Archiwum
Filozofii Prawa
i Filozofii Społecznej

Journal of the Polish Section of IVR (ISSN:2082-3304)

IVR

Denying communist crimes: Selected problems

Dr Marek Derlatka

University of Zielona Góra

English abstract: The offence described in Article 55 of the Act of 18 December 1998 on the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes Against the Polish Nation is commonly known as the Auschwitz lie, although it also includes the denial of communist crimes. The aim of my study is to analyze the basic matters relating to the offence known as hate speech in relation to “distortions of communism”. The truth about the Katyn massacre was preserved in Polish society despite Stalinist terror and communist fabrications. The right to historical truth, or the right to decree one acceptable vision of the past, the freedom of speech and the freedom of scientific research, can these values be reconciled? Answers to such questions are urgently sought, but, as is often the case in the area of conflict between different types of freedom, they may give rise to many controversies.

Keywords: communist crime, denial, right of memory, national identity

Language: Polish

Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 95-106.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.95

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Number of downloads: 57

This text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Attempts to punish communist crimes throughout history: Failures and successes

Prof. dr hab. Adam Bosiacki

University of Warsaw

English abstract: The article contains a retrospective presentation of attempts to punish communist crimes committed by functionaries of the communist state apparatus since the civil war in Russia. Although there were many such attempts, they remain unknown to the general public. This applies to a lesser extent to people punished after the fall of the communist system in the countries of the Soviet Bloc and outside it (in Cambodia). Obviously, however, the extent and effectiveness of punishing communist crimes can hardly be considered satisfactory and will never be so.

Keywords: communist crime, Russia, USSR, Soviet Bloc, fall of communism, decommunization

Language: English

Published: Number 3(44)/2025, pp. 70-79.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2025.3.70

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Number of downloads: 62

This text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.