In the Homes of Others: Traces of Germany's Past in Western Poland

At the end of World War II, millions of Germans fled Silesia, Pomerania, the Neumark, and East Prussia. They left behind houses, factories, churches, furniture, kitchen appliances, clothing, paintings, and much more in the territories east of the Oder and Neisse rivers, which henceforth lay within Poland. What stories do these items tell?

Drawing on archival findings, research, literature, and a multitude of personal encounters, the author—who has been honored with the Georg Dehio Book Prize, among other awards—traces the history of the former Germans and shows how objects and life stories remain intertwined across national borders and generations to this day.

Moderator: Ulrich Schreiber