Sacralization of History in Times of Crises : Modern Eastern Europe

This book explores the sacralization of history with a focus on modern Eastern Europe where the erasure of Soviet traditions has triggered a search for specific "usable pasts". It discusses the importance of sacralization in memory and identity-building politics and the complex interplay between religion, history, and identity, particularly within the context of crises and conflict situations, by showing the historical roots of these processes.

The contributors seek to identify the political, societal and religious actors promoting the sacralization of history. They consider which networks promote sacralized visions of history and who is excluded from the sacralized community of national belonging. They also explore which historical topics seem best suited for the sacralization of history and question what happens to the rituals, objects, or spaces, formerly regarded as sacral: are they profaned, neglected, or re-inscribed by new national histories, and is there a religious language of national history? These are the major questions of this book.

Liliya Berezhnaya is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and a Visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven.

Heidi Hein-Kircher is director of the Martin Opitz Library (Herne) and professor at Ruhr-University Bochum.