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On December 7, 2022, we had the pleasure of hosting a workshop with Anna Kurpiel (Centrum Studiów Niemieckich i Europejskich im. W. Brandta, Uniwersytet Wrocławski) and Katarzyna Maniak (Uniwersytet Jagielloński) who shared with us the results of their project “The reality of things in the post-conflict space. The role of objects in the creation of Wrocław and Szczecin imagined worlds”, financed by the National Science Centre.
We were discussing how currently the descendants of the settlers approach formerly German objects and to what extent the class they belong to affects their views on the subject. We were particularly interested in methodological topics and comparing our experiences with fieldwork.

The Institute of Contemporary History in Prague (Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, v.v.i., Akademie věd České republiky) has organized a meeting (30.11.) where David Kovařík had the presentation “Perished Settlements in Moravia and Silesia: A Contribution to the Transformation of the Cultural and Settlement Landscape in the years 1945-1989” (in Czech language). Karina Hoření was one of two discussants of the presented lecture.

“Things that were left after previous settlers are like ghosts. You can’t simply get rid of them, they remind you of the culture of antecedents, you try to enter into dialogue with them, learn how to live with them as well as how to exorcise them.”

On November 21, 2022, Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska, during an event organized by the Science Festival in Warsaw, the Polish Academy of Sciences and Wszechnica, gave a lecture in the Hall of Mirrors of the Staszic Palace in Warsaw.

Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska, as a stipendist of Gifted Programme created by Krajowy Fundusz na rzecz Dzieci (Polish Children’s Fund), gave a lecture connected to her research for next generation of scholarship holders.

One of the regions where Karina Hoření is conducting her research is Jablonec (formerly Gablonz) in north Bohemia. At the beginning of the 20th century, Jablonec grow into the biggest producer of glass and glass beads, and these goods were exported into the whole world. Industrial past of the city can still be seen in exotic motives of fin-de-siècle buildings (see photo by Karina).

Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska explains her research plans: What I am trying to unravel is how the material elements left by the Germans influence the new settlers and resulted in the creation of a new culture of these regions.

Interested in finding out more?

Where would you look for German Ghosts? Would a cemetery be a too obvious answer?

That actually is one of the places where Michal Korhel continues his fieldwork in Handlová. One of the secrets of this cemetery is a „hidden“ Monument to the fallen Soldiers of WWI. Originally it was situated in the city center. After WWII it was destroyed. First in the 1960s its remnants were put together and placed on the backside of a newly established Memorial to the Fallen of WWII.

On October 21 Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska took part in the IV Congress of German Experts at the University of Wrocław organised by the Willy Brandt Center for German and European Studies.She presented a paper with initial field research results “Domy, kości i patery na ciasto. Nadawanie nowych znaczeń rzeczom zastanym na Pomorzu Środkowym” (Houses, bones and cake plates. Giving new meanings to the existing things in Central Pomerania).

Dr Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska was among the five winners of the 22nd edition of The Polityka weekly’s Scientific Awards. Out of hundreds of candidates for the above-mentioned prize annually 15 finalists are selected in five major sciences: humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, life sciences and technology. In this year’s edition of the “Polityka” Scientific Awards, 296 people applied for verification, and five received Scientific Awards – scholarships in the amount of PLN 15,000 PLN and an interview in the “Polityka” weekly.