“The Miracle on the Oder”

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the impact of the policy of détente in the 1970s on the development of the German-Polish borderland and on grassroots cooperation. Opening the border for non-visa and non-passport traffic on 1 January 1972 was of great importance to mutual relations between the residents of the border regions. In the first period, German citizens used the opened border mainly for traveling to the so-called native land in order to look at their former households and houses, to “one more time cover the way back home from school.” The Polish, in turn, started shopping, mainly for children’s goods and food. It soon turned out that the German Democratic Republic had not been prepared for such a large number of Polish customers. Because of this conflicts arose and new prejudices appeared. Even so, for the first time since the war had ended the open border enabled direct contacts. New acquaintances were made. The number of Polish-German marriages significantly increased. Based on archive sources and written memoirs as well as narrative interviews this paper will investigate what influence this period had on the Polish-German relations in the border regions and how it is reflected in the memories of the border area residents.