6533b853fe1ef96bd12ac317
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Rodzinna postpamięć Ślązaków
Janina Hajduk‑nijakowskasubject
021110 strategic defence & security studies05 social sciencesWorld War II0211 other engineering and technologiesPharmaceutical Sciencepostpamięćpamięć rodzinna02 engineering and technologyAncient historyK0506 political scienceJII wojna światowapamięć utajniona ŚlązakówComplementary and alternative medicinePolitical science050602 political science & public administrationPharmacology (medical)LawPolitical sciencedescription
Family Postmemory of the People of Silesia
 The author suggests a possible use of postmemory to analyse the contemporary family memory of the people of Silesia. Their memoirs about WW2 (such as working for the Wehrmacht, the Red Army invading Silesia, working in labour camps, nationality verification, displacements to Germany, and deportations to Siberia) bear signs of latent memory which is rarely revealed even to the next of kin. Present mainly within the family circle, within the local society, and among friends, these memoirs integrated Silesians and made them a unique community that considers itself a stigmatized minority. This contributed to mythologizing and stereotyping the whole memory. The family memory of the past events, full of emotions and understatements, often contradicting the official version of history, has been developed by children and grandchildren who tried to learn about it and understand it. As a result of political changes that occurred in Poland after1989 – which triggered a slow process of memory democratisation and incorporation of Silesians’ memoirs into the official history – new academic papers, memoirs, and documentaries were released. This process inspired the secondand the third generations of Silesians to share ‘family myths and legends’.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-05-01 | Politeja |