Between debate and dialogue:cultural memory and mediations

This article analyzes the broader context of the political conflict around the public memory of the events in 1989. To this end, the concept of lieux de mémoire is used to explain why August 23, 1939 was chosen as “European Day of Remembrance”, instead of November 9, 1989. By carefully investigating the role played by different memory actors in debates at European level, it is suggested that the anniversary of the Mólotov-Ribbentrop Pact had more success making a hole in the European commemorative calendar for allowing the promotion of a unifying story of the old continent past