Political Rage Over Statues? Old News in the Old World

Recent episodes of rage and bloodshed over the removal of Confederate statues in the United States have a familiar ring for Europeans, who have been battling over their historical narratives and tearing down statues of noxious former leaders since the Bronze Age — and probably before.

“There are some similarities between what is happening in Poland and what is happening in the United States,” said Antoni Dudek, a contemporary historian and board member at Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance, created after the fall of communism to document the totalitarian crimes of the past.

“The argument about monuments, which should be resolved mostly between historians and citizens, has become a substitute for everyday political fights,” he said. “The same goes for the States now that President Trump has joined the debate. Suddenly, the argument got much more intense.”