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PaulMcNamara,BeyondtheIronCurtain:WesternTravellersintheBorderlandsofCommunistPoland...
andexaggerationshemakesinhisbookareoftennotinlinewithreality,namely
theassertionthat:
Afterweek’sstayinEastPrussia,itseemsthatonemayalreadyobserveacertain
generaltruth:thetowncentresarealmostcompletelydestroyedwhilerebuilding
workhasnotyetstarted.Despitethis,inmostcasesthelargestandmostimpor-
tantbuildingshavesurvived,suchaschurchesandtownhalls,eveniftheyhave
sustainedseriousdamage.7
Whiletherewasstillevidenceofwartimedestructionandpost-warlootingto
beseenwellintothe1960s,bythetimeWassermanvisitedtheRecoveredTerri-
toriesin1957photographicevidenceclearlyshowsthatreconstructionwaswell
underway.8Wassermanalsoseemstobequiteselectiveinchoosingtohighlight
townsthathadsuferedexceptionallevelsofwartimedestruction.Thisincluded
DobreMiasto(Gutstadt)which,althoughhavingsufered65%destructiondu-
ringthewar,wasintheprocessofrebuildingandevenextendingthetown,apart
fromtheareaaroundthemarketsquare.Curiously,thephotographicplatesin
Wasserman’sbookonlyshowthetowncentreareawhiletheaccompanyingcap-
tioninadvertentlyconfirmsthereconstructionprocessdescribedabove:
WhenweapproachedGutstadtfromthesouth,itlookedasifwewerecomingto
awell-preservedtown.Butourhopesweresoondashed.Allthatisstandingin
thecentreoftownisthetowerofthemedievalparishchurch.TherestofGutstadt
looksnobeter.Entireblocksofhousesaremissingł
Inaddition,hiscaptionofaphotographofthenon-Germansetlerpopula-
tionofLidzbarkWarmiński(Heilsberg)conveystheimpressionthatsuchpeople
areinterloperswithnopermanentconnectiontothetown,theregionandeven
thecountryinwhichtheynowlive:ITheappearanceofthenewinhabitantsof
Heilsberggivesusacluetotheirorigin:manyofthemareUkrainianswhowere
setledherenotlongago.’9
StungbyWasserman’sbleakandexcoriatingportrayalofitseforts,Poland’s
communistgovernmentreactedwithacampaignofcounter-propagandaba-
sedonitsownwell-wornbroadstereotypicalanti-Germanarguments.Thus,
throughpublishingverynegativereviewsofWasserman’sbook,itaimedto
convincebothPolesandforeignersthatunderGermanruletheseregionshad
actuallybeeneconomicallybackward,underdevelopedandsuferingfromdepo-
pulationandunemployment.Now,underPolishadministration,theRecovered
7
8
9
QuotedinBeataHalicka,BorderlandsBiography:Z.AnthonyKruszewskiinWartimeEurope
andPostwarAmerica,translatedbyPaulMcNamara,VerlagFerdinandSchoningh,2021,
pp.218-219.Quotationsfromthisworkareusedwiththekindpermissionoftheauthor.
Forexamplesee:htp://olsztyn.ap.gov.pl/olsztyn-na-fotografii-w-latach-1945-1989[dostęp:
22.06.2021].
Wasserman,Europe’sForgotenTerritories,captionsforphotographicplates,unpaginated.
