dr hab. Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska For years: 2022–2027 Project number: 101041946
ERC Starting Grant
Ghosts are often presented as the spirits of the dead haunting the living. But what if we understood them as material remains, bringing to light overlooked past and enabling us to grasp the experience of the otherness? We propose such an approach in research on displacement, on territories previously inhabited by one culture but after a forced migration resettled by another one.
The displacement comprises expulsion and resettlement. While the former is well-researched, much of the latter remains understudied: especially the settlers’ experiences with things previous inhabitants had left behind. Things act as “ghosts” of previous culture and force settlers to interact with the “spectral” presence of the expellees. Hence, we will operationalize the category of “post-displacement” as a form of afterlife, based on archival records and fieldwork, in 3 regions in Slavic Central Europe where the traces of previous German cultures remained visible, regardless of the efforts to remove them. With hauntology as the proposed research framework and introduction of the category of recycling, we will establish a novel approach in research on the post-displacement regions. Hauntology, a spectral theory of being, shows how the present is pervaded by the past and enables us to engage with unresolved questions, becoming a tool to investigate unexplained phenomena. Recycling is a mechanism of reintroducing the things that were left by expellees into the life of the settlers. Our approach will bring fresh insights into everyday life in the post-displacement regions by providing a more nuanced and coherent understanding of forced migration processes and their continuous reinterpretations in different political and ideological regimes. In understanding what post-displacement things are and the attitude of people towards them, the project presents a showcase study of what we can learn about the emergence of new cultures from the experiences of Central Europe.
The swastika is widely recognized as the emblem of Nazism and the Second World War. Yet today it also appears in parks, cemeteries, on walls, and in other public spaces, where it often carries meanings that extend beyond its historical association.
Drawing on field research conducted in Central Europe, Michal Korhel examines how the swastika functions as a dynamic symbol whose significance is continually redefined in changing social and political contexts. While its connection to Nazism remains central, the symbol is increasingly employed to express anger, hostility, protest, or moral condemnation in contemporary public discourse.
Rather than treating the swastika as a symbol with a single, fixed meaning, the blog post demonstrates how its interpretation is shaped by the contexts in which it appears, the spaces it occupies, and the ways it is understood within collective memory.
From 26 June to 1 July, Magdalena participated in the international summer school “Recording & Transformation,” organized by the Anthropos Doctoral School and the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of Polish Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the University of Liverpool, Leipzig University, and the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO). The summer school took place in the picturesque village of Pozorty in the Masuria region, right by a lake. After intensive days filled with lectures and workshops, participants enjoyed relaxing by the water – especially as the exceptionally hot weather made the lakeside setting particularly welcome.
The program featured lectures, workshops, and practical sessions led by distinguished scholars from various academic institutions: Prof. Harald Braun (Liverpool), Prof. Megan Maruschke (Leipzig), Dr. Nuala Caomhanach (Graduate Institute, Geneva), Dr. Izabela Mrzygłód (DHI, IH PAN) & Dr. Zachary Mazur (POLIN, IH PAN). Together with an international group of doctoral researchers, participants discussed contemporary archival studies, transformations of archives, and the role of archives during periods of social and political change.
Magdalena was part of the group that prepared a presentation and discussion on Michelle Caswell and Marika Cifor’s article From Human Rights to Feminist Ethics: Radical Empathy in the Archives (2016). The discussion focused on the concept of radical empathy in archival and research practice. Magdalena sees this approach as highly relevant to her own doctoral research, as her project explores the relationships between the researcher, archives, archivists, and interviewees, who not only contribute source material but also actively participate in the creation of historical narratives. Another important component of the program consisted of workshops designed to develop participants’ presentation skills, including Elevator Pitches and Public Speaking & Job Talks. For Magdalena, the summer school was not only an opportunity to acquire new skills but also to refine and further develop the key arguments of her doctoral dissertation.
The organizers also included a field excursion in the program. Participants took a boat trip along the Elbląg Canal, where they learned about one of Europe’s most remarkable achievements in hydraulic engineering. Particular attention was devoted to the canal’s unique inclined-plane system, which allows boats to travel over land on specially designed rail-mounted carriages. Invented in the nineteenth century by Prussian Georg Jacob Steenke, this engineering solution also serves as a reminder of the region’s multicultural past, when much of Masuria was inhabited by German-speaking communities. In this way, the summer school successfully combined theoretical reflection on archives and memory with the direct experience of a landscape that itself bears witness to historical transformations.
exercises during Summer School, photo: Magdalena Bubík boat trip during Summer School, photo: Magdalena Bubík (and boat captain)group photo by Magdalena SobolskaMagdalena during the discussion with other students, photo: Magdalena Sobolska
A new chapter titled “Historia poruszających się przedmiotów. O pojęciu poniemieckości” by Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska has been published in a collective volume “Ziemie Odzyskane. Przestrzeń, przyroda, rzeczy”, edited by Małgorzata Praczyk and Emilia Kledzik, and issued by the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
In her chapter, Karolina addresses the problem of the category of being formerly German, which was incorporated into Polish law as early as 1946, and examines its consequences. To do so, she analyzes a specific case involving two clockmakers in the town of Koszalin, formerly the German city of Köslin, in Central Pomerania. She demonstrates that former Germanness (Polish poniemieckość) can be understood as a pragmatic category and that it was not necessarily preceded by an object’s having been German property. In this way, she contributes to one of the main objectives of our research.
The migration crisis of 2021 has largely disappeared from public attention but it continues to affect the lives of local people and those trying to cross the border. Based on his experience of the border walk in the Białowieża Forest, Michal explores the experience of ordinary visitors and that of migrants, for whom the same landscape means different things. While people usually talk about migration using statistics, national security, and politics, Michal points to the fact that when we do this, it is easy to forget about the real people involved. In the end, his article asks readers to stop looking at migrants as just a political group, and to start seeing them as human beings.
