The 2025 Sighet Memorial Summer School

Between 7–11 July 2025, the Civic Academy Foundation – Memorial to the Victims of Communism and to the Resistance, in collaboration with the Spandugino Foundation, hosted the Sighet Summer School — a long-standing educational initiative dedicated to critical reflection on Romania’s recent past.

Founded in 1998 and revived almost annually since, the Summer School has evolved from a gathering of high school history enthusiasts into a space for university students of history, open also to the wider public, including locals and teachers from Sighet.

Held at the Sighet Memorial, Romania’s first site to receive the European Heritage Label (2017), the programme was opened by poet and Memorial founder Ana Blandiana, and moderated by publicist Cristian Pătrășconiu. Over five days, participants took part in guided visits and debates led by distinguished Romanian historians including Theodor Baconschi, Dorin Dobrincu, Armand Goșu, Mihai Maci, Ioan Stanomir, and Virgiliu Târău.

Topics ranged from the complexities of Romanian memory culture to contemporary geopolitical themes such as Romania’s communist nostalgia and Ukraine–Russia relations.

Participants also visited significant local sites, including the Paupers’ Cemetery, part of the Memorial complex. The Summer School not only shed light on the past but also connected it with present-day European values and dialogue — a reminder of the importance of critical memory in shaping democratic societies.