Jabłonowski as a military symbol of the region and his meaning for L'viv

Commemoration of cities' and villages' founders is a very important part of the local identity.

On July, 12 (2012) Kosmach (near to Ivano-Frankivsk, former Slanislawow) celebrated the anniversary of the establishment of the village Kosmach . On this occasion a conference was held. I was invited to give a speech and write an essay on Jabłonowski as a military symbol of the region and his meaning for the region.

Volhynia 1943: how to teach about?

The year 2013 was the 70th anniversary of the massacres of Volhynia.

That's why the Polish Radio, the 3rd programme (Klub Trójki) organised the discussion "Volhynia 1943: how to teach about it?" ("Wołyń 1943: jak o tym uczyć?") on June, 14 (2012) I took part on it. The discussion consider the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in 1943-44, committed by Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

Monument in memory of polish citizens of Janowa Dolina in Volhynia murdered by Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) on 22-23 of April 1943 (Pomnik Polaków zmordowanych w Janowej Dolinie na Wołyniu przez UPA 22-23 kwietnia 1943), July 2007, Author: Paweł Duński

Human rights and restorative justice

Do you know what is restorative justice? It is an approach to justice that focuses on the needs of the victims and the offenders, as well as the involved community, instead of satisfying abstract legal principles or punishing the offender. ("A New Kind of Criminal Justice", Parade, October 25, 2009, p. 6.)

The methods of restorative justice are often a topic of education about and for humen rights, which implements e.g. the Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.

I took part on a 3-months-workshop of the Foundation about education about human rights (2012). The results of the workshop were very practical. The participants prepared and conducted one workshop at a self-chosen institution.

Polish Eastern Borderland in Węgliniec

Commemoration of an expulsion can help to overcome the trauma of expelled. This is the case with the Museum of the Polish Eastern Borderland in Węgliniec, which I visited.

The history of the Museum you can read and see here. It's of course a very emotional and not professional museum, but it's interesting to see and to listen what the whole equipment, documents and photos mean for the museum's founder Alfred Janicki.

Galicia and the petroleum industry

Galician poverty is a slogan from the 19th century. But not many people know that Galicia was a prosperous industry region at that time.

To get to know more about it you should read the book "Three-city in the borderland.  Truskawiec - Drohobycz - Borysław" ("Kresowe trójmiasto. Truskawiec - Drohobycz - Borysław") of Sanisław S. Nicieja. It is a popular science book which shows not very known facts about the region.

Memory places and culture of remembrance in L'viv

Remembrance culture and memory places in L'viv are more and more interesting as a research topic.

To give the students the opportunity of researches on the topic Prof. Jürgen Angelow (University Potsdam/University of the Saarland) organised a seminar on this topic in L'viv 2007 and 2012.

The topics were divided into 6 sessions:

Teaching materials to human rights

Teaching human rights is a challenge for people from different fields and institutions. That's why the Centre of Human Rights Education of the University of Teacher Education in Lucerne is organising the Human Rights Education Symposium in Lucerne.

The topic of the Symposium in 2012 was the developing of teaching materials on human rights education. I took part on following workshops:

Civil society and civic life in Poland

To support relationships between nations the knowledge of journalists should be supported.

Get to know this great initiative! Before the European Football Championship 2012 more than 20 journalists of different German media went to Warsaw, Kiew and Charkow to get to know more about the civic life in the countries and preparation to the Championship.

Monuments as a medium of remembrance

European Network Remembrance and Solidarity established in Warsaw supports since 2011 researches on genealogies of memory in Central and Eastern Europe.

It's first conference was dedicated to theories and methods. I gave there a paper on "Monuments and memory constructs in L'viv between 1867 and 1939". The programme of the conference you can download here.

Memory places of the regions

Comparisions of regionals researches and finding a broader geographical context can be also very inspiring.

So the conference „Regional memory places: Western Bohemia and Middle Germany - a comparision" (Regionale Erinnerungsorte: Westböhmen und Mitteldeutschland im europäischen Kontext) in November 2011 was for me a great possibility to see the bigger picture.

Fluctuating memory

Collective, individual, cultural or communicative memory are very well known in the science. But what is fluctuating or ambiguous memory?

I came to this conclusion in regard to my analyse of monuments in L'viv between 1867 and 1939. "Ambiguous memory" means that the memory on one person or event is differential for different society groups and even individuals.

Network of cultural and civic activists - MitOst

The Society MitOst is a living network of cultural and civic activists in Eastern and Central Europe. Every year member meet at different cities in the region. A member can be everyone, who is interested in the culture and civic life in the region.

The meetings have the name "Festival" and have different topics. E.g. the 9th Festival of MitOst took place in České Budějovice from 28.9.2011 till 2.10.2011. The topic of this MitOst - Festival was new forms of engagement. There were many people who are engaged for a balanced life.

German-Russian cooperation

German-Russian cooperation is supported on different ways.

One of the initiative is the Petersburger Dialog. It was initiated by the German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Russian president Wladimir Putin 2001 and it works till now. Since 2014 it is more and more criticized because of its political dependence.

The Petersburger Dialog consists of workgroups. Sometimes they invite to their meetings representatives of other nations.

Monuments in L'viv - 1867-1939 - a concept

Do you look for concepts of analyses on remembrance? Download this poster. 

Stipend of Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education

The Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education supports the achievements of students at Polish universities. Not only the scientific results are here important, but also the social activities of students.

More about the conditions which students should fulfiled you can read here in Polish.

For the results of my study of German language and culture I received 2007 also a scholarship. The award ceremony took place in Toruń in Februar 2007.

Internships at cultural and educational institutions

Making internship while study is very important. But you should look for the best institution for you.

I didn't think at the beginning about the culture department of Polish Embassy in Berlin, but thanks to help at the Polish Embassy I made this decision and it was the best one for me at this time.

So in November 2006 I deepened my knowledge about current Polish-German relationship from the perspective of diplomats and the Polish Foreign Ministry.  

I think practice is very important. Other internships I took part on were in July and August 2006 at German-Polish Youth Exhange and in September 2006 at the Highschool in Susz between Olsztyn and Gdańsk.

Vienna - city as museum

In October 2006 I took part on a seminar Vienna - city as museum. Fin de Siecle of Vienna.

Is the church a work of art or not?

Escape, expulsion after the World War II and its commemoration

In September 2006 I took part on German-Polish seminar about escape, expulsion after the World War II and their commemoration. We were listening to memories of Sybiracy. We had a discussion with a member of German Association of German Displaced Persons (Bund der deutschen Vertriebenen). We've visited Cedynia to watch the monument of a battle by Cedynia and to discuss about myth of Piast dynasty.

Popularisation of democratic values by the Theodor-Heuss-Kolleg

The Theodor-Heuss-Kolleg was a funding programme of Robert Bosch Foundation. This collegue supported popularisation of democratic values among young people from East Central Europe.

I was a member of the Theodor-Heuss-Kolleg from May 2005 till July 2006. The photos present the finish of the collegue in July 2006 in Berlin.

Training how to conduct a seminar

I recommend veryone to take part on trainings of every kind. Because I learnt to conduct an international seminar I took part on a training "How to conduct a seminar", which was organised by Theodor-Heuss-Kolleg of the Robert Bosch Foundation.