ISSUES OF TOTALITARIAN PERIOD MONUMENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR DISMANTLING, RESTORATION AND PROTECTION (ON THE EXAMPLE OF UKRAINE)
ISSUES OF TOTALITARIAN PERIOD MONUMENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR DISMANTLING, RESTORATION AND PROTECTION (ON THE EXAMPLE OF UKRAINE)

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the issue of monuments that commemorated figures and events related to the communist period, i.e., the period from the 1950s to the late 1980s. At that time, countries that were in the Soviet Union's sphere of influence, such as Poland or Ukraine, emphasized the merits and contributions that the USSR had in their liberation and development in many ways (erecting monuments, giving specific names to streets). Over the years, these monuments became important elements of the cultural landscape of larger and smaller cities within both countries. After the end of the communist regime, some such objects remained to commemorate this difficult and painful historical period. In Poland, these objects were removed, and the streets were given other names, but in Ukraine the monuments mostly remained because they were seen primarily for their artistic value. Now, however, at the time of Ukraine's war with Russia, these objects are already perceived quite differently, aggravating public resentment against the ruthless aggressor.

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