Memories (Un)told – Identity Construction Through Practices of Transgenerational Storytelling

Abstract

The memories of the end of World War II play a significant role among the German minority in Poland. These memories are not only important for the generation who experienced that time, but they also influence the following generations to whom these memories were passed onto by their families. This article presents the end of World War II from the perspective of the young generation of the German minority in Opole and its surroundings, who were born in the 1980s and 1990s and whose narrative resembles the narrative of German post-war history. Both narratives circulate in family memories, and each generation developed a characteristic approach to the culture of remembrance based on the different political systems after 1945. Therefore, the war generation that grew up in communist Poland, also known as the ‘lost generation’, and the generation of grandchildren living in democratic Poland have to face family memories together. At the same time, it becomes clear how, in what form and whether or not the memories are spoken about and what emotional statements they contain about the time immediately after World War II. The freedom of today's generation of grandchildren provides access to the many years of untold experiences of their grandparents and breaks their silence. This also affects the way a minority identity is created among the young members of the minority and influences their place between a minority and a majority.