War constitutes a major internal issue, embassies have even been instructed to file lawsuits against foreign media who, either by negligence or deliberately, speak of Polish concentration camps instead of German camps on Polish soil. “It is our duty to contradict myths that are harmful to Poland. If we do not, we Poles will leave ourselves open to future accusations of all kinds of misconduct without knowing the price [my italics] we will have to pay for them”