Polish court orders historians to apologise over Holocaust book

[Maladict]

Someone pointed out the other day that the show The Wonder Years debuted in 1988 and was set in 1968.

If you were to make a show with a similar premise now it would be set in 2001.

Maybe it's me but it seems there was a bigger cultural change 1968 => 1988 than there was 2001 => 2021?

I think the big change was around 2000, when the Internet started to truly connect the world, but still within the relatively carefree times before 9/11.

[garbon]

I mean 2001 was just a few years before Languish started. Maybe we should do a nostalgia piece about 2003 when we all started posting here.

But it doesn't feel like that much has changed since then does it?

But maybe people in 1988 felt the same way about 1968. I don't know.

Netflix has a terrible new Katherine Heigl show where at least the first two eps have 2003 as the present.

[Admiral Yi]

When did texting become a thing?

One possible reason the entire 2000's seem the same is because the music has been so uniformly shitty.

[Sheilbh]

Texting was definitely a thing in the early 2000s. I feel like the US has been a late adopter on texting and possibly other messengers, but that's just from the way it's depicted when I watch American things.

[garbon]

When did texting become a thing?

I recall I put off texting for a very long time as AT&T charged me per text. Meanwhile when I came to UK in 2007 for study abroad everyone was texting as that was the cheaper option.

[Valmy]

When did texting become a thing?

One possible reason the entire 2000's seem the same is because the music has been so uniformly shitty.

1990s. Though you had to text using your phone keypad. People got really good at knowing they had to punch 5 twice for K and shit.

It wasn't until around 2007 texting as we know it came into being.

[Jacob]

This isn't even just related to the European war. I read an article today which included a nugget that Chinese foreign policy thinkers view the growing British-Japanese alliance as a re-igniting of the old 1920s alliance; similarly I understand from Adam Tooze's writing that party documents will very often refer to the Chinese-Japanese war or even battles like Stalingrad because the war is a core foundational part of the People's Republic and the legitimacy of the Communist Party.

This is definitely true. Chinese TV always has at least one long running drama about the heroic struggles against the Japanese invaders, and the great effort of CCP led patriots. Occasionally Nationalists get billed as decent but misguided and other times as bad, but the heroic struggle to free the country from the Japanese has been a constant theme for decades and decades.

And yes, one of the CCP's core claims to legitimacy lies in their claim that they expelled the Japanese (though really, the Nationalists did the bulk of the heavy lifting there), and kept the country together in the aftermath.

[Sheilbh]

This is definitely true. Chinese TV always has at least one long running drama about the heroic struggles against the Japanese invaders, and the great effort of CCP led patriots. Occasionally Nationalists get billed as decent but misguided and other times as bad, but the heroic struggle to free the country from the Japanese has been a constant theme for decades and decades.

And yes, one of the CCP's core claims to legitimacy lies in their claim that they expelled the Japanese (though really, the Nationalists did the bulk of the heavy lifting there), and kept the country together in the aftermath.

One of the things I kind enoy about Netflix is that they're in every country and, as far as I can, tell in almost every country are making slightly nationalist/patriotic period dramas which are normally pretty good. But if you're like me and interested in that sort of thing it's cool - you can go and watch a Polish series about Warsaw resisting the Soviets in 1920 or Chinese patriots fighting off either corrupt(ing) ravenous imperialists in the 1920s or the Japanese in the 30s and 40s.

It's interesting to be able to see this national myths at least a little bit from the inside so easily.

[Valmy]

Or maybe a show about the noble German Tribes defeating the arrogant Roman Empire.

[Duque de Bragança]

Yes - and yet the importance of the Holocaust and other legacies of WW2 are still very present in modern day politics and "alternative" histories (from outright lies to solipsistic takes) are still circulating.

This isn't even just related to the European war. I read an article today which included a nugget that Chinese foreign policy thinkers view the growing British-Japanese alliance as a re-igniting of the old 1920s alliance; similarly I understand from Adam Tooze's writing that party documents will very often refer to the Chinese-Japanese war or even battles like Stalingrad because the war is a core foundational part of the People's Republic and the legitimacy of the Communist Party.

OTOH, you no longer get movies in HK about the great Ming loyalists fighting a (desperate) war against the evil Manchus.

[Malthus]

It is just impossible to separate out subjective impressions of time from the objective evidence when evaluating times one has actually lived through.

68-88 simply *seems* longer because it is more eventful to me, but it corresponds with my childhood through to early adulthood. It seems to me that the cultural changes, at least here in North America, were more fundamental, and a case could be made for that, but again it is hard to differentiate subjective impressions from objective facts.

[crazy canuck]

It is just impossible to separate out subjective impressions of time from the objective evidence when evaluating times one has actually lived through.

68-88 simply *seems* longer because it is more eventful to me, but it corresponds with my childhood through to early adulthood. It seems to me that the cultural changes, at least here in North America, were more fundamental, and a case could be made for that, but again it is hard to differentiate subjective impressions from objective facts.

It just seems that way because you went from flaired jeans to straight legged jeans over a short period of time.

[Oexmelin]

From State-sponsored, court-enforced revisionist history to 80s nostalgia.

Seriously, though, if you have time to write to U. Ottawa in support, it will be appreciated. Jan Grabowski is such a decent guy, and he's been receiving a lot of death threats about his research.

[Barrister]

From State-sponsored, court-enforced revisionist history to 80s nostalgia.

Seriously, though, if you have time to write to U. Ottawa in support, it will be appreciated. Jan Grabowski is such a decent guy, and he's been receiving a lot of death threats about his research.

Do you have an email address or other means to pass on such support?

[Jacob]

From State-sponsored, court-enforced revisionist history to 80s nostalgia.

Seriously, though, if you have time to write to U. Ottawa in support, it will be appreciated. Jan Grabowski is such a decent guy, and he's been receiving a lot of death threats about his research.

Wait, so these are not Polish historians? This is the Polish government trying to stifle discussion outside the borders of Poland?