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PaulMcNamara,BeyondtheIronCurtain:WesternTravellersintheBorderlandsofCommunistPoland...
1940s,hephotographedPolandin1946whileonanassignmentfortheUnitedNa-
tions’ReliefandRehabilitationAdministration(UNRRA),aswellasdocumenting
theworkoftheAmericanJewishJointDistributionCommitee(JDC).1Vachon’s
raw,unembellishedstylewasperfectlysuitedtocapturingPoland’semergence
fromsixyearsofunparalleledhumanandmaterialdestructionintoastilluncertain
worldofforcedmigration,resetlementinunknownlandsandimpendingSoviet
domination.2
AlthoughmainlyfocusedonWarsawandcentralPoland,someofVachon’s
mosthauntingimagesweretakeninPoland’sso-calledIRecoveredTerritories’,for-
merlyGermanlandsalongtheOderandNeisseriversclearedofGermansandde-
stinedforPolishsetlement.HisphotographstakeninandaroundWrocław,which
initsformerincarnationastheGermanfortresscityofBreslauhadbeenpulverised
duringasiegelastinguntilMay1945,depictasenseofhorrorandbewilderment
atthelevelsofwartimedestructionandthenear-insurmountablechallengesfa-
cingthosetaskedwithitsreconstruction.Crucially,Vachondocumentednotonly
theexpulsionsoflocalGermansbutalsothetransportationoftheirreplacements,
namelyPolishsetlerswhothemselveshadbeenexpelledfromtheeasternborder-
landsofPolandunilaterallyannexedbytheSovietUnion.Thus,inoneimagewe
seeasmallpatheticcaravanofterrifiedmiddle-agedandelderlyGermancivilians
beingforcedtoleaveWrocławwhileself-shackledtocartstheyseemunabletopull,
sooverloadedaretheywiththeirbelongings.WithVachonhavingsomehowcaught
theiratention,someofthemturntheirheadstowardshimwithfearandconfusion
etchedontheirfaces.Indeed,itisdifculttoassesswhetherthephotographerwants
ustolookonthisscenewithschadenfreudeorsympathy.Inthebackground,thenew
Polishinhabitantsstandaspassiveordeliberatelyuninterestedonlookerswhile,
moreominously,abannerforthePolishWorkers’Partyhangsfromanimposing
ofcebuildingasaharbingerofimpendingcommunistrule.Inanotherseriesof
images,however,weseecaptivating,beautifullylitscenesofaPolishfamilycram-
medintoarailwaywagonwithalltheirbelongingsonajourneylastingweeksif
notmonths,havinglefttheiroldhomesandlifeintheeastbehindandnowheading
west,notknowingwheretheyaregoingorwhattheywillfindontheirarrival.Loo-
kingatthesephotographs,itseemsentirelypossiblethatonesetofforcedmigrants
willcometoinhabitthehomesoftheother.InsuchawaydoesVachonmaster-
fullycapturethevicissitudesofwarandtheupheavalofitsaftermathinPoland’s
RecoveredTerritories.3
1
2
3
ForaselectionofVachon’sphotographsdocumentingtheJDCsee:htps://archives.jdc.org/
project/post-world-war-ii-poland-photos-by-john-vachon/[dostęp:22.06.2021].
ForabroadselectionofVachon’spost-warPolishphotographstakenin1946seeJohnVa-
chon,Poland,1946:ThePhotographsandLetersofJohnVachon,SmithsonianBooks,Washing-
ton,DC1996.
ForaselectionofVachon’sphotographsfromhisvisitstoPolandin1946,1956and1963,
seeSławomirRybałtowski,TomaszMarkiewicz(eds.)JohnVachon.TrzyrazyPolska.John
Vachon.ThreetimesinPoland,DomSpotkańzHistorią,Warsaw2014.
