Polish and German resettlers from Bukovina

The aim of this research project, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Bukovina Institute at the University of Augsburg, was to explore German-Polish relations in Bukovina and the (forced) migration from Bukovina across different historical periods. The starting point was the observation that close contacts between the two groups are repeatedly mentioned in life stories (both German- and Polish-speaking), but have never before been systematically investigated by researchers. This research project built on this by posing a series of questions: How do Germans and Poles describe inter-ethnic relations in Bukovina prior to 1940? What is the shared heritage? What do German Bukovinians say about their time in occupied Poland? How did the experiences of resettlement, violence and the division of Europe during the Cold War affect their life stories? How similar are the memories of Bukovina, its culture and traditions, which are cherished today in both diaspora communities?

To illustrate the coexistence of Germans and Poles in Bukovina, the following objectives were set: 1.) to compile an overview of existing collections of interviews on Bukovina in Germany and Poland, 2.) to conduct and academically evaluate further interviews with Bukovina Germans who maintained contacts with western Poland after the Second World War, and with Bukovina Poles who maintained contacts with Germany, 3.) to publish the research findings and make them available to the German and Polish academic communities by hosting the interview overview at the Bukovina Institute at the University of Augsburg for secondary use.

We are making the overview of oral history interviews with Germans and Poles from Bukovina, compiled as part of the project, available here for further research.