The role of the European Jewish Congress in the context of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Birkenau camp, and Russia’s quest to instrumentalise non-state actors

Abstract

The politics of remembrance has been shown to play a pivotal role in shaping international relations across Central and Eastern Europe. In the specific case of Russia, the politics of remembrance is instrumentalised to legitimise and advance foreign policy objectives. To pursue this agenda, Russia employs a broad range of instruments, including external non-state actors. This article adopts a case study approach to examine the instrumentalisation of non-state actors by the Russian state, with a particular focus on the Euro-pean Jewish Congress (EJC) and its role in the politics of remembrance. The analysis centres on the 2020 commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, co-organised by the EJC at Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel. The 2020 commemoration took place amid an intensified campaign of Russian historical propaganda against Poland. The event was further marred by a diplomatic scandal following the Polish president’s decision to boycott it. The case study illustrates the growing importance of non-state actors in the dynamics of international relations in Central and Eastern Europe, and in particular within Polish–Russian relations.