Odřanie Novým Polskem od Slezska k moři

An essential guidebook for a trip to the Baltic Sea, but also a little beyond the Polish-Czech border. A story about the complicated post-war relationship with the new country and one's own identity, which we seem to know from the Czech Sudetenland. Zbigniew Rokita asks questions that have remained unspoken for decades.

One stroke of a pen moved post-war Poland two hundred kilometers west. That pen was held by Stalin, and the land had previously belonged to the German Reich. The former Polish territories in the east became part of the Soviet Union. The border shifted, and people had to follow it—both Germans and Poles. The latter suddenly found themselves in houses where someone else might still have lunch cooked on the table. Photos of a strange family hung on the walls. And the architecture had a different character. Red bricks everywhere. But how long would the border last? No one knew, and it is difficult to settle into a temporary home when communist propaganda is relentless, coming up with slogans about regained territories, stories about ancient kings and their claims. The situation is even more complicated in Silesia, where the national borders were much less distinct. At school, you hear about the Polish struggle for freedom against German oppression, but your grandfather may have had to join the Wehrmacht, and your grandmother spoke a language that was closest to German. How can you make sense of it all?

If you are heading to Hanseatic Gdańsk, port Szczecin, the long sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea, or exploring the towns of Lower Silesia and post-industrial Katowice, pack a book by Polish reporter Zbigniew Rokita, a native of Gliwice in Silesia. You will understand how this part of Poland differs from the central part. You will understand the difference between Odrzanie and Vislanie – because these two rivers, the Oder and the Vistula, symbolically separate two countries in one.

Published in the Prokletí reportéři (Cursed Reporters) series, translated by Martin Veselka.