(P)Ostkolonialismus - Day 1 (2/3) - Postcolonial Perspectives on Poland, Ukraine and Eastern Europe

October 23rd 2024, Day One of the (P)Ostkolonialismus Conference at the Pilecki-Institut Berlin.



This video includes Session 1 of the Conference's program:

Session 1: Continuities of colonial traditions of thought
Chair: Agata Czaja

Professor Dirk Uffelmann (Giessen), Polish Perspectives on German “Ostkolonisation"

Ihor Usatenko (Warszawa), Nazi Colonialism in Interwar Polish Reportage

Professor Francis Harvey (Leipzig), Are place names shibboleths? Decoding coloniality in mapped place names

Followed by a discussion



During our conference researchers from various academic disciplines will discuss the potential benefits and challenges of postcolonial and decolonial perspectives on the historical and contemporary entanglements of the areas under study.

A representative study recently commissioned by Pilecki Institute Berlin has revealed the prevailing stereotypes and knowledge gaps in German society regarding the history and present of Poland, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe. In light of the study results, the Pilecki Institute Berlin is organizing a three-day conference, titled "(P)Ostkolonialismus - Postcolonial Perspectives on Poland, Ukraine and Eastern Europe". Researchers from various academic disciplines will discuss the potential benefits and challenges of postcolonial and decolonial perspectives on the historical and contemporary entanglements of the areas under study. Our aim is to create a discursive space to illuminate and question the continuities of colonial traditions of thought in Germany, their impact on the German history of violence, and their influence on contemporary Erinnerungskulturen.

In the 19th century, Poland, the so called “Wild East”, already formed part of Germany's colonial aspirations (Kopp 2012). Both Prussia and the German Empire, as well as the Nazi state, repeatedly attempted to fulfill their colonial settlement ambitions in Eastern Europe. The German mass crimes in the region during the Second World War were based on these continuities of anti-Slavic policies and convictions.

These patterns of thought and behavior towards Eastern Europe continue to have an impact in many respects to the present day. Colonial traditions of thought are also reflected in Erinnerungskultur and historical debates. The gaps and absences in German collective memory of the National Socialist war of extermination in Eastern Europe have come to light, not only in the wake of 24 February 2022 and corresponding discourse on the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

By integrating diverse interdisciplinary and interpretative perspectives and initiating a constructive dialogue between them, we address the following question: How can postcolonial and decolonial approaches dismantle prevailing stereotypes and address knowledge gaps as well as absences in German Erinnerungskultur?