Between Memory, History, and Nostalgia: Life Stories from Communism

Abstract

This review examines Claudia-Florentina Dobre’s book „Life Stories from Com-munism: Repression and Everyday Life“ (2025), a collection of twenty-one oral history testimonies reflecting on life under Romanian communism. The review situ-ates the volume within contemporary debates on memory, nostalgia, and the communist past in post-socialist Eastern Europe. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between repression and everyday life, the diversity of personal experiences, and the role of life stories in shaping individual and collective memories. The book is discussed as an important contribution to oral history, memory studies, and the social history of communism, offering nuanced perspectives on the ways people remember, interpret, and narrate their lives under a dictatorial regime.