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The article explores modifications to Soviet-era World War II monuments by activists in Central Europe.

May 6, 2026

Beyond Politics of Memory: Activist Interventions on Soviet-Era World War II Monuments and Memorials in Central Europe

Key Points

The article explores modifications to Soviet-era World War II monuments by activists in Central Europe.
Investigated activist interventions and modifications to monuments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.
Identified similarities and differences among the alterations to monuments over the past decade.
Reflected on the connection to the global movement of decolonizing public memory.
Activists prefer to modify rather than remove Soviet-era monuments, a practice termed rehistoricization.
Recent Russian military aggression has led to new activist references on these monuments, termed dehistoricization.

Abstract

Abstract: This article investigates activist-initiated modifications to Soviet-era World War II monuments and memorials and the erection of alternative monuments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland over the past ten years, identifying their main attributes, similarities, and differences, as well as reflecting on their connections to the global movement to decolonize public memory. I argue that in Central Europe activists have been much less willing to remove or destroy these structures, preferring to modify them by correcting or supplementing their reference to World War II, a practice I term rehistoricization. However, the Russian military aggression in Ukraine triggered a new wave of activism which inscribes new references onto monuments that explicitly pertain to the present yet implicitly build on past contestations, a practice I term dehistoricization.

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