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06.10.2023

Haren/Maczków visited by the IPN representatives

Haren/Maczków visited by the IPN representatives -- 5-6 October 2023
Haren/Maczków visited by the IPN representatives -- 5-6 October 2023
Haren/Maczków visited by the IPN representatives -- 5-6 October 2023
Haren/Maczków visited by the IPN representatives -- 5-6 October 2023
Haren/Maczków visited by the IPN representatives -- 5-6 October 2023
Haren/Maczków visited by the IPN representatives -- 5-6 October 2023
Haren/Maczków visited by the IPN representatives -- 5-6 October 2023
Haren/Maczków visited by the IPN representatives -- 5-6 October 2023

On 5–6 October, a delegation of the Institute of National Remembrance headed by the Achive Deputy Director Mariusz Zulawnik, Ph.D. visited the "Haren/Maczków 45/48" Documentation Center in the region of Lower Saxony in Germany. The delegation also included Dorota Lewsza, Ph.D., head of the Division of Couteracting Defamatory Statements at the IPN Office of International Cooperation, Janusz Piwowar, head of the Center for Information on the Victims of World War II in the IPN Archives and Miroslaw Surdej, Ph.D. from the IPN Historical Research Office IPN Branch in Rzeszów.

Representatives of the IPN toured the Documentation Center – the archives and exhibition, and learned about the electronic database. They also met with the Director of the Documentation Center Prof. Rüdiger Ritter to establish cooperation in the archival, educational and scientific fields. During another meeting with the Mayor of Haren, Markus Honnigfort, the IPN representatives presented the mission of the Institute and discussed ongoing projects: Trails of Hope. The Odyssey of Freedom, the Center for Information on the Victims of World War II and the Archive Full of Remembrance.

The IPN delegation visited the memorial pavilion at the site of the former Oberlangen German concentration camp, as well as the Groß-Fullen cemetery, where Polish residents of Maczków are buried.  In addition, the Institute's representatives visited sites related to the Maczkow residents of the Emsland district in the years 1945–1948.

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The "Haren/Maczkow 45/48" Documentation Center was opened on 28 April 2023. It operates as part of the City Museum dedicated to documenting the history of the city of Haren (Ems) focusing on the years 1945–1948. During this period, the city was called Maczków (in honor of Gen. Stanislaw Maczek) and, together with the surrounding areas (Emsland), was a Polish enclave in the British occupation zone. About 1,000 Germans were evacuated from the town, and nearly 5,000 Poles were settled in their place. Maczków was supervised by soldiers from General Maczek's 1st Armored Division and General Sosabowski's 1st Independent Parachute Brigade. Polish institutions such as schools, the People's University, a theater, a cinema, a library with a reading room operated in Maczków. In addition, two Polish newspapers were published there.


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