Confrontation and Rancour
The Basis and Abyss of Lustration in Poland
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Poland’s parliament in October 2006 passed a new lustration law. A large number of people must allow themselves to be investigated for involvement in the Communist secret service. The amended law foresees a radical disclosure of secret service files. It heralds a new stage in confronting the Communist past, which has been tackled only haltingly in Poland. But this is about more than historical truth. Lustration also has an instrumental, political function: It is being used to discredit political opponents and settle old scores with former allies from the old Solidarity elite.
(Osteuropa 11-12/2006, pp. 205–218)