Collective Memory in Post-Soviet Kaliningrad Oblast

This volume presents the way the discourse of memory and identity in the post-Soviet territory of Kaliningrad Oblast has altered over time, examining the ways in which politically motivated German myths about East Prussia, which emerged after the unification of Germany in 1871, were reused and adapted after 1991 and the role the region has played in wider memory policies of the Russian Federation, particularly since Vladimir Putin’s third presidential term began in 2012.Kaliningrad Oblast is Russia’s westernmost region, maintaining a direct maritime but no land connection with the rest of the country. The region was part of East Prussia, which became a crucial element of the German national mythology after 1871. In 1945, East Prussia became one of the Soviet Union’s most important war trophies. Ever since, its complex political, cultural, ethnic, and religious history has presented a challenge to the central Soviet and Russian authorities. Ever since the emergence of a deep internal crisis in the Soviet system in the 1980s, the role of the Oblast’s past has been subject to intense public debate, reflecting the intricacies of post-Soviet Russian memory politics.Collective Memory in Post-Soviet Kaliningrad Oblast is intended for scholars interested in collective memory in the post-Soviet space, as well as the role that the history Kaliningrad Oblast has played in establishing the so-called neoconservative narrative in today’s Russia.

About the Author

Miłosz J. Cordes (ne Zieliński) is a lecturer at DIS Study Abroad and a research fellow at the Danish Foreign Policy Society. He holds a PhD in cultural studies. Until 2021, he worked in the Polish diplomatic service. Among other positions, he was Vice-Consul at Poland’s Consulate General in Kaliningrad and Poland’s delegate to the EU Council’s Working Party on Russia, Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, and Central Asia. He did his postdoctoral research at Lund University, Sweden. His research interests include memory politics in Central and Eastern Europe, populist movements in Central and Eastern Europe, and West-Russia relations with particular emphasis on the Baltic Sea Region.