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)
Specialist workshop "Expulsion, forced migration, loss of culture in 1945 in the Oder-Warthe region"
Cultural Centre of the Municipality of Słońsk (PL), 25 June 2025
The workshop served to prepare the content of a symposium planned for the end of September 2025 in Küstrin-Kietz. It focussed on the complex German-Polish history in the border region, particularly after the Second World War, and discussed methods for communicating this history to younger generations. The participants, including representatives from Germany and Poland, exchanged views on various aspects such as museum work, cultural heritage and the culture of remembrance and emphasised the importance of coming to terms with the past together. Several projects and initiatives were presented that aim to promote understanding of the shared history and strengthen the German-Polish dialogue.
On the basis of initiative presentations and experience reports, topics of remembrance were discussed in connection with the effects of the events of 1945 on the population on both sides of the Oder, including the westward shift of Poland, flight, expulsion, forced migration, ideology-based changes in German and Polish cultures of remembrance, loss of culture, interpretation today - lessons for tomorrow.
In the stimulating discussion that followed, various perspectives and topics were added, including
- Looted artefacts from all over Poland in manor houses in the region
- "scorched earth" by the Soviet army as revenge for the attack and destruction of the Nazi Germans beforehand
- Recommendation for a dialogue between German-Polish museums to provide impetus for joint education
- Choice of title for the symposium: a positive connotation
- "Cultural appropriation processes"
- Films, culture and art as tools for communicating history
- Recommendation for 2 films on the history of the town of Landsberg (YouTube)
- many personal stories of the participants with family roots in the region.
The last item on the programme was a visit to the Słońsk Martyrdom Museum with a detailed guided tour by Prof. Smolinski. Here, various participants also reported on their personal experiences in conversations with contemporary witnesses in their families.

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