Both Poles and Lithuanians have defective codes of memory

On the initiative of the Polish Institute in Vilnius with the support of the Polish Embassy, in the headquarters of the Foundation of Open Lithuania, a discussion about the book “Defective codes of memory” took place.

The discussion confirmed that we need to talk about “defective codes of memory”, which often are a deliberate disinformation, used in order to fix in people’s minds the erroneous image of history.

Polish deputy ambassador in Lithuania Maria Ślebioda, in the beginning of the discussion, stressed that every nation has the right to have its own image of history, however, the the truth about the facts must be maintained. She added that the perception of history determines the world view and ultimately influences people’s idea of the future. This is not only a purely historical debate, but it also has a practical significance.

Director of the Polish Institute Marcin Łapczyński underlined the importance of the subject, for both Poles and Lithuanians, as in both countries people reckon with the defective codes of memory.

The participants of the discussion were Artur Nowak-Far, the chief editor of the book, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Šarūnas Liekis, Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy of Vytautas Magnus University, Ronaldas Račinskas, executive director of the International Commission for the Evaluation of Crimes of the occupation Nazi and Soviet Regimes in Lithuania, Vytautas Toleikis, teacher, Aurimas Švedas, historian at the University of Vilnius and Donatas Puslys, editor of the portal bernardinai.lt.

Organisers: Polish Institute in Vilnius, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy of Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. Partners: International Commission for the Evaluation of Crimes of the occupying Nazi and Soviet Regimes in Lithuania, Polish Embassy in Vilnius and Foundation of Open Lithuania.