THREAD: Why is antifascism fading from Europe's official memory, while anti-communism is rising?
And what does this shift mean for democracy, the far right, and the future of political possibility?
Let's talk about memory politics — and how it shapes power.
And what does this shift mean for democracy, the far right, and the future of political possibility?
Let's talk about memory politics — and how it shapes power.
After 1989, Europe didn't just “move on” from communism.
It rewrote its memory.
Across parliaments, museums, schools, and courtrooms, a new consensus emerged: Liberal democracy defeated totalitarianism — and the past became a morality play.
It rewrote its memory.
Across parliaments, museums, schools, and courtrooms, a new consensus emerged: Liberal democracy defeated totalitarianism — and the past became a morality play.
This shift was strategic.
Anti-communism became not just a judgment of past regimes but a foundation for post-Cold War identity.
The result?
A memory regime that treats communism and fascism as equally evil.
A framework called the “Double Genocide” thesis.
Anti-communism became not just a judgment of past regimes but a foundation for post-Cold War identity.
The result?
A memory regime that treats communism and fascism as equally evil.
A framework called the “Double Genocide” thesis.
As Hannes Behr explains, this isn’t neutral history.
It’s ideological statecraft.
By replacing antifascism with anti-communism, liberal Europe made market capitalism appear “natural,” inevitable — the end of history.
It’s ideological statecraft.
By replacing antifascism with anti-communism, liberal Europe made market capitalism appear “natural,” inevitable — the end of history.
This reframing had massive political consequences.
Fascist collaborators in Eastern Europe were rehabilitated.
Monuments to communist partisans were taken down.
New memory laws were passed to criminalize “glorifying” communism.
Fascist collaborators in Eastern Europe were rehabilitated.
Monuments to communist partisans were taken down.
New memory laws were passed to criminalize “glorifying” communism.
Laure Neumayer shows how this took legal form.
From the EU Parliament’s 2009 resolution on “European conscience and totalitarianism” to Baltic and Polish memory laws, communism was rebranded as an unforgivable crime — morally equal to Nazism.
From the EU Parliament’s 2009 resolution on “European conscience and totalitarianism” to Baltic and Polish memory laws, communism was rebranded as an unforgivable crime — morally equal to Nazism.
This memory regime actively erased histories of communist antifascist resistance.
It made no distinction between Gulag bureaucracy and partisan heroism.
It paved the way for historical revisionism and far-right nationalism.
It made no distinction between Gulag bureaucracy and partisan heroism.
It paved the way for historical revisionism and far-right nationalism.
But why?
Because antifascist memory — tied to solidarity, internationalism, and social justice — left open a space for political alternatives.
Anti-communist memory closed that space.
It said: There Is No Alternative.
Because antifascist memory — tied to solidarity, internationalism, and social justice — left open a space for political alternatives.
Anti-communist memory closed that space.
It said: There Is No Alternative.
Behr:
“Memory laws that once aimed to consolidate liberal democracy have become tools for suppressing leftist critique... turning history into doctrine.”
“Memory laws that once aimed to consolidate liberal democracy have become tools for suppressing leftist critique... turning history into doctrine.”
And this created a dangerous vacuum.
Without antifascism as a shared civic anchor, the far right surged in to reclaim national memory.
As David Broder notes, they used the very framework built by liberals to resurrect exclusionary nationalism.
Without antifascism as a shared civic anchor, the far right surged in to reclaim national memory.
As David Broder notes, they used the very framework built by liberals to resurrect exclusionary nationalism.
In Poland, Hungary, Italy, and the Baltics:
The right portrays itself as victim of communist tyranny, while celebrating nationalist collaborators — even fascists — as patriots.
All in the name of “truth and reconciliation.”
The right portrays itself as victim of communist tyranny, while celebrating nationalist collaborators — even fascists — as patriots.
All in the name of “truth and reconciliation.”
But this wasn't just a European phenomenon.
Across the Atlantic, Jeff Schuhrke tells us how U.S. labor, the CIA, and the State Department ran a global anti-communist crusade after WWII.
Across the Atlantic, Jeff Schuhrke tells us how U.S. labor, the CIA, and the State Department ran a global anti-communist crusade after WWII.
Schuhrke’s book, Blue-Collar Empire, reveals how American unions — especially the AFL-CIO — sabotaged radical unions in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
They funded anti-communist unions, purged leftists, and helped export a “safe” model of democracy.
They funded anti-communist unions, purged leftists, and helped export a “safe” model of democracy.
Anti-communism wasn't just defense — it was ideological offense.
It realigned global labor politics toward capitalism and empire, cutting off more radical paths.
It realigned global labor politics toward capitalism and empire, cutting off more radical paths.
All four scholars — Behr, Neumayer, Broder, Schuhrke — show how memory is political terrain.
It determines:
– what’s possible
– who belongs
– what the past teaches
– and how the future can be imagined
It determines:
– what’s possible
– who belongs
– what the past teaches
– and how the future can be imagined
So what happens when ex-communist parties themselves abandon their legacy?
The article “How Ex-Communist Left Parties Reformed and Lost” shows how post-socialist left parties turned technocratic, defensive, and centrist — and lost their base.
The article “How Ex-Communist Left Parties Reformed and Lost” shows how post-socialist left parties turned technocratic, defensive, and centrist — and lost their base.
Instead of defending or renewing socialist principles, these parties internalized anti-communism.
They treated their own past as a stain to be scrubbed clean — leaving voters with no vision beyond neoliberalism.
They treated their own past as a stain to be scrubbed clean — leaving voters with no vision beyond neoliberalism.
Result?
Political demobilization.
Historical amnesia.
A left without memory, and a right that knows how to weaponize it.
Political demobilization.
Historical amnesia.
A left without memory, and a right that knows how to weaponize it.
Together, these trends reveal how anti-communism became the foundation of post-Cold War governance.
It united liberals and conservatives.
It sanitized capitalism.
It demonized alternatives.
It narrowed the horizon of the possible.
It united liberals and conservatives.
It sanitized capitalism.
It demonized alternatives.
It narrowed the horizon of the possible.
And it's not just about statues and museums.
It’s about how people imagine justice, solidarity, and change.
A society that only remembers communism as evil cannot imagine socialism as freedom.
It’s about how people imagine justice, solidarity, and change.
A society that only remembers communism as evil cannot imagine socialism as freedom.
Which is why reclaiming memory matters.
Projects like @ReimaginingG are fighting to restore suppressed histories — not to glorify the past, but to reopen the future.
Projects like @ReimaginingG are fighting to restore suppressed histories — not to glorify the past, but to reopen the future.
We believe memory must be repoliticized.
Antifascist memory should not be buried.
It should be reclaimed — as part of a tradition of resistance, dignity, and collective imagination.
Antifascist memory should not be buried.
It should be reclaimed — as part of a tradition of resistance, dignity, and collective imagination.
To remember is to resist.
To resist is to hope.
And to hope is to act.
History is not over — and memory is not a weapon only for the right.
To resist is to hope.
And to hope is to act.
History is not over — and memory is not a weapon only for the right.
If you've felt that “something is missing” in how we talk about Europe’s past…
If you’ve wondered why the far right always seems to win the historical argument…
That “something” is the deliberate erasure of the left’s legacy.
If you’ve wondered why the far right always seems to win the historical argument…
That “something” is the deliberate erasure of the left’s legacy.
Let’s reclaim it.
Reclaim antifascist memory.
Reclaim solidarity.
Reclaim history as a site of struggle — not shame.
Follow @ReimaginingG
Reclaim antifascist memory.
Reclaim solidarity.
Reclaim history as a site of struggle — not shame.
Follow @ReimaginingG
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