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Can a state policy toward children and children’s experiences be analyzed using hauntology? In his blog post, Michal Korhel attempts to do so by examining the example of Czech-German children in post-WWII Czechoslovakia. As their national identity was ambiguous, these children challenged the Czechoslovak authorities’ efforts to create a nationally homogenous state of Czechs and Slovaks. From a hauntological perspective, Czech-German children can be seen as being possessed by German ghosts. Before they could become members of Czech society, the state authorities had to rid them of those ghosts.
Link to the blog post you can find here.
Thanks to the organizing efforts of the Wałcz Land Museum, a historical walk at the Wałcz Military Cemetery took place on February 23. Almost forty participants braved winter conditions for an hour and a half to learn more about the history of this place and the people buried there.
In post-displacement regions, cemeteries hold particular significance. The Military Cemetery in Wałcz Bukowina is one of the largest in the region, housing the graves of Polish and Soviet soldiers who fought against the German army here. The walk through the cemetery was also part of the 80th-anniversary commemorations of the breaking through the Pomeranian Wall, a German line of fortifications, in February 1945.
Among the guides was our PI, Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska, who discussed the history of the cemetery and the moral and ethical complexities surrounding the exhumation of fallen soldiers. Regional historian Piotr Wojtanek highlighted an often-overlooked aspect regarding the religious affiliations of the soldiers buried at the cemetery: it is also the final resting place for soldiers of the Jewish faith. Daniel Iwiński from the Wałcz reenactment group told a couple of stories focused on the material remains of perished soldiers. Marlena Jakubczyk-Kurkiewicz, the director of the Museum, shared stories of individual soldiers, both men and women from various places, who fell in the region.
During the walk, amidst a sea of thousands of names, it was possible to highlight a few individual stories and provide a narrative for the place, which can now serve not only as a site for official commemoration but also hold a deeper, more human meaning for the inhabitants of Wałcz and its vicinity.
Do you feel fully connected to your place of birth or the place where you currently live? What steals away your sense of identity? These were among the key questions discussed during the debate “Świnoujście, Szczecin, Wałcz – The Identity of a Place” held at Radio Szczecin on February 20, 2025.
Participants, including our PI, Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska, discussed the process of acquiring identity as a collective and personal experience, with a focus on when, and if, today’s residents of post-displacement localities in Pomerania truly felt like they belonged there.
Marek Łuczak, a police commissioner and president of the Pomeranian Historical Society, argued that identity is defined by what we build through our actions. For him, being a city dweller is about contributing to the city’s growth, rather than mere symbols. Katarzyna Rembacka, a historian and educator, observed that the region suffers from a lack of local historical narratives. Kinga Rabińska, a cultural animator, highlighted that identity, by definition, should be constant, but in Szczecin, for example, it is ever-changing, influenced by both global conditions and the city’s dynamic history. Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska described identity as a story, noting that Pomerania’s residents have difficulty narrating it. According to her, the process of identity formation faces several obstacles, particularly with the question of place and time. Is 1989 a turning point in the region’s identity? Or perhaps 2004, when Poland joined the European Union? Marek Stelar, a crime novelist, emphasized that identity is shaped through personal experiences and noted that the process of the city’s identity formation is ongoing. Martin Hanf, a German historian and podcaster, compared how people in Poland and Germany were (or were not) discussing topics related to World War II, which was crucial for the development of regional identities in Pomerania.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can listen to the entire conversation on YouTube channel of Radio Szczecin.
In an interview with Gazeta.pl, Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska and Lidia Raś discuss issues related to the displacement of German and German-speaking populations from Czechoslovakia after World War II. They cover the so-called “wild expulsions” that occurred before the Potsdam Agreement, as well as the later, more organized phases of forced displacement. Our PI attempts to explain the reasons for these displacements, highlighting how public opinion became increasingly radicalized and how social and political attitudes evolved, especially in the context of the communist takeover in Czechoslovakia in 1948.Karolina also discusses the historical context of Czech-German relations, dating back to the 19th century when there was a significant German presence in the Czech lands. She briefly mentions the similarities between the forced displacements in Poland and Czechoslovakia, which are also studied in our project. She points out that the Polish and Czechoslovak governments exchanged experiences at official platforms regarding the organization of both the expulsions and the resettlements.
For young researchers, promoting their work and building a personal brand is essential for establishing themselves in the scientific community. Our manager, Angelika Zanki, recently addressed first-year doctoral students at the Anthropos Doctoral School (Polish Academy of Sciences), providing guidance on how to effectively promote their activities. The internet has become the primary platform for such endeavors, offering a wide range of opportunities for visibility and networking. Emphasizing the importance of presenting research findings, our manager also shared insights on what not to do when promoting oneself professionally.
In this discussion, the Spectral Recycling grant was highlighted as a key example of successful promotion within the scientific community.
Many thanks to the meeting participants for their activity and presenting great ideas for promoting their activities.
Thanks to the Department of East European History’s kind invitation our researcher, Michal Korhel, presented the results of his research within the Munich colloquium of East European History. Based on the example of two cemeteries – one in a Polish and one in a Slovak town – he showed the similarities as well as the differences in dealing with their German past. The following discussion moved from the cemeteries to other German ghosts haunting the East Central Europe. In this way Michal could present the whole variety of his findings from his fieldwork in Poland and Slovakia.
While in Munich, Michal also visited the Sudeten German Museum and took a guided tour through its permanent exhibition about the cultural history of Germans in Bohemian lands. Except for his general interest in the objects presented in the exhibition and their stories, Michal was particularly curious about the depiction of the forced displacement of the Sudeten Germans. Moreover, as one of the first ones, Michal had the opportunity to take part in the newly introduced format on memory and homeland in the aftermath of the guided tour, where the visitors were given the space to share their stories.
Our team meets regularly every two weeks to discuss our fieldwork, scholarly texts, or literature. Sometimes, we watch a film together to analyze how the representation of expulsion and resettlement is depicted in Czech, Slovak, or Polish cinema and what conclusions we can derive from it for our work as cultural studies scholars.
This time, we met to discuss Adelheid, a 1969 film made by one of the Czech cinema classics, František Vláčil, based on the 1967 novel by Vladimír Körner. During our discussion, we focused primarily on how materiality was presented and to what extent it followed the stereotypical view of the Borderlands as a land in decay. We also tackled issues such as the differences between the book and the adaptation, Czechs as heroes, and how the presence of Germans was portrayed.
Once again, film proved to be an inspiring basis for discussion, which may be useful for anthropological research and broaden our horizons.
“Wandervogel” is a thought-provoking theater play directed by Jan Mocek, currently being staged at the Alfred ve dvoře theater in Prague. Five actors, one stage, and one almost forgotten story of Heinz Rutha, a Czech German and nationalist leader from Northern Bohemia who committed suicide after being accused of homosexuality. This post is not a classic theatrical review. Instead, Karolina wonders what we can learn from the play about the complexities of nationalism, identity, and the impact of suppressed desires, shedding light on a lesser-known aspect of history.
Link to the blog post by Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska you can find here.
In January Magdalena had the opportunity to share her research with the students of history at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Her class was titled “Legacy of the (Post)Displacement Regions: Material Culture and the Redefinition of Space”. The session offered an introduction to the key concepts of our project, including an exploration of hauntology — a theoretical approach our team employs to investigate post-displacement regions and their transformations.
Drawing from her research, Magdalena illustrated the concepts of recycling and redefinition, focusing particularly on sacred spaces in Piła and Liberec. Her presentation highlighted how these processes shape the understanding of post-displacement landscapes. The class also featured interactive elements: analyzing photographs and materials from research sites and fostering discussion and critical engagement with real-world case studies. This was followed by a collective discussion, where students explored additional examples of post-displacement characteristics, broadening their perspectives on the topic.
The class provided students with an unique opportunity to delve into the complexities of displacement, memory, and material culture, equipping them with tools to understand better the lasting impacts of historical processes on contemporary spaces.
This enriching session was organized in collaboration with Dr. Kamil Ruszała from the Institute of History, Jagiellonian University, whose involvement added an invaluable interdisciplinary dimension to the class.
