Decommunization

Decommunization in former communist states is the process of purging former communist high officials and eliminating communist symbols. It is sometimes referred to as political cleansing. Although the term has been occasionally used during the Cold War, it is most commonly applied to the former countries of the Eastern Bloc, those countries that were considered being close to the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union to describe a number of legal and social changes during their periods of postcommunism during the post–Cold War era. In some states, decommunization includes bans on communist symbols. While sharing common traits, the processes of decommunization have run differently in different states. Czechia – The Office of the Documentation and the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism Slovakia – The Institute of National Memory – Ústav pamäti národa (Sk) Estonia – The Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity Germany – The Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records (BStU) Hungary – The Committee of National Remembrance Lithuania – The Lithuanian Center for the Research of Genocide and Resistance Poland – The Institute of National Remembrance — Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation Romania – The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania Moldova – The Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Moldova Ukraine – The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance Decommunization came to refer to government policies of limiting the participation of former communist officials in politics. This should not be confused with lustration which is the procedure of scrutinizing holders or candidates for public offices in terms being former informants of the communist secret police. According to a 1992 constitutional amendment in the Czech Republic, a person who publicly denies, puts in doubt, approves, or tries to justify Nazi or Communist genocide or other crimes of Nazis or Communists will be punished with a prison term of six months to three years.

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Related concepts (3)

Anti-communism

Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an intense rivalry. Anti-communism has been an element of many movements and different political positions across the political spectrum, including anarchism, centrism, conservatism, fascism, liberalism, nationalism, social democracy, socialism, leftism, and libertarianism, as well as broad movements resisting communist governance.

Denazification

Denazification (Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Party or SS members from positions of power and influence, by disbanding or rendering impotent the organizations associated with Nazism, and by trying prominent Nazis for war crimes in the Nuremberg trials of 1946.

The Black Book of Communism

The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression is a 1997 book by Stéphane Courtois, Andrzej Paczkowski, Nicolas Werth, Jean-Louis Margolin, and several other European academics documenting a history of political repression by communist states, including genocides, extrajudicial executions, deportations, and deaths in labor camps and artificially created famines. The book was originally published in France as Le Livre noir du communisme: Crimes, terreur, répression by Éditions Robert Laffont.