Le podcast sur l’histoire du communisme qui surprend à Berlin

Berlin – jeudi Février 29 –

Une série de podcasts sur YouTube, explorant l’histoire du communisme, suscite un intérêt croissant à Berlin depuis septembre 2022. Cette étude des origines et des enjeux de cette idéologie est portée par l’historien Jörg Baberowski. Son expertise, reconnue par des experts comme Ulrich Mählert, fascine un public de plus en plus large, soucieux de mieux comprendre le passé. Cet engouement pour les leçons du passé permettra-t-il de répondre aux enjeux actuels ?

Here’s a rewritten version of the article, focusing on clarity, flow, and a more engaging tone:

Berlin: A YouTube podcast series exploring the history of communism is attracting a surprising amount of attention, even from those outside the academic world.

It all started when Alexander Henning, who heads the “BWL – Digital Commerce Management” course at the Baden-Württemberg University in Mannheim, reached out to political scientist Ulrich Mählert. Henning, a professor focused on economic and monetary policy, expressed a keen interest in learning more about Soviet economic history. He explained to the initially surprised Mählert, an expert on communism at the Federal Foundation, that he wanted to understand how scarce resources were distributed in different systems, which naturally led him to the history of communism.

Henning’s call wasn’t random. He had stumbled upon the Federal Foundation’s YouTube channel while searching for details and discovered the video podcast “What was communism?”. Hosted by Professor Jörg Baberowski, a historian specializing in Eastern Europe at Humboldt University Berlin, the series delves into the origins, key events, structures, and leading figures of communist ideology.The podcast’s success has been remarkable. “We started the podcast as an experiment,” says Mählert, the series’ initiator.”We were surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response. Now,it’s one of the most popular features on our channel.”

In the podcast, Baberowski answers questions posed by Mählert and viewers, even addressing complex issues like the Ukraine War. Mählert praises Baberowski’s ability to explain intricate historical processes concisely and clearly. The historian also doesn’t shy away from personal questions, such as why he joined the Communist League of West Germany (KBW) instead of the German Communist Party (DKP).

Gaps in Historical Knowledge

Since September 2022, 18 of the 29 episodes featuring Jörg Baberowski have become some of the Federal Foundation’s most-watched YouTube videos. The Eastern Europe specialist’s videos account for half of the total viewing time across the foundation’s entire video library. The episode “The Role of Personality in Soviet history” has been notably successful, garnering over 40,000 views.

While these numbers might seem modest in the vast landscape of social media, they offer a glimmer of hope for those concerned about the demonstrable gaps in young peopel’s historical knowledge.

It’s not just knowledge of the Holocaust, which occurred a little over 80 years ago, that’s lacking. Even the political and social structures of the GDR (East Germany),which existed just under 35 years ago,are largely unknown. This isn’t solely attributable to the growing number of young people with migration backgrounds.

Experts like Mählert consistently find that there’s a genuine interest in historical facts and contexts.”People over 40 are increasingly engaging with history and historical figures, likely driven by life experience or a desire to understand current events,” Mählert believes.

In the most popular baberowski episode, 65% of viewers were 55 or older, predominantly men. However, the audience has become younger in recent months, with the proportion of viewers over 55 dropping to 57% and the proportion of women increasing to 15%. Mählert attributes this growth to the introduction of short video clips, which have considerably expanded the series’ reach since 2024. “It’s truly encouraging,” he says.

But why should we care about the lessons of a seemingly bygone era of communism? Jörg Baberowski reminds us that the world of the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc, and the anti-communist West isn’t as distant as we might think. “Furthermore,the deeply ingrained desire to overcome injustice and inequality in the world hasn’t disappeared. Therefore, communist movements aren’t dead.”

Baberowski notes that colleagues in India have reported the continued presence of Marxism in their country,and marxist movements also exist in Latin america. “That won’t stop,” Baberowski asserts. “Regardless of later interpretations, Marx’s initial analyses of globalization remain relevant: capitalism knows no boundaries and no fatherland. This is becoming increasingly pertinent in light of current political developments.”