THE PICTURE OF A GERMAN IN THE RECOLLECTIONS OF THE NEW INHABITANTS OF A GERMAN TOWN (Obraz Niemca we wspomnieniach nowych mieszkanców niemieckiego miasta)

• Authors: Wylegala Anna
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The authoress tries to analyse the picture of a German as emerging from biographical interviews with the oldest generation of the new inhabitants of an ex-German town (Krzyz, German Kreuz Ostb.), the first post-war settlers in the 'recovered territories'. The authoress shows how people coming from the Polish Eastern Borderland, Great Poland and Central Poland remember their pre-war German neighbours, the German invaders and the Germans expelled from Krzyz. The reason for the predominantly favourable picture of a German may be found in the experiences of the interviewees' lives, who during the war and in the post-war period suffered the greatest wrongs not on the part of the Germans, but the Soviets. It is also noteworthy that the repatriates from the Eastern Borderland perceive a similarity between the fate of the Poles and Germans expelled from their homes, though they do not deny the Germans' guilt and responsibility for starting World War II.

Keywords

EN

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY; BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVE; HISTORICAL MEMORY; POLISH-GERMAN RELATIONS; RECOVERED TERRITORIES; RESETTLEMENTS

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN
• Journal: Kultura i Społeczeństwo
• Year: 2009
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 45-66
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Wylegala Anna

• Anna Wylegala, Szkola Nauk Spolecznych przy IFiS PAN, ul. Nowy Swiat 72, 00-330 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

10PLAAAA074917