Presentations of the Grodno History Publication to Be Held in Vilnius, Bialystok, and Warsaw
On June 7 in Vilnius, June 8 in Bialystok, and June 9 in Warsaw, presentations of the Belarusian translation of the book «History of Grodno (1919—1991). Nationalization, Extermination, and Sovietization of a Central European City» will take place with the participation of its author, Felix Ackermann.
Felix Ackermann is a German historian and publicist, professor, and head of the Department of Public History at the University of Hagen (Fernuniversität in Hagen).
This book is an attempt to write the history of 20th-century Grodno from the perspective of cultural anthropology. It is based on oral accounts of Grodno residents, archival research, and previous historiography, towards which the author is explicitly critical. The answer to the question of how Belarusian Grodno emerged is given by considering the local history of the formation of three national projects — Polish, Soviet, and uniquely Belarusian — at the crossroads of three countries — Belarus, Poland, and Lithuania.
The book publishes dozens of documents and photographs, some of them for the first time.
To prepare this book, the author conducted interviews with dozens of local natives. Among them are Andrzej Poczobut, Professor Ales Smalianchuk, Aliaksandr Milinkevich, and local historian Aliaksandr Hosti. The author's interlocutors included priests, anonymous teachers from Belarusian and Polish-language schools, and lecturers from Grodno University. However, the book presents not only the voices of those who lived in Grodno at the time of writing but also those who left it as part of the so-called repatriation. For this purpose, the author met with Grodno Jews in Israel and with Grodno Poles who left after the war in Poland. He also worked with Grodno archives, including those now located in Poland, with multi-language periodicals, and used little-known sources from German archives about Grodno during the occupation.
This book is about:
- Belarusian places and Belarusian figures in Grodno during the interwar period.
- conflicts between Christians and Jews during the same period.
- the first Soviet rule in Grodno (September 1939 — June 1941), which brought, on the one hand, deportations of the local population and other repressions, and on the other hand, the Belarusianization of the education system.
- survival strategies of Grodno's multi-ethnic population during the German occupation and the mass murder of Grodno Jews.
- the second Soviet rule, and the waves of Russification and Sovietization they brought.
Time and places of the presentations:
Vilnius, June 7 (Sunday), 16:00 — 17:30.
Address: Belarusian House, Vilniaus gatvė 20, Vilnius.
Bialystok: June 8 (Monday), 19:00 — 20:30.
Address: Sienkiewicza 82, Fundacja ‘Okno na Wschód.
Warsaw: June 9 (Tuesday), 20:00 — 21:30.
Address: Centrum Białoruskiej Solidarności, Oleandrów 6, Warszawa.