Between recovery of memory and „memory retrieval”. The Second World War and the Upper Silesian. Tragedy in narratives of Silesian ethnic leaders who aim to emancipation

The history of Silesia and Silesians, is an example of “minority histor”, „subaltern past” that in post-war Poland was subjugated to the official vision of the national past, doomed to marginalization and “oblivion”. Experiences of Silesians disappeared not only from homogenizing stories of Polish historiography, but also often from family transfers. The alteration was brought about by political changes of 1989, which began a period of democratization of memory and „recovering the past” by hitherto marginalized minorities, within the framework of the fight waged by them for the inclusion and representation. The abolition of censorship resulted in the disclosure in the public sphere the memory of the repressed and unspoken beforehand events.
The article presents the processes of “recovering the past” undertaken by Silesians aiming to the ethnic emancipation. It is based on empirical research conducted among the Silesian leaders. My researches deal with issues related to the inter-generational transmission concerning events linked to the Second World War and the Upper Silesian Tragedy causes and consequences of discontinuities of transfer associated with discrimination of Silesian historical memory of the community and relationship between communicative memory and cultural memory.

 

The history of Silesia and Silesians, is an example of “minority histor”, „subaltern past” that in post-war Poland was subjugated to the official vision of the national past, doomed to marginalization and “oblivion”. Experiences of Silesians disappeared not only from homogenizing stories of Polish historiography, but also often from family transfers. The alteration was brought about by political changes of 1989, which began a period of democratization of memory and „recovering the past” by hitherto marginalized minorities, within the framework of the fight waged by them for the inclusion and representation. The abolition of censorship resulted in the disclosure in the public sphere the memory of the repressed and unspoken beforehand events.

The article presents the processes of “recovering the past” undertaken by Silesians aiming to the ethnic emancipation. It is based on empirical research conducted among the Silesian leaders. My researches deal with issues related to the inter-generational transmission concerning events linked to the Second World War and the Upper Silesian Tragedy causes and consequences of discontinuities of transfer associated with discrimination of Silesian historical memory of the community and relationship between communicative memory and cultural memory.