Paper short abstract:

This paper deals with the sense of belonging in contemporary Warmia-Masuria (Poland). It is focused on the strategies of dealing with the effects of historical discontinuity (present both in the history of the land and of the people).

Paper long abstract:

Warmia-Masuria is a part of so-called "Recovered territories" - a considerable part of contemporary Poland that before 1945 belonged to Germany. Recent history of the region is marked by trauma of post-war massive population displacements which led to almost complete transformation of the region's cultural landscape. During the 40 years of Pepole's Republic of Poland state's propaganda was sustaining a mythology of "Recovered territories". Regional history was interpreted as an ages-old struggle between Polish and German ethnic forces that ended in the ultimate act of historical and social justice. Anti-German rhetoric (extremely powerful during the 1960s) served both as a mean of legitimisation of Polish administration in the region and as a tool of developement of the ideological construction of "the united Polish nation". Stereotypical "fear of the German" became the corner stone of the regional identity.

Year 1989 marks both political transformation and the collapse of the currently out-dated antagonistic interpretation of history. It also marks the beginning of multidimensional, mostly grassroot efforts to reconstruct the regional identity and sense of belonging, still overshadowed by the monuments of bygone era. My paper is based on the research conducted among the youngest post-war generation born in the region. I focus on the strategies of dealing with the historical discontinuity (present both in the history of the land and of people) and attempts to overcome the burden of the old ideological narration and contemporary social fears.