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Interview with Damian von Stauffenberg: The notion of good and evil must be restored

25.06.2008

The interview with Damian von Stauffenberg was first published in the daily Postimees on 24th of May 2008.

Interviewed by V. Koorits

Damian von Stauffenberg is president of the Educational Initiative for Central and Eastern Europe, supporting the creation of free societies in Central and Eastern Europe, and co-founder of the Foundation for the Investigation of Communist Crimes.

Why is it important to publicize Communist crimes?

It is not limited to Communist crimes. Our interest lies in restoring and safeguarding the principles of basic human rights and human dignity. During the 20th century, you have witnessed those basic rights violated on an unprecedented scale. Violations were most widespread under Communism, but not only - all absolutist regimes eventually headed at this direction. In my home country, this was the case with Nazism which was no less criminal than Communism. Our genuine interest is to prevent the reoccurrence of such events.

 
How can awareness of previously committed crimes help avoid similar crimes in the future where they could be based on ideologies that do not yet exist?

Any crimes of the future will be committed on different pretexts, it shall not be Communism and definitely not National Socialism, but a movement that shares the same basic principles, is materialistic and therefore disregards human dignity. Our purpose is to show what happens when human dignity and human rights are neglected. Communism is just one example. If people remember how horrific the consequences can be and that this is not just a philosophical debate, it might help.

Your family has suffered under Nazism, but what about Communism?

No, we were fortunate in this regard. We are from South Germany, which was untouched by Communism after the war, so my family has not suffered under Communism, but it has under Nazism. In my view, the two are very closely connected.

Do you agree with the argument that the two are equally criminal?

Yes, I agree. When speaking of crimes of such scale, with millions of victims, it is hard to point out which is the more criminal one. On a very general level, you can say that they are equally criminal indeed.

How did you get to be involved with this project?

In the foundation [Educational Initiative for Central and Eastern Europe], we began to worry about the persistence of Communist legacy in countries that got rid of Communism. There are some foundation blocks missing from the society, allowing boundless jungle capitalism to thrive in several ex-Communist countries. This is probably caused by decades of materialist legacy that makes it harder to tell right from wrong and therefore anything that makes you rich or serves short-term interests seems right. Those phenomena reminded us that the notion of good and evil must be restored in every person.

So even today, 20 years after the fall of Communism and despite all developments, the Communist ideology still influences the thoughts and deeds of East Europeans?

I cannot give a specific assessment as I do not know Eastern Europe well enough to assess the influence of Communism as an ideology. What I was referring to is larger than Communism - it's the materialism that flourishes in Western countries as well.

Can materialism be traced back to just Communism or is it part of a larger phenomenon of modernization?

That is true, materialism is not limited to Communism and Communism is just one expression of materialism, albeit a very large and successful expression. In the future, there will be other ideologies based on unlimited materialism.

In that case, what would be the solution for Eastern Europe, how could it rid itself of problems like corruption ore simply social disappointment?

I am not an expert on Eastern Europe, so I cannot recommend any specific measures. Rather, I am speaking of principles, about a sense of ethics in people, the knowing of right and wrong. If we are able to restore that sense, it will be fundamental and will help significantly reduce the symptoms of unlimited materialism, such as stealing and corruption.

And this is the reason why Communist crimes should be remembered?

In my opinion, yes, this is the sole reason why they should be remembered.

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