Historical (Dis)Continuity in the Identity of the Young Generation of Warmia and Mazury
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Master of Arts in Euroculture Thesis Historical (Dis)Continuity in the Identity of the Young Generation of Warmia and Mazury By Marek Mikunda Supervisors: prof. dr hab. Czesław Porębski Jagiellonian University (Home) PhDr. Daniel Topinka, Ph.D. Palacký University (Host) Submitted 30 April 2010 MA Programme Euroculture Declaration I, Marek Mikunda, hereby declare that this thesis, entitled “Historical (Dis)Continuity in the Identity of the Young Generation of Warmia and Mazury,” submitted as partial requirement for the MA Programme Euroculture, is my own original work and expressed in my own words. Any use made within it of works of other authors in any form (e.g. ideas, figures, texts, tables, etc.) are properly acknowledged in the text as well as in the List of References. I hereby also acknowledge that I was informed about the regulations pertaining to the assessment of the MA thesis Euroculture and about the general completion rules for the Master of Arts Programme Euroculture. Signed ………………………………………………………….... Date …………………………………………………………… 2 Table of Contents Introduction.....................................................................................................................5 The study....................................................................................................................7 Theories and definitions............................................................................................8 Overview of chapters.................................................................................................10 Chapter I – History of Warmia-Mazury, 1945-Present................................................11 1.1 – Introduction to chapter..................................................................................11 1.2 – 1945..................................................................................................................11 1.2.1 – Changing Central Europe's borders.........................................................11 1.2.2 – WWII population movements in a larger context....................................16 1.2.3 – Population movements in Poland's Western and Northern Territories..19 1.2.4 – Population movements and resettlement in Warmia-Mazury..................21 1.3 – 1945-1989........................................................................................................22 1.3.1 – Postwar situation in Warmia-Mazury.......................................................22 1.3.2 – The new inhabitants..................................................................................23 1.3.2.1 – Overview of major groups in Warmia-Mazury after WWII..............23 1.3.2.2 – Settlement and acclimatization difficulties.......................................25 1.3.2.3 – Inter-group interaction and integration...........................................26 1.3.3 – The state.....................................................................................................28 1.3.3.1 – Taking over and administering the new territory.............................28 1.3.3.2 – De-Germanization and Re-Polonization..........................................29 1.3.3.3 – Verification of Warmians and Mazurians.........................................31 1.3.3.4 – Historical ideology...........................................................................32 1.3.3.5 – Political, ideological and economic repression...............................36 1.3.3.6 – Effect of state policies on integration...............................................37 1.3.4 – The Catholic Church.................................................................................38 1.4 – 1989-Present....................................................................................................39 1.4.1 – Borussia.....................................................................................................41 1.4.1.1 – Atlantis of the North and Open Regionalism...................................43 1.4.1.2 – Initiatives..........................................................................................44 1.4.2 – Fading of enthusiasm................................................................................45 1.4.3 – Participants of study..................................................................................46 1.5 – Conclusion of chapter.....................................................................................47 Chapter II – Methodology.............................................................................................48 2.1 – Introduction to chapter..................................................................................48 2.2 – Narrative research..........................................................................................48 2.3 – Location of research site and participants...................................................50 2.4 – The selected participants...............................................................................52 2.5 – Interviews........................................................................................................53 2.6 –Analysis............................................................................................................57 2.7 – Ethical issues..................................................................................................59 2.8 – Conclusion of chapter....................................................................................60 3 Chapter III – Analysis of Narratives............................................................................61 3.1 – Introduction to chapter..................................................................................61 3.2 – Introduction to participants..........................................................................61 3.3 – Analysis............................................................................................................65 3.3.1 – Historical continuity..................................................................................66 3.3.1.1 – Continuity of family history..............................................................66 3.3.1.1.1 – Summary of results for continuity of family history................80 3.3.1.2 – Continuity of regional history..........................................................80 3.3.1.2.1 – Summary of results for continuity of regional history.............95 3.3.2 – Regional and local identity.......................................................................96 3.3.2.1 – Summary of results for regional and local identity........................104 3.4 – Conclusion of chapter..................................................................................105 Conclusion...................................................................................................................106 Discussion of results..............................................................................................107 Generation without history?...............................................................................107 Regional and local identity: if not the past, than what?...................................113 Is continuity possible?...........................................................................................115 Works Cited................................................................................................................116 Appendix I – Poland's Shifted Borders; Curzon Line….............................................123 Appendix II – Division of East Prussia between Soviet Union and Poland...............124 Appendix III – Polish Voivodships.............................................................................125 Appendix IV – Interview Protocol..............................................................................126 4 Introduction After WWII, as a result of decisions made by Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt at the Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the political map of Central Europe was altered drastically compared to its prewar state. As a result, Poland's borders were moved hundreds of kilometers to the West, as its eastern territories, known as the Kresy, were suddenly part of the USSR, while German eastern territories were suddenly part of Poland. These border changes were accompanied by massive population movements, as a result of which millions of people, under various circumstances, left or were forced to leave their homes, and resettle elsewhere. One of the regions affected by these changes was East Prussia, which was divided between Poland, the Soviet Union, and Lithuania, with Poland receiving the southern part of the region. The German population fled or was expelled and all that remained from the prewar inhabitants of East Prussia was a part of the Warmian and Mazurian Polish-speaking minority. Those that fled or were expelled were replaced by Poles from eastern Polish territory taken by the Soviet Union, from other parts of Poland, and also Ukrainians and other groups in smaller numbers. In effect, the populations of entire cities and villages were almost completely replaced, and the region became a mosaic of ethnic, national, religious, and cultural groups. Most of the new inhabitants came from places where their roots reached back hundreds of years. Now, they were transplanted to a completely new place that had been the homeland of different people for hundreds of years. What followed in Poland was nearly half a century of communism, in which great efforts were made to integrate Poland's