Branch of the Institute of National Remembrance in Katowice
and the Museum in Gliwice
in cooperation with the Ruhr-Universität Bochum
International scientific conference
"Upper Silesians. Problems of border communities in the 20th century"
20-21 October 2011
Willa Caro,
Gliwice, ul. Dolnych Wałów 8a
The conference aimed to look at the key events of the Upper Silesia’s 20th century history through the prism of its population and their stories. The chronological framework begins with the turn of the 19th and the 20th century and finishes with the fall of communism in Europe. Thus, it covers the eruption of the Polish-German conflict over the possession of Upper Silesia and the decline of the last great totalitarian narrative.
Creating a new type of Upper Silesian was an element of communist the idea of breeding a "new man". The two dates and the border events also indicate the main themes around which the conference discussion will revolve. In the center stands the question about the identity construction of the indigenous inhabitants of the region and the transformation of the construction in time.
Important threads of the conference speeches include questions about the role of the Catholic Church in the region traditionally perceived as "religious", forms of manipulation of the cultural transmission, the problems of mass migration in the second half of the 20th century, Upper Silesians’ participation in the totalitarian apparatus and liability associated with that.
PROGRAMME
20 X 2011
9.00-9.20 Opening of the conference
9.20-9.40 Dr. Bernard Linek, Silesian Institute in Opole,
“National cultural systems in Upper Silesia in the early 20th century”
9.40-10.00 prof. Grzegorz Strauchold, University of Wrocław,
“Desired and unloved. Indigenous population in Upper Silesia in the eyes of state authorities in the years 1945-1949”
10.00-10.40 prof. James Bjork, King's College London,
“The Catholic Church towards the (re)polonisation in Upper Silesia after World War II”
10.40-11.00 prof. Piotr Madajczyk, Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Science,
Warsaw, “PRL’s policy towards the border communities (1950s-1970s)”
11.00-11.20 Break
11.20-11.40 Dr. Urszula Biel, Gliwice,
“Upper Silesia is ours! Polish and German film propaganda in the face of the plebiscite”
11.40-12.00 prof. Wojciech Kunicki, University of Wrocław,
“Cultural policy in Upper Silesia during the Third Reich”
12.00-12.40 Dr. Peter Polak-Springer, Quatar University, Doha,
"Cultural Exchange: folklore, revenge policy and creating national and regional cultural systems in the German-Polish border region (1926-1953)”
12.40-14.00 Break
14.00-14.40, Dr. Andrew Demshuk University of Alabama, Birmingham,
“Remembrance of 1921 after 1945: Upper Silesians expelled in West Germany and the change of victim discourse”
14.40-15.20 Dr. Stephan Kaiser, Oberschlesisches Landesmuseum, Ratingen,
“Transformation of German cultural memory. Refugees and exiled in contemporary German society”
15.20-15.40 Dr. Krzysztof Żarski, University of Wrocław,
Upper Silesians at German studies in Wrocław after 1945”
15.40-16.00 Boguslaw Tracz, IPN Katowice,
"Silesian farmer - Jerzy Ziętek as an example of political mythologising”
21 X 2011
9.30-9.50 Elżbieta Anna Sekuła, Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw,
“What does it mean to be a Silesian today? Analysis and interpretation of Silesian census declarations”
9.50-10.30 Dr. Kai Struve, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg,
“Upper Silesia in the 19th and early 20th century - questions for the study of nationalism”
10.30-10.50 Dr. Maciej Fic, University of Silesia,
“Impact of Jan Kustos’ socio-political activities on the inhabitants of Upper Silesia”
10.50-11.10 Dr. Guido Hitze, the Ministry of Culture of the North Rhine-Westphalia
“The German Centre Party towards Upper Silesia 1918-1933”
11.10-11.30 Dr. Andrzej Michalczyk, Ruhr-Universität Bochum,
“Attitudes of the Catholic clergy in Upper Silesia towards the polonisation policy in the years 1922-1939”
11.30-11.50 Break
11.50-12.10 Miroslaw Węcki, University of Silesia,
“Participation of indigenous people in Nazi organisations in Upper Silesia 1933-1945”
12.10-12.30 Dr. Miroslaw Sikora, IPN Katowice,
“In the face of defeat. Spirits of the Upper Silesia population in the light of the Reich Security Service reports from the years 1942-1944”
12.30-12.50 Dr. Adam Dziurok, IPN Katowice,
“The issue of Silesia in the settling fascist-Hitlerite criminals”
12.50-13.10 Dr. Dariusz Węgrzyn, IPN Katowice,
“History of a paradox. Elections to the Legislative Sejm in Upper Silesia in 1947 as an anti-democratic procedure”
13.10-14.30 Break
14.30-14.50 prof. Stanisław Jankowiak, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań,
“Migration from Upper Silesia after 1945”
14.50-15.10 Dr. Gregor Ploch, Oberschlesisches Landesmuseum, Ratingen,
“Between "hajmat" and fatherand. Upper Silesians in North Rhine-Westphalia after 1945”
15.10-15.30 David Skrabania, Ruhr-Universität Bochum,
Upper Silesians displaced in Berlin, 1964-1990: integration problems. Attempt to get closer from the microhistoric perspective”
15.30-15.50 Sebastian Rosenbaum, IPN Katowice.