Postwar reckoning with Nazism and communism in Poland and Germany from 1945 to the present day UKSW-RNKP
The end of World War II marked the beginning of a time of peace after years of brutal German occupation and mass atrocities. However, it also brought the division of Europe by the "Iron Curtain" and meant that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe found themselves in the Soviet sphere of influence.
Apart from the necessity to rebuild the ruined countries and to adapt to the border changes and post-war population transfers, an important challenge was to carry out settlements with the German war criminals. Trials, investigations and exhumations became a part of the landscape of post-war Poland and occupied Germany, where the Allies conducted retribution until 1949. The following decades were characterized on the one hand by trials and debates about the wartime past, and on the other by the policy of amnesty and leniency of the authorities and the judiciary in West Germany.
After 1989, the political, legal and symbolic reckoning with communism became another important challenge. In Poland and the former GDR there was a neccessity to bring the perpetrators to justice and to reveal the secret service agents present in public life. This process, known colloquially as the lustration has become the subject of many discussions and disputes, especially in Poland.
The aim of the lectures is to analyze the political and legal settlements with Nazism and communism in Poland and Germany. The research questions which will accompany the lectures focus on the issues of settling accounts with totalitarianisms and their legacy, beginning with legal solutions and court proceedings, through statistics of trials and sentences, to the greatest successes and failures of the justice system. No less of a significance is the question of settling accounts with Nazism and communism in the symbolic sphere, including discourses and controversies in specific countries.
Separate topics that will be discussed during the lectures are the lustration and decommunization, Polish and German debates around them, as well as examples of the most famous unmasked agents of the Security Service and Stasi.
An important issue, which relates to the present day, is to outline the phenomenon of "late justice," that is, the trials of war criminals that have taken place in recent years, or are currently underway, such as the cases of John Demjanjuk, Bruno Dey, or Irmgard Furchner.
The last lecture of the series will be a reflection on the influence of the settlement of accounts with the legacy of both totalitarianisms on contemporary Polish-German relations.
(in Polish) Dyscyplina naukowa, do której odnoszą się efekty uczenia się
(in Polish) E-Learning
(in Polish) Grupa przedmiotów ogólnouczenianych
Subject level
Learning outcome code/codes
Type of subject
Preliminary Requirements
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
A. Knowledge outcomes:
1. Knowledge of the most important trials of Nazi and communist criminals in Poland and Germany.
2. Knowledge of the most important legal acts connected with settling accounts with the heritage of totalitarianisms
3. Knowledge of the influence of the trials on contemporary Polish-German relations
B. Skills outcomes:
1. Is able to find and interpret information about trials and judgments.
2. Is able to point out problems and dilemmas connected with settling accounts with totalitarian regimes
3. Is able to indicate the consequences of failure to settle accounts with the past.
C. Competence outcomes (attitudes):
1. Is able to shape the knowledge of the environment about settlements with totalitarian systems.
2. Is able to justify moral and legal reasons behind the necessity of settling accounts with the crimes of Nazism and communism
3. Is able to lead discussions and debates on the subject of settlements and contemporary Polish-German relations.
Assessment criteria
1.Lecture, discussion, text analysis, multimedia presentations.
2.Active participation in classes (possible - 2 absences in a semester).
3. The ability to summarize the texts of the readings.
4. Active participation in the discussion on the subject of each lecture.
5. Credit for attendance.
1.Direct contact with the lecturer:
- lecture: 30 hours.
Total: 1 ECTS
2.Student's own workload:
- reading the recommended literature: 30 hours
Total: 1 ECTS
Number 1 and 2 are 2 ECTS credits
Bibliography
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Additional information
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