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Decommunization in formercommunist states is the process of purging former communist high officials and eliminating communist symbols.
It is sometimes referred to as political cleansing.[2] Although the term has been occasionally used during theCold War,[3] it is most commonly applied to the former countries of theEastern Bloc, those countries that were considered being close to the Eastern Bloc and theSoviet Union to describe a number of legal and social changes during their periods ofpostcommunism during thepost–Cold War era.
In some states, decommunization includesbans on communist symbols. While sharing common traits, the processes of decommunization have run differently in different states.[4][5]
Decommunization came to refer to government policies of limiting the participation of former communist officials in politics. This should not be confused withlustration which is the procedure of scrutinizing holders or candidates for public offices in terms being former informants of the communistsecret police.
According to a 1992 constitutional amendment in the Czech Republic, a person who publicly denies, puts in doubt, approves, or tries to justify Nazi or Communist genocide or other crimes of Nazis or Communists will be punished with a prison term of six months to three years.[8] In 1992,Barbara Harff wrote that no Communist country or governing body had been convicted ofgenocide.[9]
In August 2007,Arnold Meri, an EstonianRed Army veteran and cousin of former Estonian presidentLennart Meri, faced charges of genocide by Estonian authorities for participating in thedeportations of Estonians inHiiumaa during 1949.[10][11] Meri denied the accusation, characterizing them as politically motivated defamation, stating: "I do not consider myself guilty of genocide." The trial was halted when Meri died on 27 March 2009 at the age of 89.[12]
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The process of decommunization and de-sovietization in Ukraine started soon afterdissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, led by PresidentLeonid Kravchuk, a former high-ranking party official.[16] In April 2015, a formal decommunization process started inUkraine afterlaws were approved which outlawedcommunist symbols, among other things.[17] On 15 May 2015, PresidentPetro Poroshenko signed a set of laws that started a six-month period for the removal of communist monuments (excludingWorld War II monuments) and renaming of public places named after communist-related themes.[18][5] At the time, this meant that 22 cities and 44 villages would need to be renamed.[19][20] In 2016, 51,493 streets and 987 cities and villages were renamed, and 1,320Lenin monuments and 1,069 monuments to other communist figures were removed.[21]
Since 1989, Poland has taken down hundreds of Soviet monuments due to the negative reputation the Soviet Union has in Poland.[22] Although some Poles see the memorials as justified in honouring those who died fighting against Nazi Germany, others seek the removal of Soviet memorials because of the decades of totalitarianism that resulted from Soviet occupation, and also because of the 1939Nazi-Soviet pact and theKatyn massacre.[23] HistorianLukasz Kaminski of theInstitute of National Remembrance said, "Memorials in city centers and villages can send the wrong historical signal... What do you think we got, when the Soviets liberated Poland from Hitler, if not a new yoke?"[22]
In the 2010s, Poland continued to demolish remaining Soviet monuments, some of which have been relocated to museums.[24] The removals have attracted criticism fromRussian Foreign MinisterSergey Lavrov, who has lashed out at Warsaw officials for opposing the monuments,[24] as hasMaria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry.[23]
Since the collapse of the USSR there was active debate regarding the fate of the Soviet symbols that were received as gifts. For example, theWorld peace sculpture, gifted to Finland by the USSR in 1990, has been vandalized several times during its existence. Since Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022 the discussion of removing these symbols started to intensify. Statues of Lenin were removed fromTurku andKotka supposedly as "a gesture of solidarity" for Ukraine. The World Peace sculpture was also removed fromHelsinki (the official reason was that it needed to be relocated due to roadworks). The name ofLenin Park will be changed in the future. Critics have considered the latest moves as harmful since history will be erased by these actions. It can also be asked if the erasure can be logically argued asLenin andPutin representing different ideologies. There has been some criticism from the political right-wing regarding the history of the elderly Social Democrats who some accuse of spying for theStasi. The so-calledTiitinen list has been discussed and the right-wing has demanded it be declassified.[25][26]
In April 2020, a statue of Soviet MarshalIvan Konev was removed fromPrague, which prompted criminal investigation by Russian authorities who considered it an insult. The Mayor of Prague'ssixth municipal district, Ondřej Kolář, announced onPrima televize that he would be under police protection after a Russian man made attempts on his life. Prime MinisterAndrej Babiš condemned that as foreign interference, whileKremlin Press SecretaryDmitry Peskov dismissed allegations of Russian involvement as "another hoax".[27]
In December 2023, theMonument to the Soviet Army in downtownSofia was partially dismantled and set to be put in theMuseum of Socialist Art. As of March 2024, it has yet to be put in the museum or replaced with a new monument.
In 1991, the Lenin monument was removed fromRepublic Square inYerevan, after he was beheaded. Thepedestal of the monument remained standing until 1996.
On 7 June 2025,Kyrgyz authorities took down a statue ofLenin in the second largest city ofOsh, which is also the tallest Lenin statue inCentral Asia.[28][29]
Communist parties outside of Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states were not outlawed and their members were not prosecuted. Just a few places attempted to exclude even members of communist secret services from decision-making. In a number of countries, the communist party simply changed its name and continued to function.[30]
Stephen Holmes of theUniversity of Chicago argued in 1996 that after a period of active decommunization, it was met with a near-universal failure. After the introduction of lustration, demand for scapegoats has become relatively low, and former communists have been elected for high governmental and other administrative positions. Holmes notes that the only real exception was formerEast Germany, where thousands of formerStasi informers have been fired from public positions.[31]
Holmes suggests the following reasons for the turnoff of decommunization:[31]
Decommunization has been compared todenazification inpost-World War II Europe, and thede-Ba'athification in post-Saddam HusseinIraq.[32]
