International academic conference „Soviet Central Asia as a Totalitarian Testing Ground” - Instytut Pileckiego

The international academic conference organized by the Pilecki Institute is the first initiative in Poland to bring together interdisciplinary research on Soviet Central Asia, a region with an exceptionally complex history of totalitarianism, mass repression, and forced deportations, that also include the experiences of Poles. 

The conference will bring together researchers both from Poland and abroad whose interests focus on twentieth-century Central Asia, the functioning of the Soviet system in the region, and the fate of civilian populations, both indigenous communities and those resettled as a result of deportations. The conference aims not only to present the latest research findings but also to foster international scholarly cooperation and to initiate new research projects concerning the communist totalitarianism in the countries of Central Asia, as well as to encourage deeper reflection on the nature of Russian-Soviet colonialism, its legacy, and forms of remembrance of its victims.

The project is financed from the state budget funds awarded by the Minister of Science and Higher Education under the “Wektory Nauki” program.