REMEMBRANCE CONNECTS

Effects of Poland's westward shift on the Oder-Warthe region

Sub-project of the Interreg 6A project "Remembrance Connects", funded by the European Union (INTERREG VI A Brandenburg-
Poland 2021-2027)

The so-called westward shift of Poland is a result of the Second World War, based on the Yalta and Potsdam resolutions. It led to the relocation of Poland's borders to the west. Poland lost large parts of its eastern territory in favour of the Soviet Union and in return received former German territories in the west. This reorganisation changed the map of Central Europe and formed the basis for the profound upheavals in the Oder-Warthe region.

This also involved the resettlement of millions, which led to a complete exchange of the population structure in the Oder-Warthe region. German residents fled or were expelled, while Poles from the eastern areas and other parts of the country were resettled in the „regained territories“. This forced migration left fractures in the culture of remembrance as well as empty archives in regional museums, churches and offices. The memory of expulsion and forced migration still characterises the collective memory of the border region today.

In addition, the region's infrastructure was almost completely destroyed by the fierce fighting at the end of the war. New ownership structures and the need to reorganise production facilities and agricultural structures brought further far-reaching changes.

The Remembrance Connects project deals with the complex German-Polish history in the border region. As part of the project activities, mutual knowledge and dialogue about expulsion, forced migration and the loss of culture in 1945 in the Oder-Warthe region are to be documented and promoted. Educational tourism programmes are intended to make the special history of the Oder-Warthe region and its population comprehensible.

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