On September 17, 1939, the Red Army marched into the eastern territories of the Second Polish Republic. The Soviet leadership justified the occupation on the grounds of protecting the Ukrainian and Belarusian populations. The invasion took place a few weeks after the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939. This had been preceded by the signing of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact on August 23, 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 restructuring 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. Those affected came from diverse social, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.
The panel discussion will focus 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 will center on the experiences and memories of these events from Polish, Ukrainian, and Jewish perspectives. The discussion explores how personal and family memories, scholarly research, and official historical narratives are intertwined or contradict one another.
Panelists:
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 Center for History, Paris).
The event will feature German-Polish simultaneous interpretation.
Admission is free.
Please register at kontakt(at)museum-karlshorst.de
On event evenings, the museum will be open until the event begins at 7:00 p.m.
By participating in the event, you agree that photographs and video recordings in which you appear as part of wide-angle shots may be used for the museum’s public relations purposes. Taking your own photos or videos (e.g., with a cell phone) is not permitted during the event. Accredited members of the press are exempt from this rule.Translated with DeepL