Baltic Family Memory, Entangled Histories, and the Question of Solidarity

In this chapter, I examine the entanglement of (past and present) his¬tories, experiences and memories in the context of the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022. The invasion of Ukraine connects to European history of World War II and the Cold War and is intertwined with my personal family history. I am the daughter and granddaughter of Baltic refugees of World War II and grew up with stories of displacement, war, and past injustice. Using an autoethnographic approach, I reveal how family memories can unexpectedly resurface in other contexts, evoking empathy and solidarity within the confines of cultural memory. I argue that family memory is a powerful imaginative and affective resource that helps us interpret current experiences and events in light of the past, and vice versa. This chapter further shows how different memories can inter¬act with and shape each other.