‘Conflict Over Property’: Lodging in Times of Displacement, Poland 1944–1946, the Case of Zielona Góra

Abstract

This article examines housing conflicts during times of displacement in World War II and its aftermath. It looks specifically at the property experiences of eastern Poles in the western Polish town of Zielona Góra after forced displacement from the Soviet Union. It explores the intricate relationship between property and population displacement. By examining a micro-historical process at a time when property relations were in flux, we can investigate how displaced people negotiated spaces for themselves within a complicated set of realities. The article also adds to work done on state–society relationships in immediate post-World War II Poland.