Transformation of towns located in areas annexed by the Third Reich (selected examples) / Marta Ślusarczyk // W: NordSci Conference on Social Sciences, 17-19 July 2018, Helsinki, Finland : conference ... więcej

Transformation of towns located in areas annexed by the Third Reich (selected examples) / Marta Ślusarczyk // W: NordSci Conference on Social Sciences, 17-19 July 2018, Helsinki, Finland : conference proceedings. Book 2, Vol. 1, Sections: Architecture and Design, Business and Management, Economics and Tourism, Finance, Law, Political Sciences, Urban Studies, Planning and Development. – Sofia : Saima Consult Ltd, 2018. – (NordSci Conference on Social Sciences, ISSN 2603-4271). – S. 499-506. – Bibliogr. 14 poz., Abstr. – doi: 10.32008. – ISBN 978-619-7495-01-0

After forces of the German Wehrmacht entered Poland, on the 8th of October 1939, the chancellor of the Third Reich – Adolf Hitler – issued a decree by which a certain part of the western territory ... więcej

After forces of the German Wehrmacht entered Poland, on the 8th of October 1939, the chancellor of the Third Reich – Adolf Hitler – issued a decree by which a certain part of the western territory of the Polish state as to be incorporated into the administrative borders of Germany. They were called "annexed eastern lands". Due to their value and significance to the occupants they were not damaged as badly as other areas during wartime operations. On the contrary. They were areas from which the Polish population was to be expelled, with a plan to have it settled by Germans. They had to be appropriately prepared for the arrival of the new residents. Hence, plans of the expansion and redevelopment of many cities and towns started to be developed at regional construction offices. There were plans to demolish current building tissue, or even to reorganise extant urban layouts. New industrial plants and public buildings, such as schools and police precincts, were being designed, with the intent to have them used solely by the soon-to-arrive German population. The article discusses the problem of the transformations that were associated with this and which took place either within urban tissue or that were architectural changes—such as the redevelopment of existing buildings or the construction of new ones. Three towns from the borderlands of Silesia and Lesser Poland—areas that have been a part of the Polish state since time immemorial and that have Polish roots— were selected as examples. It was decided to investigate the then-planned and, of course, carried out transformations in the area of Szczakowa, Chrzanów and Jaworzno. Not all of the development projects that had been planned were carried out. Some of them remained only on paper, because of the retreat of the German Wehrmacht and the end of World War II did not allow for their realisation. The location and temporal framework were, in this case, a chance to preserve historical urban tissue. Other projects were carried out only partially and were sometimes continued after wartime operations had ceased, due to their value to the public. Some of them are in use to this day. It cannot be denied that the spatial transformations that were induced during that period within the urban tissue of the cities located in areas that had been annexed into the administrative borders of the Third Reich are a form of post-war heritage, whose impact can frequently be observed to this day. During the investigation of the subject the author studied current literature and performed archival research, including research at the State Archive in Katowice or the archive of the Museum of the City of Jaworzno or the Irena and Mieczysław Mazaraki Museum in Chrzanów. Afterwards, the author performed on-site visits and comparisons of previously obtained materials.