On 12 and 13 November, first meeting of the project partners „1990 / Year One. The democratic transformation in former Eastern Bloc countries” took place. It was attended by representatives of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe, Paweł Włodkowic Institute (Poland), Stiftung Adam von Trott, Imshausen e.V. (Germany), Post Bellum (Czech Republic)` and Anyksciu svietimo pagalbos tarnyba (Lithuania).
During the meeting, experts in history and public history from Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Lithuania discussed historical policy and civic activities in the field of shaping collective memory, methodology and division of tasks that will be jointly implemented within the project.
Parallel to the partners' meeting, on November 13th, the first training workshops for teachers and students from Poland who will participate in the project were organised. During the workshops, the participants got acquainted with the assumptions of the project, its objectives and the methodology of collecting oral testimonials and working with time witnesses.
Due to the current situation, both meetings were held online.
The meeting and workshops were attended by a total of 110 people from Poland, Germany, Czech Republic and Lithuania.
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The aim of the project is to understand and bring closer the knowledge about the changes that took place in 1990 in Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania and other Baltic countries.
The year 1990 was a turning point in overcoming the communist heritage and shaping democracy in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. That year brought the first fully free parliamentary, presidential and local government elections in most of the CEE countries. It was also in 1990 that the two German states were reunited, which had (still has) consequences not only for the Germans themselves, but also for their eastern neighbours, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks (then: Czechoslovakia), who had to re-establish their relations with their old/new neighbour - with whom they also had an unsettled history dating back to World War II. The year 1990 was also the beginning of a new era for the Baltic States, such as Lithuania, which was the first country of that region to declare its independence after 50 years of Soviet rule.
Project „1990 / Year One. The democratic transformation in former Eastern Bloc countries” will be implemented from November 2020 to May 2022 by historians, public history experts, teachers and school youth from Poland, Germany, Czech Republic and Lithuania.
The project is implemented under the Europe for Citizens Programme - Strand 1. European Remembrance and is cofinanced by the European Commission.
