A Shared History, Divided Memories? Soviet Deportations from Polish Territories

The invasion took place a few weeks after the German attack on Poland on 1 September 1939. This had been preceded by the signing of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact on 23 August 1939. With this treaty, also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact, the German Reich and the Soviet Union initially secured their cooperation and, in a secret additional protocol, agreed to divide Eastern Central Europe into spheres of influence.

The Soviet regime began a far-reaching reorganisation of its annexed territories. Key measures included arrests, expropriations, deportations and murders. Between 1940 and 1941, hundreds of thousands of people were deported in several waves from the occupied territories to the interior of the Soviet Union. People of diverse social, ethnic and religious backgrounds were affected.

The panel discussion focuses on the deportations from the occupied Polish territories to remote regions of the Soviet Union, their historical context and the memories associated with them. The discussion centres on the experiences and memories of these events from Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish perspectives. The discussion examines how personal and family memories, academic research and official historical narratives are interwoven or contradict one another.

Panellists:

• Dr Markus Nesselrodt (European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder))
• Daria Reznyk (Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), Leipzig, and the NGO ‘After Silence’, Lviv)
• Prof. Dr Małgorzata Ruchniewicz (University of Wrocław)
• Moderator: Dr Agnieszka Wierzcholska (Sciences Po Centre for History, Paris).

• The event will feature German-Polish simultaneous interpretation.
• Admission is free.
• Please register at kontakt(at)museum-karlshorst.de

On the evenings of the events, the museum will be open until the event begins at 7 pm.