Lucyna Sadzikowska – författare

The history of Upper Silesia is intertwined with the activities of Silesian priest Konrad Szweda, a victim of persecutions by German Nazism and Soviet communism. This book contains previously unknown letters and secret correspondence of Fr. Konrad Szweda, enriching the literature of personal documents related to World War II. These egodocuments, part of an anthology of invaluable source texts on the human spirit in “inhuman times”, offer historical material for further research on the clergy. Biographical details and factual nuances reveal surprising paradoxes, forgotten contexts, and facts, challenging established stereotypes and inspiring deeper insights into the complex fabric of the past.

Patriotism is founded on the natural human need for lasting interpersonal bonds and is thus anchored in personal identity. Throughout Polish history, there has emerged a specific understanding and experience of patriotism. During World War II, the generation that grew up in the interwar period demonstrated the value of patriotism – being able to prioritize the good of the homeland and being ready to die for one’s country. The egodocuments collected in this book (secret messages and letters, official correspondence, and camp and prison documents) relate to the Koz˙don´ family from Chwałowice and the Kupiec brothers from Poronin and serve as a representative sample of the significance of Polish patriotism under the challenging circumstances of World War II. These two families are emblematic of the sacrifice of individuals who fought for Poland’s independence and displayed an uncompromising attitude towards the Nazi occupier.

Der Band ist das Ergebnis der Forschung über Oberschlesien, einer Industrieregion, die in den vergangenen Jahrhunderten von drei Kulturen beeinflusst wurde: der deutschen, der polnischen und der tschechischen. Auch die regionale kulturelle Identität, das Schlesische, spielte und spielt hier eine bedeutende Rolle. Während der erste Teilband die Erforschung der Region aus naturwissenschaftlicher, industriegeschichtlicher, sozialer und kultureller Sicht darstellte, ist der vorliegende zweite Teilband ein vergleichender, deutsch-polnischer Ansatz und konzentriert sich auf die von deutschen und polnischen Schriftsteller:innen aufgegriffenen Motive, auf die unterschiedliche Art und Weise, wie die Geschichte und die kulturellen Phänomene der Region ihre Identität prägen oder Ausdruck ihrer kulturellen Vielfalt sind.This volume is the result of research into Upper Silesia, an industrial region that has been influenced by three cultures over the past centuries: German, Polish and Czech. The regional cultural identity, the Silesian language, also played and still plays an important role here. While the first partial volume presented research into the region from a scientific, industrial, social and cultural perspective, the second partial volume takes a comparative, German-Polish approach and focuses on the motifs taken up by German and Polish writers, on the different ways in which the history and cultural phenomena of the region characterise its identity or are an expression of its cultural diversity.

The contributions included in this volume address issues related to contemporary problems of publishing archival sources, legal aspects of access to archival sources created in the 20th century, electronic documents - their mass nature, peculiarities and gaps in the 20th century documentation, as well as sources serving to transfer values and knowledge between generations. The subject of the articles is the description of a wide spectrum of issues concerning the everyday lives of prominent individuals and the documentation thereof. It is imperative to acknowledge the foundational significance of this element in the context of civilisation's evolution, the shaping of international relations, and the dynamics of geopolitics.