The Center for Historical Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Berlin has published a new book - "Protagonist in the Shadow. Enno Meyer in the Process of Reconciliation of Germans with Poles and Jews / Protagonista w cieniu. Enno Meyer w procesie pojednania Niemców z Polakami i Żydami", edited by academic Burkhard Olschowsky. This is a Polish translation of the anthology, which was published in the German original by De Gruyter publishing house in 2019. This book is the first volume in the series "Breakthroughs and People of Dialogue. From the history of Polish-German mutual understanding / Przełomy i ludzie dialogu. Z historii polsko-niemieckiego porozumienia", published by the Historical Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The people presented in the book - both well-known and less frequently noted in wider public debates - made a significant contribution to Polish-German mutual understanding in the 20th century. One of the scientific editors of the series is Dr. Robert Żurek, managing director of the Krzyżowa Foundation.
„Protagonista w cieniu" zawiera wspomnienia o Enno Meyerze (1913–1996), niemieckim historyku i nauczycielu gimnazjalnym z Oldenburga. Meyer, który w czasie II wojny światowej służył w Wehrmachcie, od lat 50. poświęcił się pojednaniu Niemców z Polakami i Żydami. Skoncentrował się na obszarze, który znał najlepiej – kształtowaniu młodzieży w duchu otwartości i racjonalizmu. Jego 47 tez dotyczących nauczania polsko-niemieckiej historii stało się istotnym wstępem do powojennego dialogu podręcznikowego i utorowało drogę do działalności Wspólnej Polsko-Niemieckiej Komisji Podręcznikowej Historyków i Geografów.
The book provides a fascinating insight into the atmosphere of post-war relations between Germans and Poles, the complexity of German attitudes to the Nazi past, and Meyer's persistence in his mission, which was met with both favour and obstruction in West Germany and the GDR, as well as in the People's Republic of Poland.
The digital version of the book in PDF format (soon also in MOBI and EPUB formats) is available free of charge at: www.publikacje.pan.pl
In the next two volumes of the series Breakthroughs and People of Dialogue. From the history of Polish-German mutual understanding, you will find Markus Meckel's memoirs translated into Polish and Władysław Bartoszewski's speeches translated into German.
The series Breakthroughs and People of Dialogue. From the history of Polish-German mutual understanding [Przełomy i ludzie dialogu. Z historii polsko-niemieckiego porozumienia] volume 1
Series editors: Prof. John Connelly, Dr. Maciej Gugała, Prof. Igor Kąkolewski, Dr. Burkhard Olschowsky, Dr. Dominik Pick, Prof. Maren Röger, Dr. Magdalena Saryusz-Wolska, Dr. Marcin Wiatr, Dr. Robert Żurek
