ABSTRACT

In the twilight of and right after World War II millions of Germans were expelled from areas initially called the Recovered Territories, and later – the Western and Northern Lands in Poland. This article focuses on the property left behind by Germans. It investigates the experiences of the Poles who directly and actively took part in the practices of appropriation of German objects. The analysis is based on memoirs submitted to the contest for diaries by settlers in the Recovered Territories that was organised by the Western Institute in Poznań in December 1956. Through the analysis of the testimonies, this paper aims to explore the constellation of meanings attributed to taking over of German property by actors who directly participated in those practices, and the meanings according to which looting functioned in daily experience after the war. It argues that the internal resistance against loot is weaker than against ordinary theft because the objects are taken out of the context of the social relations in which they functioned.

摘要

在第二次世界大战的黄昏和刚刚结束时，数百万德国人被驱逐出最初称为收复领土的地区，后来又称为波兰的西部和北部地区。本文重点介绍德国人留下的财产。它调查了波兰人的经历，他们直接和积极地参与了德国物品的挪用实践。该分析基于 1956 年 12 月由波兹南西部研究所组织的收复领土定居者日记竞赛提交的回忆录。直接参与这些做法的行为者对德国财产的支配，以及战后掠夺在日常经验中发挥作用的意义。