Anti-Communist Justice and Founding the Post-Communist Order: Lustration and Restitution in Central Europe

Abstract

This article explores how ideas and beliefs shaped the development of programs of retrospective justice. By focusing on lustration, property restitution, and the declassification of secret service files in four central European countries, this article investigates the role of formalized anti-communist programs in the founding of the new political and economic order. After reviewing the development of anti-communist programs in East Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary, the article examines the motivation behind these programs and the variation in approaches across countries. It then analyzes the implications of anti-communist programs for the creation of a post-communist national identity, and concludes with a discussion of the weak anti-communist programs in post-Soviet Russia.

Access to Secret Police Files, Justice, and Vetting in East Germany since 1989

“…91 Vetting is perhaps most simply defined as "the screening of groups of people for previous acts of collaboration under the communist regime (especially acts of collaboration with the secret police) and in turn disqualifying members of these groups from holding high-level government positions in the public sector." 92 In justifying vetting in East Germany, Gauck eloquently summarizes:…”

The Politics of Leverage in International Relations

“…As a result, in October 1991, President Havel approved a formal vetting program. Under the measure, any Czech seeking one of more than 40,000 high public posts (including senior positions in government ministries, the military, police, the new secret police (FBIS), state-owned media, the judiciary, public prosecutors, leadership positions in academia, and directors of majority state-owned enterprises) must apply for a certificate verifying that he or she never collaborated with the Czechoslovak secret police (StB) or attained a certain rank within the Czechoslovak communist party (Appel 2005). Although individuals have access to their own files, employers do not receive any details from the files, only a letter representing the kind of collaboration outlined in the file.…”

“…German lustration was quite expansive. The Stasi had files on six million people-about 50 percent of the adult population (Appel 2005). Germans were allowed to read their own files.…”

Reforming post‐Communist bureaucracies: The effect of transitional justice

“…Early in the transition, President Vaclav Havel openly expressed frustration with the presence of the old repressive apparatus that “persists at all levels.” For Vojtech Cepl, former Constitutional Court Justice, the anti‐Communist measures could play a crucial role in dismantling the old regime: “Without rehabilitation, lustration, and restitution, there [would] be no transformation” (Cepl & Gillis, ). The major concern was that the democratic transformation would not be complete until the supporters of the Communist regime remain in their influential posts (Appel, ; David, ). Furthermore, Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus expressed dislike of the idea for depoliticizing legislation that would “bind his hands,” and insisted on a limited solution of depoliticization as more appropriate (Dimitrov & Zubek, , pp.…”