Review of 'The Haunted Land'
Europe's Communist Ghosts Speak In This Award-Winning Book
Jan 14, 2009
The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts after Communism, by Tina Rosenberg, is a book that offers insight into how three of Europe's countries – Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Germany – dealt with their legacies of surveillance and Communism. This National Book Award winner is almost like three books in one, though some similarities and distinctions are created by having them all in one volume. At the same time, Rosenberg doesn't always blatantly make comparisons and contrasts, so some work is required of the reader, since each country chooses to deal with its “ghosts” in different ways..
Czechoslovakia and Lustrace
Rosenburg's focus on Czechoslovakia's lustrace law makes it clear both what the law was intended to do and what it actually did to those who fell, sometimes unwittingly, under its jurisdiction. Examination of public opinion, interviews, and anecdotal evidence prove that the serving of justice was messy and inaccurate in the former Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s. Lustrace was meant to punish informers, secret police agents, or high-ranking party officials; instead, a person's name in the files implied guilt, whether or not the information in the files was accurate or forged. Rosenberg takes the reader through this labyrinth, illustrating both arguments for and against lustrace, as well as tracing the development of reactions to lustrace over time. It also comes with some even-handed criticism: a comparison is made between Communist purges and lustrace.
Poland and Martial Law
Rosenburg, through interviews with Wojciech Jaruzelski, Prime Minister of Poland from 1981-1985, describes how the decision was made to throw the net of martial law over Poland and the events leading up to that event, for which Jaruzelski was then tried for. She compares his stories with the events described in his biography and against information gotten from interviews with his friends and enemies. Rosenburg's treatment of Jaruzelski is somewhat sympathetic and traces his journey to leadership in Poland – and his decision to enact martial law – by illustrating how strongly his life was orchestrated by Communism and the neighboring Soviet leadership.
East Germany and the Stasi
While the section on East Germany centers around the trials of four border guards who shot and killed a man attempting escape over the Berlin Wall, it is really about the Stasi's involvement in the lives of East German citizens. Here it is where the most poignant example of Communist spying takes place: A dissident discovered, after reading her Stasi file, that her husband had been informing upon her for years. After the reunification of Germany, victims of the Stasi had to learn to confront those who had spied on them. By attempting to understand, and describe, the psychology of certain individuals and this process, Rosenburg seeks to reveal how such widespread surveillance could take place and to reveal its repercussions.
Why Read The Haunted Land
This book can't be summed up with the phrase, “There are two sides to every story.” The Haunted Land makes it clear – there aren't two sides to every story, not when you're dealing with spies or trying to come to terms with a politically unsavory past. There may be multiple sides and multiple opinions, and those may change as the years pass depending upon who you talk to and if they trust you. This book reveals multiple facets of the stories contained within in a revealing and readable manner.
