The Identity Crisis of Bengali Dalit Refugees in Manoranjan Byapari’s Autobiography Interrogating My Chandal Life

Manoranjan Byapari is a famous Bengali Dalit writer whose family migrated from East Pakistan and took shelter in a refugee camp in West Bengal. In his autobiography Interrogating My Chandal Life, Byapari has given an account of Bengali Dalits’ victimization on the basis of caste in the pre-Partition Bengal and post-Partition West Bengal. In colonial Bengal, Dalits were known as Chandal or Untouchables. In 1911, their identity was recognized as Namashudras. After migrating to West Bengal, they were identified as Bangal and Dalit refugee. West Bengal and central governments did not warmly welcome the Namashudra refugees. They were sent to refugee camps which were crowded, unhygienic and did not provide adequate dole. Later they were sent to Andaman, Dandakaranya and other parts of India for their rehabilitation. In this dire situation, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) appeared as the Messiah to the Dalits and protested against the rehabilitation policy of the ruling government. The fake sympathy of the communist party had been revealed when they came in power in 1977 in West Bengal. Most of the communist leaders were upper-caste Hindus. In 1979, communist government secretly massacred the Namashudra refugees who were settled on the Marichjhapi Island. The state sponsored murder of Dalits remained undiscovered for many years. This study will examine the impacts of the Partition of Bengal on Dalits. It will further address how the state government provided different treatment to the Namashudra refugees for their lower caste identity.

“Under the Pacifying Arms of the Cross.” The Valley of the Fallen: a Place of Imprisonment, Reconciliation and Social Reintegration in Spain (1940-1959)

The Valley of the Fallen is the monument that boasts the largest Christian cross in the world. Buried at its feet are tens of thousands of those who fought and fell during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). They rest in the Basilica of the Holy Cross together without any designation as to on which side they fought. The article focuses on the vicissitudes of the penitentiary colony made up mainly of Republican prisoners sentenced for serious crimes committed during the war. This monument, a symbol of atonement and reconciliation, has become the target of a relentless political onslaught carried out by the socialist and communist government and fuelled by a series of myths analysed in the article.

Why Geography in Poland Has Never Radicalized

This paper deals with the role of social sciences, and more specifically of geography and regional planning, in the legitimization of European integration and neo-liberal economic and social reforms introduced since 1989 in Poland and, more broadly, in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. Using the example of an intellectual biography of Antoni Kukliński, one of the most prominent Polish geographers, the role of the old intelligentsia elite and its American profes­sional experiences in the evolution of the Polish academia is also analyzed, as well as its involvement in the first non-communist government. The paper also discusses the absence of critical schools within the field of Polish geography as well as other disciplines of social sciences. This is done though the reconstruction of the basic structure of the given academic field and its evolution over time from late communist period to present days. This specific structure of the field of Polish geography, which as it is argued is similar to other fields of social sciences and humanities in Poland, also helps to better contextualize the trajectory of Kukliński.

Anticommunism and Détente: Mindszenty, the Catholic Church, and Hungarian Émigrés in West Germany, 1972

Cardinal Mindszenty was head of the Catholic Church of Hungary between 1945 and 1974, but had been imprisoned between 1949 and 1956 and hiding in the US embassy in Budapest from 1956 to 1971. In 1971, Mindszenty left the country and settled in Vienna after long negotiations between the Vatican and the Hungarian communist government. When he visited the Hungarian diaspora and non-Hungarian followers in the West between 1972 and his death in 1975, controversies about communism, Catholicism, and Western society and social change in general erupted. This article analyzes these controversies and the different groups that supported the cardinal and their understanding of anticommunism in the context of a changing West German society and against the background of changes within the Catholic world after Vatican II. The ideas about communism Mindszenty and his right-wing supporters formulated were outdated in the 1970s but had a long afterlife.

(Mis)Interpreting Vaclav Havel: Conviction and Responsibility in Post-Communist Politics

This article examines Vaclav Havel’s alleged failure to understand the need for a “realistic” approach to post-communist politics and the criticisms of his insistence on retaining his principles and focus on morality in his conduct as president of Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s. It argues that these criticisms do not stand up against an examination either of how Havel actually behaved in this period or of his writings and statements concerning his actions and beliefs, that they are based on a misunderstanding of what Havel hoped to achieve as president, and make unjustified assumptions concerning the desirability of Western political and economic systems in the early post-communist period. This article seeks to clarify Havel’s perception of his role as president, of the goals of the revolution and what he personally hoped to achieve, and his understanding of the opportunity that had been offered to Czechoslovakia by the fall of the communist government.

Cechy stalinowskiego prawa karnego na podstawie podręcznika Igora Andrejewa, Leszka Lernella i Jerzego Sawickiego Prawo karne Polski Ludowej z 1950 r.

Purpose of this paper is to present traits of penal law during Stalinist period in Poland based on a handbook by I. Andrejew, L. Lernell and J. Sawicki “Prawo karne Polski Ludowej”, which was first published in 1950. For this purpose, a number of issues appearing in the publication were described, such as: materialist definition of crime, ex post facto law, penality of preparation, attitude towards pre-war legislation instituted by interpretation, criticism of sociological school in penal law, position of death penalty in punishment system. Based on characteristics of them, traits of Stalinist penal law were identified, some of which are: excessive repressiveness, subordination of law to the power, or its instrumentalization. Identification of these traits was made possible by utilization of modern literature concerning the subject, presentation of regulations from laws having effect at the time, as well as comparison of handbook’s contents with current historical knowledge. Characteristics of traits of Stalinist penal law was preceded by a description of circumstances of origins of the handbook – its position among existing course books, reviews and consideration of impact of authors’ personal background on character of their work. What is more, teaching of penal law in the early days of Peoples’ Poland was briefly described, with an indication, why work of I. Andrejew, L. Lernell and J. Sawicki was particularly needed in law schools created by communist government.

Professors in Humanities at Vilnius University and the Doctrine in the Period of Activities of Donatas Sauka

The analysis of professors in Humanities at Vilnius University in 1948–1956, the period of studies and post-graduate course of Donatas Sauka, established that professors who had not accepted the doctrine of Marxism-Leninism and who had obtained their academic titles in independent Lithuania or pre-revolutionary Russia had left the university. During the first year of Soviet rule, a group of persons who had contributed to Lithuania’s incorporation into the USSR and undertaken to establish the doctrine at the university became professors. They were active in the 1940s and 1950s and created a climate of fear. Some lecturers who were neutral towards the doctrine had been granted the title of professors for their contribution to the science in order to raise the prestige of the university. A cluster of lecturers who attempted to interpret literature without applying primitive sociologisation was formed in the Department of Lithuanian Literature in mid 1950s. At the initiative of the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party, actions were taken (1956–1961) to force the group of young lecturers to follow the requirements of the doctrine. Having defied the requirements, they were dismissed. D. Sauka belonged to the group, but had retained his job as a lecturer without changing his views towards the doctrine. Some professors, associate professors, and students at the university participated in the ideological cleansing of the Department of Lithuanian Literature. They were later promoted. During the 1960s, among literary scholars only Jurgis Lebedys became a professor. At that time, high qualification requirements for obtaining a professor’s title were set in the USSR. Those who had obtained the titles of professors had different approaches towards the doctrine of Marxism-Leninism. Some showed support only formally and expanded the scope of analysed issues by slowly validating new fields of knowledge and developed individual thinking; others attained high qualification and performed the actions of implementing the doctrine required by the party leaders; still others sought their personal goals by using maintenance of the doctrine as a pretext. The guardians of the doctrine created obstacles for unwanted persons in becoming professors by trying to prevent them from defending their doctoral (post-doctoral) theses and publishing their articles and works; they tried to create a wall of silence around them. In the 1970s, D. Sauka and Vytautas Kubilius defended their doctoral (post-doctoral) theses; both of them had surpassed the topics defined by the doctrine and opened new fields of knowledge in Lithuanian literature and culture. Attempts were made to prevent them from defending their theses, but thanks to the vigilance of his colleagues, D. Sauka defended his thesis and became a professor after four years. The approval of V. Kubilius’s doctoral (post-doctoral) title lasted six years, yet one of the strongest literary critics and scholars was not granted the title of professor from the Soviet university. In the 1980s, a number of students at Vilnius University obtained titles of professors. The doctrine itself had changed at that time, the communist government avoided scandals, the level of mentality was higher at the university, and simultaneously, the behaviour of lecturers themselves was self-censored; some of the guardians of the doctrine had voluntarily abandoned their position and those who appreciated the works of their talented colleagues appeared. At the juncture of the 1980s and 1990s, professors of Vilnius University became more prominent in the society: these were personalities that developed individual thinking of their own and others, done valuable work for the culture of Lithuania, retained relations with the nation and had the goal of creating an independent state of Lithuania.

“Reliance of the regime”: the problem of the protection of the communist government during the Civil War

In the first years of Soviet power, various security structures were formed to protect the existing government. Traditionally, the establishing of such organizations, per se, was assessed as a phased construction of the state, which was naturally in need of the army, police, special service, etc. The author focuses on the difference in the development of these structures in the “Soviet” version, linking it with the emergence of new tasks on the one hand, and the failure in their solution by the already existing structures on the other. The author considers it was appropriate to include commanding courses and soviet party schools into the emerging system especially at the initial stage of their formation.

Interfaith Dialogue in Albania as a Model of Interreligious Harmony

Over many centuries, Albanians have been mostly followers of Islam, Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. There are also other smaller religious communities, including Muslim Bektashi, Protestantism, and Judaism. Christianity and Islam, have coexisted in Albania for centuries. Tolerance is a characteristic of Albanian people, which is probably related to their geopolitical position. Being at the intersection of East and West, Albanians were influenced by both. The lands of Albanians were the meeting and division point of the two greatest empires of the Middle Ages, the Roman and the Byzantine Empires. Experiencing many vicissitudes, this peaceful co-existence, as a national value of a small nation, has continued for centuries and is still ongoing. However, a communist government lasting from 1944 to 1991 imposed a severe prohibition of the practice of religion. The interreligious cooperation during the reopening of the first church and mosque in 1990 was an expression of tolerance despite even though the communist regime was still in power. This paper presents some essential historical facts as well as a sociological approach of the interfaith understanding among Albanians.

The The Industrial Colony of Belišće

Gutmann’s company became involved with industrial wood processing in the mid-19th century, due to the demand for railroad ties for the purpose of building a railway network in the post-revolutionary Habsburg Monarchy. In the wood processing business, the company would hold its steady place word for almost a century, until the Ustasha regime and then the Communist government put an end to its tradition. Its fate was finally sealed in 1946 by the District People’s Court in Zagreb. Belišće was founded in 1884 and within a few years acquired the form of an industrial settlement with factory facilities, warehouses, administrative buildings, cultural centres, and typical apartment buildings. By the end of the interwar period, Belišće had the population of a smaller urban settlement, with a post office serving a number of surrounding villages, factories, a port on the river Drava, and a railway network as a starting point in connecting Slavonia-Podravina with the foot of Mount Papuk in Voćin.Gutmann’s industrial plants, infrastructure and workers were the backbone of a successful family business, which consequently built the township of Belišće.