In the 20th century no decisive event left its mark on the people of Central Europe as much as the time of the Second World War. War, death, and the separation of families were sources of suffering that had—and have—to be integrated, to be repressed, to be understood, and to be remembered. I would like to make the focus of my discussion a village, its people, and their fates and memories. The pictures you will see, uncommented, in the next half hour are being shown with the ex-press permission of the surviving villagers and their Czech friends. I am compro-mising to a certain extent the usual standards of scholarship because my mother’s family forms a part of the community about which I am reporting.
Here I want to examine two questions: How is the past of the village re-membered and how are these memories connected with the expulsion of its in-habitants and the village’s subsequent fate? And how was memory constructed after 1990, and what forms does it take today?
To establish different levels of discourse, I’d like to diferentiate beetween the usage of the name Maiersgrün as a memory-designator and Vysokà, its official contemporary name. The village was a little spot on the border between Bohemia and Bavaria, the Sudetenland and the German Reich, between the Federal Repub-lic of Germany and Czechoslovakia. As a result of the Benes decree in the year 1946, all of its 700 inhabitants, as Sudeten Germans, were forced to leave and settled for the most part in the Western zones. Over the course of the decades the buildings in the village, located as it was in a restricted border area, became di-lapidated, so that today exactly five of the former 120 houses are still standing. The village no longer exists. On the basis of this village, which has a special status due to its exposed geographical location, I would like in a case study to attempt to trace the history of German suffering and German memory up to the present day.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- I. The Village
- II. The Mutual Celebration
- III. The Ruin as a Memorial for Many
- IV. Mutually Remembered History
- V. The Continued Existence of the Community
- VI. The Leaving of the Village
- VII. The Reality Shock of 1990
- VIII. Mutual Mourning
- IX. Report about the conference
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This study examines the collective memory of the village of Maiersgrün/Vysokà in the Czech Republic, focusing on how the past is remembered in relation to the expulsion of its inhabitants and the village's subsequent fate. It explores the construction of memory after 1990 and its current forms. The study utilizes a case study approach to trace the history of German suffering and memory up to the present day.
- Collective memory and its formation in the context of displacement and loss.
- The role of physical space (the ruined church) in shaping and preserving memory.
- The interplay of German and Czech perspectives in shared remembrance.
- The evolution of mourning, reconciliation, and forgiveness within the community.
- The enduring impact of the Benes decree and its consequences.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
Chapter I: The Village introduces the village of Maiersgrün/Vysokà and its history, particularly focusing on the impact of World War II and the subsequent expulsion of its German inhabitants in 1946 under the Benes decree. The chapter establishes the two main questions guiding the study: how the past is remembered and how memory was constructed after 1990.
Chapter II: The Mutual Celebration describes a golden wedding anniversary celebration held in the ruins of the village, showcasing a joint commemoration between former inhabitants and current Czech residents. It highlights the unique nature of this event and the collaborative effort in preserving the village's ruined church as a memorial site.
Chapter III: The Ruin as a Memorial for Many details how the ruined church has become a place of remembrance, mourning, and celebration for both former residents and the local Czech population. It emphasizes the religious aspect of these commemorations and the collaborative efforts in preserving the ruin as a shared memorial.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
Collective memory, expulsion, Sudeten Germans, Benes decree, post-war trauma, reconciliation, shared memory, memorialization, ruin, Vysokà, Maiersgrün, Czech Republic, Germany.
- Quote paper
- Holger Reiner Stunz (Author), 2004, Collective Mourning, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/120482