Walka o miejsca pamięci w przestrzeni dwunarodowej gminy Sejny

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse the conflicts over the memorials (sites of memory) in the space of the binational Polish-Lithuanian community of Sejny. The community of Sejny is the second largest concentration of the Lithuanian minority in Poland. In the second half of the 19th century the city was one of the most important centers of Lithuanian culture and the national revival. During the Interwar Period and the People’s Republic of Poland the region was subjected to the polonization policy, which attempted to remove the traces of Lithuanian culture and strengthen the symbolic dominance of the Polish majority. The systemic transformation in Poland provided Lithuanians with formal guarantees to protect group’s memory. In the article I would like to present the most important activities of the Lithuanian community after 1989 aimed at symbolic commemoration of its national and cultural heritage in the public sphere, Polish reactions to it and the conflicts resulting thereof. Referring to the concepts of social memory and the dispute about symbolic domain, I explore the importance attached by both sides to both already created or just planned sites of memory. In the summary, I consider the role of memorials in the transformation of the identity of the place and its inhabitants.