I found one of the most interesting aspects of Rosenberg’s choice of countries was that most of the southern tier states are dismissed as lacking any justice, the new boss is the old boss just the ideology of the totalitarianism has changed, from Communist to nationalist. So, the book is a survey of the differing levels of injustice in comparison to the vast lack of it elsewhere in the region. Not very promising for progress, yet she wrote in 1995 and much has changed.
I like her quotation of Marx, “The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living”, this statement is such an artful and concise way of conveying the difficulties of the region.
A reference in the begining of the Czechoslovakia section refers to another transfer of authority and need for justice in the liberation of Cz from the Nazis by the Soviets, that “in 1946 the Communists’ promise that Party membership would be considered payment in full for Nazi collaboration.” This smooth transition seems a very reasonable way to get past grievances though the positive or negative results are unknown due to Stalin’s showtrials that followed. I liked her reference to the fine lines between concepts, most potent the one between “amnesty and amnesia”. I feel this is influential because amnesty seems the best way to heal and move forward, but for many simply letting go was not possible.