Reading and discussion with Ernst Pradel about flight, expulsion and integration after the Second World War in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Personal fates and historical developments combine to create an impressive approach to an often forgotten chapter of German history.
Saturday, May 30, 2026, 7 p.m., Damgarten Library
Ernst Pradel "There in the East, there somewhere"
Reading & discussion
Today's political developments can often only be understood if you look back into history - it is not just any old dates and figures that make history, but a multitude of individual fates, with the trauma of expulsion and flight from their homeland, with people's hopes for a better life, with all the efforts to adapt and integrate. After the Second World War, the population in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern almost doubled in a short period of time, and the integration of the exhausted "resettlers", including those from Silesia, Pomerania and East Prussia, had to be improvised despite food shortages and further war damage. The
displaced persons who survived the escape in the frosty winter of 1944/45 were often traumatized and destitute. They were dependent on help and somehow, somewhere, found shelter, with their dialects, their differences, their cultural homelands. In his book, Rostock author Ernst Pradel draws attention to a chapter of German history that unfortunately often seems to be forgotten today. He makes these silenced voices of the (great-)grandparents' generation audible again and shows that our society today has emerged from the suffering of migration and homelessness. A literary and historical testimony of inestimable value, which brings us closer to more tolerance and appreciation for the biographies and life achievements of other people. The stories told by Ernst Pradel combine "big" and "small" history in an inimitable way, without falling into clichés. Recent history between the 1930s and 2000s in the Mecklenburg towns of Waren/Müritz and Rostock can be experienced anecdotally or can be found in the stories themselves. So come with us on a journey through time, through our north-east German homeland, there in the east, there somewhere, and let us find explanations for "the inherited trauma" and new perspectives for current debates.
➢ Tickets: 7.00 euros in advance in the libraries, at the tourist information office or online at www.reservix.de (plus booking fee)
➢ Info: Damgarten Library, Wasserstraße 34a, 18311 Ribnitz-Damgarten, Tel.: 03821 8934523 | bibliothek2@ribnitz-damgarten.de | www.bibliothek.ribnitz-damgarten.de
