Memory Activism as a Tool Against Silence: Wolf Children

Rūta Matimaitytė (EUROPAST / Vilnius University)

The democratisation processes that began with the end of the Cold War and the declaration of Lithuania’s independence resulted in the emergence of new memory groups in the public sphere. One such group comprises the children of East Prussian Germans who, following Second World War and during the post-war years, arrived in the neighbouring Soviet Lithuanian territory. The paper elucidates the formation of the “wolf children” activism and identifies the main groups involved. One of the arguments to be presented concerns the impact of community formation on the development of memory activism.