The Second International Congress of the Pilecki Institute: A recap - Instytut Pileckiego

Congress “Embracing the New, Preserving the Old: Studying Fascism, Communism, and Totalitarianism in the 2020s” took place on October 14 and 15, 2026 – two packed days of stimulating papers, keynote events, debates and discussions.

“Embracing the New, Preserving the Old: Studying Fascism, Communism, and Totalitarianism in the 2020s”, 14-15 October, 2026

The topic of the congress aimed to open the floor to invigorating debate over the methods and assumptions governing how we approach these fundamental forces of 20th-century Eastern and East-Central European history. The rapid development of new tools and technologies such as AI, as well as new techniques and sources, brings us to consider how the new can be aligned with the old. At the same time the alarming rise of authoritarianism, extremism, and wars of aggression remind us of how important concepts such as fascism and totalitarianism are to understanding not only the past, but the present as well.

Sixty-four presentations covered an immense range of topics that may have centered around our region in the mid-20th century, but which included studies of the Global South and its ties to communist Europe, developments in the inter-war period and early fascist movements, and fascist or authoritarian turns in Britain and the United States.

While many papers treated totalitarianism, fascism, and communism through historical topics, others considered how these apply to current events and what past models can bring to understanding present-day conflicts. A number of papers treated these subjects through questions of theory and methodology, seeking to clarify how terms such as totalitarianism or fascism were developed in the past and how we should employ them today. Presentations reflected moreover the vast array of disciplines and branches through which these topics are studied, which include museology, cultural history, literary studies, archival practices, and film studies along with political science, sociology, and historiography.

Keynote lectures

Two outstanding keynote lectures given by Professors Juliane Fürst from the Leibnitz Center for Contemporary History and John Connelly from the University of California, Berkeley brought an important focus to the congress.

While Juliane Fürst looked to the present and future of Soviet studies in the light of Russia’s current war against Ukraine, raising questions about our assumptions and approaches, John Connelly looked to the distant past of the two principal totalitarian regimes – Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union – to plumb a more nuanced understanding of their deep imperial roots and how these shaped their later (and, in the case of Russia, current) aspirations.

Keynote discussion

A concluding keynote discussion brought together five distinguished scholars from the United States, Bulgaria, Rumania, Poland, and Czechia: Anca Diana Axinia, Nadia Boyadjieva, Mark Kramer, Aviezer Tucker, and Michał Wawrzonek. Bringing the congress’s many threads back to questions of sources and methods, these scholars discussed the many avenues of archival research still open to researchers – despite current conflicts – and the many challenges to and opportunities for future work in the study of this region and of the effects of fascism, communism, and totalitarianism upon it.

We invite you to view the photo gallery from the congress.

You can still visit the conference website (click here). 

The video recording of the congress is now available to watch.

The Contemporary History of Writing Soviet & Post-Soviet History – Juliane Fürst (Keynote Address)

The Musealization of Forced Migrations in Poland (Session I-a)

20th Century Fascism & Totalitarianism: Legacies & Challenges Today (Keynote Discussion)

Unexplored Origins of Totalitarianism – John Connelly (Keynote Address)

Remembering & Contesting Georgia's Soviet Past (Session II-a)

Eastern Europe, Afro-Asian Socialism & the Road to the One-Party State (Session III-a)

Authoritarianism, Dystopia & Political Futures in Soviet & Post-Soviet Literature (Session IV-a)

Provincial Society & Far-Right Mobilisation in Interwar East-Central Europe (Session V-a)

Practicing Communism in the First Half of the 20th Century (Session VI-a)

Rethinking the Soviet Past & Post-Sovietness: New Analytical Frameworks (Session VII-a)