scholarly journals In a Time Loop: Politics and the Ideological Significance of Monuments to Those Who Perished on Saint Anne Mountain (1934–1955, Germany/Poland)

Arts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Tomaszewicz ◽  
Joanna Majczyk
Keyword(s):  
National Socialism ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Architectural Drawings ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Surrounding Landscape ◽  
Time Loop ◽  
Second World

Polish Góra św. Anny (Saint Anne Mountain), previously German Annaberg, is one of the few places in the world where art was utilized to promote two regimes—fascist and communist. With the use of art, the refuge of pagan gods and then, Christian Saint John’s Mountain with Saint Ann’s church and a calvary site were transformed into a mausoleum of the victims of uprisings and wars—those placed by politics on opposite sides of the barricade. The “sacred” character of the mountain was appropriated in the 1930s by the fascist Thingstätte under the form of an open-air theatre with a mausoleum, erected to commemorate fallen German soldiers in the Third Silesian Uprising. After the Second World War, the same place was “sacralized” by the Monument of the Insurgents’ Deed, which replaced the German object. The aim of both of them was to commemorate those who had perished in the same armed conflicts—uprisings from the years 1919–1921, when the Poles opposed German administration of Upper Silesia. According to the assumptions of both national socialism as well as communism, the commemorative significance of both monuments was subjected to ideological messages. Both monuments were supposed to constitute not only the most important element of the place where patriotic manifestations were intended to be held, but also a kind of counterbalance for the local pilgrims’ center dedicated to the cult of Saint Anne. The aim of the paper is to present the process of transforming a Nazi monument into its communist counterpart, at the same time explaining the significance of both monuments in the context of changing political reality. This paper has not been based on one exclusive research method—historical and field studies have been conducted, together with iconographical and iconological analyses of the monuments viewed from their comparative perspective. The text relies on archive materials—documents, press releases, and projects, including architectural drawings of the monument staffage—discovered by the authors and never published before. They would connect the structure not only to the surrounding landscape but, paradoxically, to the fascist Thingstätte.

scholarly journals Architecture and Recreation as a Political Tool—Seaside Architectural Heritage of the Worker Holiday Fund (WHF) in the Era of the Polish People’s Republic (1949–1989)

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Wojciech Bal ◽  
Magdalena Czałczyńska-Podolska
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The Public ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Second World ◽  
New Facilities

The Worker Holiday Fund (WHF) was set up just after the Second World War as a state-dependent organization that arranged recreation for Polish workers under the socialist doctrine. The communist authorities turned organized recreation into a tool of indoctrination and propaganda. This research aims to characterize the seaside tourism architecture in the Polish People’s Republic (1949–1989) against the background of nationalized and organized tourism being used as a political tool, to typify the architecture and to verify the influence of politics on the development of holiday architecture in Poland. The research methodology is based on historical and interpretative studies (iconology, iconography and historiography) and field studies. The research helped distinguish four basic groups of holiday facilities: one form of adapted facilities (former villas and boarding houses) and three forms of new facilities (sanatorium-type, pavilion-type and lightweight temporary facilities, such as bungalows and cabins). The study found that each type of holiday facility was characterized by certain political significance and social impact. Gradual destruction was the fate of a significant part of WHF facilities, which, in the public awareness, are commonly associated with the past era of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL) as an “unwanted heritage”.

scholarly journals THE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW APPLICABLE IN THE NEW TYPES OF ARMED CONFLICTS

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 184-193
Author(s):  
Nicolae David Ungureanu
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
World War ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Second World

The international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts has evolved continuously since antiquity until today, its doctrinal writings pointing out during the modern period the influence that the progress of the concepts and the practices of war has had on the development of the normative conventions, especially the first and second world war, resulting in texts that are applicable even today.

Oswald Spengler and the Decline of the West

2019 ◽  
pp. 3-21
Author(s):  
David Engels
Keyword(s):  
Human Evolution ◽  
National Socialism ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
World War ◽  
The West ◽  
Racial Theory ◽  
Second World ◽  
Oswald Spengler

This chapter discusses the life and work of Oswald Spengler, whose fame is based on his The Decline of the West, a monumental historical study that endeavored to show that all human civilizations live through similar phases of evolution. Spengler also dabbled with politics and attempted, in a series of essays, to promote the idea of a conservative renaissance in Germany. The rise of National Socialism put Spengler in a situation of ideological opposition and, after he criticized the regime because of its racial theory and its populism, made him a persona non grata until his death in 1937. After the Second World War, Spengler’s elitism and expectation of a German-dominated Europe dominated the reception of his work. This somewhat masked the complexity of his thought, which prefigures such modern debates as the criticism of technology, ecological issues, interreligious questions, the rise of Asia, and prehistoric human evolution.

Spanish Views of Nazi Germany, 1933–45: A Fascist Hybridization?

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 858-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xosé M. Núñez Seixas
Keyword(s):  
National Socialism ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Nazi Germany ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
World War ◽  
Franco Regime ◽  
National Pride ◽  
Eastern Front ◽  
Second World ◽  
Material Welfare

From the early 1930s, admiration for Hitler and Nazi Germany became characteristic of Spanish fascists. They were fascinated by the image of National Socialism and its example of ‘national resurgence’. During the war, the influence of Nazi Germany among Spanish fascists, traditionalists and supporters of the emerging Franco regime increased. On their return, Spanish travellers to Nazi Germany portrayed an enthusiastic image of a new society, marked by strong national pride, economic resurgence, social solidarity and material welfare. Until the end of the Second World War, several thousand Spanish Fascists and supporters of the Franco Regime visited Nazi Germany as soldiers on their way to and from the Eastern front, as civil workers or as students. A study of the experiences of such individuals may broaden our perspective on how Nazi Germany influenced foreign visitors. What image of Nazi Germany did those visitors paint in their letters, diaries and memoirs? What was left from this experience in post-1945 Spanish memories?

scholarly journals Memorials as discursive spheres: Holocaust and Second World War iconography in public commemoration of extremist-right violence

2020 ◽  
pp. 175069802095980
Author(s):  
Barak Ben-Aroia ◽  
Tobias Ebbrecht-Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
National Socialism ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Global Memory ◽  
World War ◽  
Holocaust Memory ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Memory Culture ◽  
Politically Motivated Violence ◽  
Second World

In recent decades, the experience of non-governmental politically motivated violence became a central element of global memory culture. Motivated by several shocking attacks at the beginning of the new millennium, this commemorative culture evolved in a memory ecology, which was significantly shaped by the prosperity of global Holocaust memory. Therefore, public commemoration of politically motivated violence intersects different discursive elements, leading to multidirectional forms of memory. Based on interdisciplinary theoretical approaches, this article examines public memorials commemorating two notable cases of neo-Nazi xenophobic attacks in Germany as discursive spheres referring to the confrontation with the country’s unique past and its impact on Germany’s contemporary self-image challenged by right-wing extremism. We argue that various commemorative actors in the field adopted and appropriated Second World War and Holocaust-related iconography and terminology to shape these memory sites as instruments linking current Germany to the period of National Socialism.

Mammal studies in Uganda 1878–1980

2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Delany
Keyword(s):  
Field Studies ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
World War ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Management Techniques ◽  
Second World ◽  
First World

In the century since Emin Pasha's observations in 1878, the study of mammals in Uganda has gone through three distinct phases. Up to the First World War the main studies were through expeditions and collectors and the material they brought back to museums in Britain and America. Their work was supplemented by significant contributions from a small number of dedicated residents. The second phase, broadly between the two world wars, was largely dependent on field studies by local residents who continued to send material overseas. The last phase, following the Second World War, witnessed an enormous expansion in mammal studies. These were made possible through easier access to the country, improved facilities in Uganda, the need to develop management techniques for the large mammals and a greater desire to understand tropical faunas. Unfortunately, by the mid-1970s, due to social and economic pressures, these studies had to be greatly curtailed.

Remnants of War as a Legal Problem in the Light of the Libyan Case

1984 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 386-401
Author(s):  
Karl Josef Partsch
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Land Mines ◽  
Legal Problem ◽  
North African ◽  
World War ◽  
Canal Zone ◽  
The North ◽  
Second World

More than 30 years after the end of hostilities in the Second World War, 13 governments have confirmed the presence on their territories of large amounts of the material remnants of war, mostly land mines. They can be found in all the countries affected by the North African campaign of the Axis powers in 1940-1943, namely, Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, as well as in Malta, Norway, Poland and even Australia. Armed conflicts that have taken place at a later time, for example, those in Vietnam, the Suez Canal Zone, the Sinai and other regions in the Near East, have created similar dangers, and there is no reason to believe that present and future conflicts will be any different.

scholarly journals De oostfronttekeningen van Frans Van Immerseel

2010 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-50
Author(s):  
Frank Seberechts
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
National Socialism ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
World War ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Graphic Artist ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Important Message ◽  
Second World

De graficus Frans Van Immerseel is reeds voor de Tweede Wereldoorlog actief in het Vlaams-nationalisme. Hij sluit zich in het begin van de bezetting aan bij de Algemeene SS-Vlaanderen. Wanneer in de zomer van 1941 de Duitse troepen aan de veldtocht in de Sovjetunie beginnen, meldt hij zich als vrijwilliger voor het Vlaamsch Legioen.Van Immerseel wordt aangesteld tot oorlogsverslaggever aan het oostfront. Hij levert illustraties bij de artikels die over de veldtocht verschijnen in de collaboratiepers, zoals Volk en Staat, De SS Man en De Arbeidskameraad. Zijn tekeningen betreffen verschillende onderwerpen: het leven van de Duitse en de Vlaamse soldaten achter het front, soldaten in actie tijdens de gevechten, portretten van Vlaamse oostfrontvrijwilligers, portretten van Sovjetrussische krijgsgevangenen en schetsen van al dan niet door de oorlog getroffen gebouwen en landschappen. Zijn werk sluit nauw aan bij de visie van het nationaal-socialisme op de kunst, terwijl het voorts een belangrijke propagandistische boodschap draagt. De soldaten stralen heldhaftigheid en kracht uit, terwijl de geportretteerde Sovjetburgers uitdrukking moeten geven aan hun veronderstelde culturele en raciale inferioriteit. Meestal ondersteunen de tekeningen de bijdragen waarbij ze verschijnen, maar vele worden verschillende malen gebruikt bij telkens andere artikels.Van Immerseels werk verschijnt tot begin 1943 in de pers. Daarna valt hij in ongenade door de problemen die hij in het Vlaamsch Legioen kent en worden zijn tekeningen niet meer gepubliceerd.________The East Front drawings by Frans Van ImmerseelThe graphic artist Frans Van Immerseel was already active in Flemish Nationalism before the Second World War. At the beginning of the occupation he joined the General SS-Flanders. When the German troops started the campaign in the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941 he signed up as a volunteer for the Flemish Legion.Van Immerseel was appointed war reporter at the East Front. He produced illustrations for articles appearing about the campaign in the collaboration press, such as Volk en Staat (‘People and State’), De SS Man (‘The SS Man’) and De Arbeidskameraad (‘The Labour Comrade’). His drawings concerned various subjects: the life of the German and Flemish soldiers behind the front line, soldiers in action during battles, portraits of Flemish East Front volunteers, portraits of Soviet Russian prisoners of war and drawings of buildings and landscapes both unscathed and damaged by the war. His work followed the vision of National Socialism on art very closely and it also carried an important message of propaganda. The soldiers portrayed heroism and strength, whilst the depicted Soviet citizens were to express their supposed cultural and racial inferiority. Usually his drawings illustrated the contributions along side which they were published, but many of them were used a number of times for several different articles.The work of Van Immerseel was published until the beginning of 1943. Afterwards he fell into disfavour because of the problems he encountered in the Flemish Legion and his drawings were no longer published.

scholarly journals De snelschrijver, oorlog en collaboratie. Traumaverwerking in de 'Nota's voor een Oostakkerse cantate' van Hugo Claus

2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 309-328
Author(s):  
Aragorn Fuhrmann
Keyword(s):  
National Socialism ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
National Socialist ◽  
Eastern Front ◽  
Zijn Door ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Trauma Processing ◽  
Post War ◽  
Second World

Deze paper beoogt een nieuw licht te werpen op het vroege literaire werk van Hugo Claus, meer bepaald op De Oostakkerse gedichten (1955). Claus’ canonieke dichtbundel werd tot dusver hoofdzakelijk gelezen vanuit een klassiek structuralistisch paradigma. Dat betekent dat Claus’ gedichten steevast werden losgekoppeld van hun biografische en historische context. In dat verband opteert deze paper voor een alternatieve lezing. Uitgangspunt vormt het oorlogsverleden van de auteur: Claus was tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog lid van een nationaalsocialistische jeugdbeweging en groeide op in een milieu van collaborateurs en geradicaliseerde Vlaams-nationalisten. Nadat de schrijver dit verleden eerst probeerde te ontvluchten door naar Parijs te reizen en zich daar expliciet te profileren als een autonome en kosmopolitische kunstenaar, ging hij er vanaf 1952 toch steeds weer de confrontatie mee aan. In de zomer van dat jaar ging Claus gedurende enkele maanden op bezoek bij zijn familie in Lourdes-Oostakker. Tijdens zijn verblijf in het Oost-Vlaamse dorp en bedevaartsoord kwam hij niet alleen opnieuw in aanraking met de financiële en relationele problemen van zijn door de repressie getekende bloedverwanten, hij werd er ook geconfronteerd met een Vlaanderen dat zijn oorlogsverleden nog steeds niet kritisch had verwerkt. Lourdes-Oostakker bleek het decor te vormen van een van de vele ideologisch verre van onschuldige oostfrontherdenkingen die op dat moment op verschillende plekken in Vlaanderen werden georganiseerd. Tegen die achtergrond schreef Claus een eerste versie van zijn Oostakkerse gedichten: een scherpzinnig onderzoek naar de unheimliche parallellen tussen het nationaalsocialisme en het christelijke denken én zijn eerste, poëtische aanklacht tegen het naoorlogse, in rites en mythes verstrikte Vlaanderen.___________ The rapid-fire writer, war and collaboration. Trauma processing in Hugo Claus’s ‘Nota’s voor een Oostakkerse Cantate’ This paper aims to shed new light on Hugo Claus’s early work, in particular his De Oostakkerse gedichten (1955). Notwithstanding a few exceptions, this work has generally been analysed from a classic structuralist paradigm. Consequently, Claus’s poems have continuously been detached from their biographical and historical contexts. To address this issue, this paper will propose an alternative approach. It will stress the prevalence of Claus’s wartime experiences, when, in a context of collaborating and radicalized Flemish nationalists, he became a member of a National-Socialist youth organisation. After first discarding his wartime upbringing by travelling to Paris and proclaiming to be an autonomous and cosmopolitan artist, Claus would start to confront his past during the summer of 1952, when he visited his family in Lourdes-Oostakker for a couple of months. During this time, Claus would not only encounter destitute family members who were affected by the post-war repression, but also be struck by the fact that Flanders had still not critically addressed its role and involvement in the Second World War. Moreover, Lourdes-Oostakker was one of many sites in Flanders that commemorated those that had fought at the eastern front during the war in a highly partisan manner. It is in these circumstances that Claus would write his initial version of the De Oostakkerse gedichten, constituting an astute examination of the disquieting parallels beween National Socialism and Christian rationale as well as his first, poetical charge against the rites and myths that marked post-war Flanders.

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