Angelika Zanki

Settlers arriving in the so-called Recovered Territories from other parts of Poland or from abroad after World War II often brought only little with them. What everyone brought, however, was their family (hi)stories. Our partner project “Goleniowske Fotohistorie” project is trying to bring this seemingly forgotten part of history back to light. Light plays a key role in the project, because it works with glass negatives on which there are photographs of the first settlers of post-war Goleniów, a town in West Pomerania. Some of them are classic portraits, while others capture important moments of their everyday life, such as weddings, births of children or first communions. They were photographed by the first post-war city photographer, Marian Dałkiewicz and his wife Zofia.

As Karolina wrote in her blog post, photographs of people whose names we do not know have a ghost-like character and are associated with a lot of questions about the people in them. The “Goleniowske Fotohistorie” project tries not only to preserve the found negatives for future generations, but also seeks to answer these questions. From November 15 to 23, in cooperation with our researchers Karolina and Michal, it organized an exhibition of some of the photographs under the title “Historie przywiezione” [Imported (Hi)Stories]. It presented visitors not only the photographs themselves, but also their authors and partly also the stories of people who have been recognized in the photos over time. In addition, as one of the first ones it showed the town’s post-war history from the perspective of the settlers. An important aspect was the map on which visitors could mark where their family came from to Goleniów after World War II.

As part of the exhibition’s opening, visitors had the opportunity to have their own photos taken using the technique that was still used in the post-war period. The accompanying program included several presentations about the project itself or portrait photography as such. People from the photographs also had the opportunity to speak, telling how the pictures were created and what they remember from that time. In the last part of the program, our researchers Karolina and Michal presented their research on the history of the so-called Recovered Territories based on the German objects that they found in Goleniów during their fieldwork.

At the beginning of November, Karina Hoření was invited by Dr. Sally Anderson Boström to lecture at the Technical University in Liberec. Karina took advantage of the faculty’s location in Liberec’s historic district to guide the students of the Department of English through the places she is researching. She illustrated her main findings with the examples of the villa of the Liberec factory owner Theodor Liebieg that was turned to a kindergarten after the war, the villa of Goltz family where later the so-called Revolutionary Guards (Revoluční Gardy), and the former Staatsoberrealschule – currently Husova Grammar School. We are grateful for the opportunity to present the results of our research right in its center and thank the students for their interest and stimulating debate.

photos: Sally Anderson Boström

Jára Cimrman, a fictional genius created by the satirists from the Jára Cimrman Theatre, has been a source of humor for Czechs for almost fifty years. Despite being a fictional character, Czechs have embraced Cimrman as almost a real being, laughing at the absurdity of his life and achievements while also treating him with a certain level of respect. The latest podcast of the Czechostacja explores the phenomenon of Cimrman, delving into his fictitious life and the origins of his character, initially created to satirize national figures. The podcast also discusses how Czech humor serves as an escape from challenging realities, highlighting the cultural significance of the Cimrman concept.

Link to the podcast you can find here (YouTube).

Our team has been dedicated to conducting extensive field research in post-displacement regions over the past few months. Each team member has completed multiple research trips in order to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities within these areas. Following each trip, we come together to collectively review, analyze, and share the insights gathered, which has been the primary focus of our most recent seminars.

The team has been actively engaged in fieldwork, delving into the complexities of displacement, memory, and the interwoven histories of people and places. Karin’s presence in Nové Město pod Smrkem allowed her to experience the lives of those living among formerly German belongings, tracing the fragmented histories of objects and uncovering mysteries that seem to lead nowhere – such as the mystery surrounding an old window or door in her photograph below.

Similarly, Michal’s exploration in Voerde, Germany, focused on the memories of German people displaced from Handlová, and the stories of those who returned to visit this place years later. His work shed light on how individuals perceive the region today, providing valuable insights into the enduring impact of displacement.

Magdalena’s attendance at the 25th anniversary of the Evangelical-Augsburg parish in Piła provided an opportunity to search for connections to the German Lutheran legacy in the region, further enriching our understanding of the enduring ties between communities.

Meanwhile, Karolina’s work not only involved gathering the narratives of resettlers but also using them as the foundation for a temporary exhibition at the Wałcz Land Museum, amplifying the voices of those whose stories might otherwise go unheard.

The team’s fieldwork continues to to bring unexpected stories to light, deepening our understanding of the intertwined relationships between places, objects, and people.

We want to congratulate Karolina on her recent book, “Ziemie. Historie odzyskiwania i utraty”, published by the Wydawnictwo RN in September. It is a book that zooms the Polish readership to the history of the Polish “Recovered Territories” and how it can be told. The publication is not the result of a grant, but it will certainly be a great source of information for readers interested in the history of the so-called Recovered Territories.

At the premiere, a special video episode of the podcast Radio Naukowe was broadcasted. We invite you to watch it, as some German ghosts are also mentioned!

You can watch mentioned episode here.

In the latest issue of the Nationalities Papers you can find an article written by Karina Hoření titled “A Brave New World Out of the Same Old Pieces: Property Confiscation and Distribution in Postwar Czechoslovakia”.

The article discusses the confiscation of property from German-speaking inhabitants of Czechoslovakia after World War II and its redistribution to new settlers in the Czech borderlands. It highlights how the national revolution, which resulted in the expulsion of German-speaking inhabitants from Central Europe, enabled a social revolution. The author uses the example of Liberec in northern Bohemia to illustrate how the Czech administration applied the Czech–German conflict to the ethnically diverse postwar society, resulting in discrimination against non-Czech minorities regarding property redistribution. The article also examines the shaping of postwar Czechoslovak society, emphasizing the material demands of workers and collectives, while individuals sought to attain a middle-class lifestyle through participation in property distribution. Overall, the article sheds light on the complexities of postwar society in Czechoslovakia and the impact of property redistribution on different ethnic groups.

Link to the article you can find here.

Karolina Kuszyk’s book “Poniemieckie” has created significant buzz since its release in Poland in 2019. Three years later, the German translation “In den Häusern der Anderen” has sparked even stronger emotions among the German audience. Our researcher, Michal Korhel, attended the author’s reading and presentation of the German version in Lüneburg and subsequently delved into the book himself. What are its strengths and weaknesses? And why should you give it a chance? Here is his review in German.

We already informed you that our PI, Karolina, became a member of the scientific council of the Wałcz Land Museum. We are thrilled to continue with the story, as in October all the members were officially appointed by the town’s mayor, Maciej Żebrowski, and Karolina was unanimously chosen to be the head of this body.

Congratulations and we are looking forward to future cooperation with the museum!

On 17-18 October, Karina Hoření attended the largest Czech conference dedicated to public history. This year, the conference took place in the North Bohemian town of Ústí nad Labem, which, like Liberec, where Karina is doing her field research, was an economic and cultural center of Czech Germans, which is visible in the materiality of the town. Perhaps this is also why several conference papers focused on remembering in post-displacement regions. Karina added to the discussion her paper titled: “There are Places We Cannot See: German Industrialists Villas as an Example of Research on the “Periphery”. She draws on Jacques Derrida’s ideas on “Spectres of Marx” and argued that post-German nostalgia is a Halloween costume of a fake ghost while remembering the post-1989 transformation is a real spectre that haunts Czech society today. 

The blog post was guest-written by Dr Izabela Mrzygłód, assistant professor at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Izabela Mrzygłód encounters the spectre of Warsaw libraries destroyed by the Germans during World War II. It is now 80 years since the destruction of the Krasiński Library in October 1944. The author describes the losses of Polish archives and libraries resulting from German colonial policy. She listens to the silence that was left behind the loss and tries to interpret it in the context of archival turn and contemporary reflections on power and silencing in archives.

Link to the blog post you can find here.