German Traces in Poland’s Western Territories
Altered, reinterpreted or left to decay: after 1945, German monuments met very different fates in the territories that became part of western Poland. How did local communities respond to these remnants of the past? What fitted in with a new beginning, what remained unfamiliar, and what changed over time?
Image gallery
2026_fvv_Wessen Denkmäler
In his photographic project “Denkmalforschung” (Monument Research), Wojtek Sienkiewicz explores monuments in the villages of Lower Silesia. In conversation with cultural scholar Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska, he examines how local initiatives, political directives and everyday decisions interact. The monuments tell stories of appropriation and neglect, of the politics of memory and an approach to German heritage that remains full of contradictions today.
PROGRAMME
Welcome
- Dr Roland Borchers, Director, Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation (Berlin)
- Katarzyna Sitko, Director, Polish Institute Berlin
Speakers
- Wojtek Sienkiewicz, Photographer
- Prof. Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska, Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw)
Moderated by: Prof. Felix Ackermann, Public History, FernUniversität in Hagen
FURTHER INFORMATION
Doors Open: 6.00 p.m.
Language: German and Polish, with simultaneous interpretation
FREE ADMISSION, REGISTRATION REQUIRED
An event as part of the special exhibition "OSTGEBIETE / ZIEMIE ZACHODNIE. German-Polish Perspectives."
A cooperation of: Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation · Polish Institute Berlin
Additional information
Dates
November 2026
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