decommunization

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.

Pasikowski’s ‘Pigs’ as an Illustration of Vetting in a Transitional Society

Mgr Mateusz Grabarczyk

Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań

English abstract: Pigs, a 1992 movie directed by Władysław Pasikowski, has become an iconic picture over the years, growing into a source of quotes and becoming a cult classic. The film, while remaining commercially attractive, outlines many problems within transitional justice and opens a discussion regarding the vetting of the SB officers carried out at that time, including the selected model.

The plot of the film takes place in 1990, the period of political transformation in Poland after the fall of communism. Before the purely sensational action comes to the fore, the movie is largely about a reform of the MSW and the SB, about vetting of its officers and their fate while trying to find themselves in the new reality. It also shows that it is remarkably difficult to carry out reforms simultaneously in many fields: political, economic and social, and that it may be the source of a crisis.

The aim of this article is to present Pasikowski’s Pigs as a film that demonstrates the practical issues related to one of the mechanisms used in the framework of transitional justice, namely the vetting process. The movie as an artistic representation of individuals subjected to vetting opens discourse on transitional justice and the problem of dealing with undemocratic system. The paper concentrates on a general outline of the movie, paying attention to the vetting committees and their function within the framework of transitional justice. While presenting the normative model of officers’ vetting and juxtaposing it with the image shown in the film, the author displays basic moral and social problems related to the vetting.

Keywords: Pasikowski’s Pigs, security service, vetting, dealing with the past, transitional justice, decommunization

Language: English

Published: Number 1(26)/2021, pp. 100-111.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2021.1.100

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Number of downloads: 442

Transitional Justice and the Constitutional Crisis: The Case of Poland (2015–2019)

Dr Michał Krotoszyński

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

English abstract: During the last four years the situation in Poland has been a matter of interest to the worldwide legal community mostly due to the constitutional crisis. Yet, the years 2015–2019 were also a time of a revival of transitional justice measures, such as cleansing the public sphere of communist symbols, remodelling of lustration law, and further reduction of pensions of communist secret service employees and officers. In this paper I argue that these spheres are interconnected and that Poland’s constitutional crisis has a transitional justice dimension. I start with an overview of retrospective instruments dealing with the communist past introduced in the last four years. Next, I turn to the constitutional crisis itself, discussing its possible explanations and transitional justice aspects. In the end I claim that the dramatic constitutional backsliding that Poland has recently experienced can be explained not only as a power grab, but also as a result of the tension between the rule of law and the principle of individual responsibility on one hand – and the resort to collective accountability in an attempt to get what the government sees as justice on the other.

Keywords: transitional justice, lustration, decommunization, Poland’s constitutional crisis, Polish Supreme Court, rule of law, sincerity principle

Language: English

Published: Number 3(21)/2019, pp. 22-39.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2019.3.22

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Number of downloads: 682

Uniformed Services Pension Amendment Acts in Poland as Part of State Politics of Memory

Mgr Mateusz Grabarczyk

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

English abstract: The article is an analysis of the regulations regarding the reduction of pensions of former officers of the People’s Republic of Poland’s security services as an element of state politics of memory, presenting the Uniformed Services Pension Amendment Acts of 2009 and 2016 from the perspective of transitional justice.

Whilst investigating the admissibility of using such a retribution mechanism, the author draws attention to the purpose of this type of regulation. Reducing pensions has, in fact, two goals – a retrospective one and a prospective one. The retrospective goal is about administering historical justice by penalizing a specific group of people using various mechanisms (in this case administrative sanctions). In the prospective aspect, it is an element of institutionalizing memory and building a specific political narrative. As a consequence, apart from commemorative practices, it aims to produce and disseminate knowledge in public space, while clearly rejecting the past regime.

In relation to the Uniformed Services Pension Amendment Acts, while the Act of 2009 was to some extent aimed at the retrospective goal, the 2016 Act is primarily an element of politics of memory used by authorities to control the recollection of past events by explicitly condemning the previous system and all persons in any way related to it. For this reason, the author focuses on the mechanism of reducing pensions as one of the elements of politics of memory in Poland.

Keywords: Uniformed Services Pension Amendment Acts in Poland, politics of memory, institutionalization of collective memory, decommunization, reducing pensions of communist officials, transitional justice

Language: English

Published: Number 3(21)/2019, pp. 67-80.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2019.3.67

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Number of downloads: 500