THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE MEMORY OF EUROPEANS - INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION (Druga wojna swiatowa w pamieci Europejczyków - przekaz miedzypokoleniowy)

Memory of the Second World War has since mid-20th century been an important element of the identity of European nationalities and a factor creating national myths. The article points to differences in depictions of this cruelest of wars, the domination of the victim discourse and two apparently contradictory though in fact mutually dependent tendencies: on the one hand, the writing anew of the history of particular nations, and on the other hand, the opening up of national historiographies onto a transnational, European or even global perspective. Differences in the knowledge on war, transmitted between generations, are presented through comparative studies conducted in eight European countries. Concluding remarks refer to the public debate on the museum expositions devoted to war events and enforced migrations.