SOVIET PRISONERS OF WAR IN GERMANY, 1941–1945 – AN UNDESIRABLE TOPIC FOR GERMAN SOCIETY?

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-116
Author(s):  
Valeriy P. Ljubin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
German Society ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Concentration Camps ◽  
Documentary Films ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Second World

In German and Russian historiography, the tragic fate of the Soviet prisoners of war in Germany during the Second World War has not been suffi- ciently explored. Very few researchers have addressed this topic in recent times. In the contemporary German society, the subject remains obscured. There are attempts to reflect this tragedy in documentary films. The author analyses the destiny of the documentary film “Keine Kameraden”, which was shot in 2011 and has not yet been shown on the German television. It tells the story of the Soviet prisoners of war, most of whom died in the Nazi concentration camps in 1941– 1945. The personal history of some of the Soviet soldiers who died in the German captivity is reflected, their lives before the war are described, and the relatives of the deceased and the surviving prisoners of war are interviewed. The film features the German historians who have written books about the Soviet prisoners. All the attempts taken by the civil society organizations and the historians to influence the German public opinion so that the film could be shown on German television to a wider audience were unsuccessful. The film was seen by the viewers in Italy on the state channel RAI 3. Even earlier, in 2013, the film was shown in Russia on the channel “Kultura” and received the Pushkin Prize.

Henry Rollet. La Pologne au XXe siècle. Paris: Pedone. 1985. Pp. 604.

2004 ◽  
pp. 345-351
Author(s):  
Józef Lewandowski
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Careful Attention ◽  
World War ◽  
Second Republic ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Second World

This chapter assesses Henry Rollet's La Pologne au XX siècle (1985). This recently published history of contemporary Poland by the outstanding French historian Henry Rollet deserves careful attention both for its grasp of the subject and its discussion concerning nationalism in general and Jewish nationalism in particular. The book consists of four chronological sections: ‘Towards Independence’ (Poland to 1918); ‘The Second Republic’ (the inter-war period); ‘Poland during the Second World War’; and ‘The “People's Democracy”.’ In the presentation of the events down to 1918, the most noticeable observation is Rollet's view that until 1876, the Poles were best off under Prussian occupation. Another statement which also provides much food for thought is that during the liberal period, voluntary, spontaneous Germanization made consistent progress.

‘Where are we going?’ International Relations and the voice from below

1999 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPHER HILL
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Masses ◽  
The Great War ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Second World

They tell us that the Pharoahs built the pyramids. Well, the Pharoahs didn't lift their little fingers. The pyramids were built by thousands of anonymous slaves . . . and it's the same thing for the Second World War. There were masses of books on the subject. But what was the war like for those who lived it, who fought? I want to hear their stories.Writing about international relations is in part a history of writing about the people. The subject sprang from a desire to prevent the horrors of the Great War once again being visited upon the masses and since then some of its main themes have been international cooperation, decolonisation, poverty and development, and more recently issues of gender.

The Katyń Families

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 761-774
Author(s):  
Izabella Sariusz-Skąpska
Keyword(s):  
The Elderly ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time ◽  
Second World

By appearance it would seem that Rodziny Katyńskie—the Katyń Families—are a veterans’ organization. The elderly, the last witnesses of the terrible Second World War, make up the majority of members. But these are not heroes, and they are not veterans. Who are they? In the first days after Poland regained its independence, after the first free elections of 4 June 1989, people from many cities leave the quiet of their homes and for the first time in their lives start talking about the history of their fathers, who had gone missing after 17 September 1939. The Katyń Families were formed. Statutes were written, and the aims of the organization were defined: explaining all of the circumstances of the Katyń Massacres, finding all of the locations where Polish prisoners of war died, and, finally, accomplishing their dignified burial in Polish War Cemeteries.

scholarly journals REFLECTIONS ON THE RECENT HISTORIOGRAPHY OF EASTERN CONGO

2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
RENÉ LEMARCHAND
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
World War ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Eastern Congo ◽  
Vantage Points ◽  
Second World

AbstractConsidering the scale of violence that has accompanied the crisis in eastern Congo, the avalanche of academic writings on the subject is hardly surprising. Whether it helps us better understand the region's tortured history is a matter of opinion. This critical article grapples with the contributions of the recent literature on what has been described as the deadliest conflict since the Second World War. The aim, in brief, is to reflect on the historical context of the crisis, examine its relation to the politics of neighboring states, identify and assess the theoretical vantage points from which it has been approached, and, in conclusion, sketch out promising new directions for further research by social scientists. A unifying question that runs throughout the recent literature on the eastern Congo is how might a functioning state be restored or how might civil society organizations serve as alternatives to such a state – but there is little unanimity in the answers.

scholarly journals Wysiedlenie widziane oczami dziecka z Zamojszczyzny

2020 ◽  
pp. 426-440
Author(s):  
Barbara Stelingowska
Keyword(s):  
Third Reich ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Concentration Camps ◽  
World War ◽  
Indelible Mark ◽  
Population Displacement ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Third Reich ◽  
Second World

The article undertakes the topic of forced population displacement seen through the eyes of a child from Zamojszczyzna along with war-time fates of Polish families deported duringthe Second World War. The history of Zamojszczyzna lands is composed of tragic experiences of people forced out of their family households, imprisoned in the transit camps, deported to be involuntary labourers in the Third Reich, or murdered in concentration camps KL Auschwitz and KL Lublin (Majdanek). The survivors had to carry on throughout their lives with an indelible mark left by war-time childhood reflected by the name “a Child of Zamojszczyna” (the said status was granted to persons who were prisoners of the transit camps in Zamość and Zwierzyniec [solely children until the age of fourteen] and those imprisoned in concentration camps [for at least one day]).

scholarly journals The history of archaeological research at the site of the former Kulmhof extermination camp

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-14
Author(s):  
Andrzej Grzegorczyk
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
World War ◽  
The Public ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Second World

The Kulmhof extermination camp in Chełmno nad Nerem was the first camp set up by the Nazis to exterminate Jews during the Second World War. The history of Kulmhof has long been an area of interest for academics, but despite thorough research it remains one of the least-known places of its kind among the public. Studies of the role of archaeology in acquiring knowledge about the functioning of the camp have been particularly compelling. The excavations carried out intermittently over a thirty-year period (1986–2016), which constitute the subject of this article, have played a key role in the rise in public interest in the history of the camp.

scholarly journals Remembering and Forgetting, Discovering and Cherishing

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 28-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eerika Koskinen-Koivisto ◽  
Suzie Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
World War ◽  
Finnish Lapland ◽  
Professional Authority ◽  
History Of ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
Second World

The events of the Second World War left considerable material remains in Finnish Lapland, ranging from the remnants of structures that were destroyed in the 1944–45 Lapland War, through to small, portable objects connected to soldiers, prisoners of war and civilians. These material remains have variously been saved and cherished by survivors and their families, disregarded as ‘war junk’, ‘discovered’ by hobbyists exploring the landscape, amassed and exchanged by private collectors, and accessioned into official museum collections. These various processes represent transformations of material culture to take on various meanings and embodiments, depending on the different individuals and organizations involved. In this article we present and analyse data collected through ethnographic fieldwork in and around the Lapland village of Vuotso: primarily interviews and observations. We have conducted interviews with history hobbyists and museum professionals who engage with the WWII history of Lapland, and observed the treatment of ‘war material culture’, for example through exhibitions (both public and hidden) and through personal meaning-making practices. These encounters have centred around the material remains of the Second World War, and the ways in which different actors perceive, value and otherwise understand those remains. While some objects are transformed through musealisation, others remain ‘officially’ unknown and unrecognized (although known – even traded and exchanged – through private channels). Furthermore it may be as important for some actors to leave material culture in situ – for example as testimony to the past conflict or trauma – as it is for others to exercise personal ownership. Within this context, we deconstruct the notion of ‘expert’ as it relates to the local and historical knowledge. Being regarded by peers and others as an expert is not necessarily the same thing as having professional authority and status, for example as a museum curator or university-affiliated scholar. We draw upon theories of relational materiality, and suggest different typologies of engagement with the material culture. Different networks of interest and expertise emerge, dependent on the actors involved (including their status – e.g. museum professional, survivor, ‘incomer’, local activist – and how their knowledge is thus accepted, challenged or rejected by others), the context of ownership, situationality and perceived levels of authenticity.

scholarly journals Debating the Greek 1940s: histories and memories of a conflicting past since the end of the Second World War

HISTOREIN ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Manos Avgeridis
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
First Century ◽  
World War ◽  
The Past ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Politics Of History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Core Issue ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Second World

The article examines aspects of the long history of a major field of public debate in the second half of the twentieth century, that of the Greek 1940s, taking as its starting point the recent “history war” in Greece. It attempts to trace histories and memories from the immediate postwar years and to place them within a broader process: the historisation of the Second World War in Europe. In that context, the article begins by exploring one part of the initial efforts to form a European history of the resistance, from the perspective of the Greek case. Then, the focus is transferred to Greece, and to the mapping of a constellation of different memory and history communities, and the practices of history of the same period: the activities of veteran partisans and eye-witnesses with regard to their contribution to the formation of the first narratives on the war is a core issue at this level. Last, by following the developments in the academy and the politics of history during the Metapolitefsi, the focus returns to the current discussion, attempting a first approach to the subject through the strings that connect it with the past and, at the same time, as a debate of the twenty-first century. 

Learning to cook the Chinese way: Australian Chinese cookbooks of the 1950s

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Vincent
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Immigrants ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Food Culture ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Chinese Migration ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Second World

The history of Chinese migration to Australia and in particular the impact of discriminatory legislation has been the subject of considerable scholarship. Less well documented is the contribution of Chinese immigrants to Australia’s food culture. Chinese cooks had been at work in Australia since at least the 1850s, and cafés and restaurants were serving Chinese food in both urban and rural centres by the 1930s. The first cookery books devoted to Chinese recipes were written by Australian Chinese and published after the Second World War. They provided the curious and the adventurous with information that allowed them to both confidently order food in restaurants and experiment with cooking at home. An important and neglected source, this survey of these publications suggests some of the ways in which Chinese cooks adapted and adopted to produce an ‘Australianized’ Chinese menu.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document