Uncomfortable past

The memory of crimes for which your own state is guilty, not external forces, is not coincidentally referred to as a "difficult past." Acknowledging one's own responsibility without shifting it onto external or internal enemies, time, or circumstances is incredibly difficult psychologically, politically, and legally. At first glance, it may seem that there are many examples of such voluntary reassessment, and Russia is the only country of its kind that cannot come to terms with its past. In reality, according to the researcher of memorial culture N. Epple, when it comes to the immediate successors of criminals and the living political reality, such precedents still do not exist. Even the exemplary case of Germany, in his opinion, cannot be considered an unconditional success. The book is dedicated to comparing the domestic processing of the past with the experiences of other countries - Germany, Spain, Argentina, Poland, South Africa, Japan - in order to outline common principles of such work for the successful overcoming of collective trauma and the achievement of civil peace in Russia.