The French historian Stephane Courtois launches, today, in Bucharest, his book, “Communisme et totalitarisme”, at 5pm, at the Carturesti Bookshop within the French Institute, alongside Bernard Bruneteau, Andrei Pippidi, Marius Oprea and Ana Ciucan Tutuianu, Polirom Publishing House informs. Stephane Courtois is one of the major contemporary historians of communism. An academic and researcher, Courtois is well-known in Romania both through his works (“Le Livre noir du communisme”/ The Black Book of Communism, “Dictionnaire du communisme”), as well as due to his constant participation in manifestations organized by the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and Resistance in Sighetu Marmatiei and as the rector of the Sighet Summer School. Stephane Courtois will be present in this year’s edition of the Sighet Summer School (July 11 to 18) as well.
The study “Communisme et totalitarisme”, translated from French by Ana Ciucan Tutuianu, proposes, two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new take on the origin and evolution of totalitarianism. Opposing the traditional theses promoted by Hannah Arendt and George Mosse, who trace the roots of totalitarianism to the Nazi and Stalinist state, Courtois underlines Lenin’s and bolshevism’s crucial contribution to the emergence of this political phenomenon. Based on information obtained from archive documents in Moscow, he redefines Stalin’s part and the nature of mass murders committed by the communist regimes – the so-called “class genocide”, the only phenomenon which can account for the Ukraine hunger or the political assassinations in Cambodia. The author ends with an analysis of the tragic memory of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, its glorious memory in Western Europe – particularly France – and the paradoxical memory of the USSR in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, which rehabilitates Stalin. A special chapter is allotted to the communist dictatorship in Romania and the murders committed in its name, according to the book’s presentation by the publisher.
The diplomatic daily newspaper Nine O’Clock does not assume responsibility for the information received and published on the public website. The responsibility for the content lies solely with the issuer of the press release.
The diplomatic daily newspaper Nine O’Clock cannot be held accountable for false information transmitted by the recipients of the press releases/announcements.
The diplomatic daily newspaper Nine O’Clock reserves the right not to publish press releases that contain inappropriate expressions or accusations and violations of the rights of other individuals, guaranteed by the Constitution of Romania.
The content of the website www.nineoclock.ro is intended for public information. Copying, reproduction, recompilation, modification, as well as any form of content exploitation from this website are prohibited. The use of the Comments section signifies your agreement to abide by the terms and conditions regarding the publication of comments on www.nineoclock.ro.
