Paper short abstract:

The aim of my paper would be to prezent the process of settlement in the region of Warmia and Mazury in the first years after the end of World War, focusing on taming space of this new, completely strange place, so it would become a new home.

Paper long abstract:

At the end of World War II, the original inhabitants of Warmia and Mazury began to leave their homes in fear of the approaching troops of the Red Army. Their place was occupied by voluntary settlers from Central Poland, who ware encouraged by stories of abandoned farms migrated to areas of former East Prussia, as well as so-called "repatriates": people displaced by force from the Eastern Borderlands and people deported during the Operation "Wisła" in 1947.

The aim of my paper would be to present the process of this settelment in a chronological order focusing on taming space of this new, completely strange place, so it would become a new home. I would like to present the problems with which the settlers had to struggle, starting from the moment of arrival at the so-called Regained Territories, through the necessity of finding an abandoned house, where the family will be able to settle down, cleaning the home and the most necessary repairs, loot (which often was the only way to gather the most necessary equipment in an apartment), ways to protect property acquired, and a the new social order and relations prevailing in this strange and eclectic community in the first years after the end of world war II.

My presentation will be based on field research initiated in April 2015. It is part of the research for my doctoral thesis on the history of the region in the period from 1945 to 1953 year.