If Archaeology is Not Just About the Past. The Landscape of the KL Plaszow Memorial

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23858/APa61.2023.3201

Keywords:

Poland, Germany, Second World War, Nazi, Plaszow camp, landscape, materiality

Abstract

In the years 2016–2019, interdisciplinary research was carried out related to the German Nazi concentration camp KL Plaszow. Its key component was non-invasive and invasive archaeological works. They resulted in uncovering thousands of artefacts and the documentation of the material heritage related to the camp, which has been preserved to this day in the local landscape. The discoveries made were also a trigger for broader reflection and investment activities. The results bring new insight into the role and meaning of the past, present and future of the landscape of KL Plaszow. Such a landscape ties the dead and the living, various people with their objects and comprises the legacy of unimaginable events during the Second World War.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bernbeck, R. and Pollock, S. 2018. Quotidian and Transgressive Practices in Nazi Forced Labour Camps: The Role of Objects. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 22(3): 454–471. doi.org/10.1007/s10761-017-0434-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-017-0434-1

Bieberstein, M. 1983. Zagłada Żydów w Krakowie. Kraków.

Blumental, N., Kermisz, I., Borwicz, M. and Wulf, J. (eds). 1947. Proces ludobójcy Amona Goetha przed Najwyższym Trybunałem Narodowym. Kraków–Łódź–Warszawa.

Carr, G. 2018. The Small Things of Life and Death: an Exploration of Value and Meaning in the Material Culture of Nazi Camps. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 22: 531–552. doi.org/10.1007/s10761-017-0435-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-017-0435-0

Charlesworth, A. and Addis, M. 2002. Memorialization and the Ecological Landscapes of Holocaust Sites: The Cases of Plaszow and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Landscape Research 27(3): 229–251. doi.org/10.1080/01426390220149502 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01426390220149502

Gryglewski, E. 2018. Gedenkstättenpädegogik – wybrane zagadnienia teoretyczne i metodologiczne. In T. Kranz (ed.), Pedagogika pamięci. O teorii i praktyce edukacji w muzeach martyrologicznych, 67–85. Lublin.

Drozdzewski, D. 2012. Knowing (or not) about Katyń: The Silencing and Surfacing of Public Memory. Space and Polity 16(3): 303–319. doi.org/10.1080/13562576.2012.733570 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562576.2012.733570

Gilead, I., Haimi, N. and Mazurek, W. 2009. Excavating Nazi Extermination Centers. Present Past 1: 10–31. dx.doi.org/10.5334/pp.12 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/pp.12

Karski, K. 2019. KL Plaszow. Archeologia miejsca pamięci (=KL Plaszow. The Archaeology of memorial site). Kraków

Karski, K. 2020. KL Plaszow. Archeological Guide. Kraków.

Karski, K. 2021. Archeologia nadmiaru. Podsumowanie wyników badań archeologicznych KL Plaszow z lat 2016–2019. Zeszyty Naukowe Muzeum Historycznego Miasta Krakowa 38: 41–68. doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2020.02

Karski, K., Różycki, S. and Schwarz, A. 2018. Memories of Recent Past. Objectives and Results of Non-invasive Archaeological Research Project at KL Plaszow Memorial Site. Analecta Archaeologica Ressoviensis 12: 221–246. doi.org/10.15584/anarres.2017.12.13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15584/anarres.2017.12.13

Karski, K. and Kulig, R. 2020. Szary Dom w kontekście badań interdyscyplinarnych. Krzysztofory. Zeszyty Naukowe Muzeum Historycznego Miasta Krakowa 38: 87–108. doi.org/10.32030/KRZY.2020.04

Karski, K. and Kobiałka, D. 2021. Archaeology in the Shadow of Schindler’s List. Discovering the Materiality of Plaszow Camp. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology 8(1): 89–111. doi.org/10.1558/jca.43381 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.43381

Kobiałka, D. 2014. Let Heritage Die! The Ruins of Trams at Depot no. 5 in Wrocław, Poland. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology 1(2): 351–368. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.v1i2.18438

Kobiałka, D. 2022. The Devil Burns Gold There – the Heritage of Nazi Germany Crimes in Death Valley, Chojnice, Poland. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 26: 359–378. doi.org/10.1007/s10761-021-00604-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-021-00604-9

Kobiałka, D., Pawleta, M., Karski, K., Kostyrko, M., Lokś, A., Rezler-Wasielewska, V., Stanek, P., Czerner, A., Góra, E., Michalski, M., Tomczak, S., Kowalczyk Z., Ważyński, S. and Wroniecki, P. 2023. Camp Archaeology at the Site of National Remembrance in Łambinowice (Formely Lamsdorf), Poland. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 27: 1035–1067. doi.org/10.1007/s10761-023-00700-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-023-00700-y

Kocik, K. 2017. Płaszów. Próby upamiętnienia (1945–2007). In. I. Kraśnicka-Wilk (ed.), Płaszów odkrywanie, 97–141. Kraków.

Kola, A. 2000. Bełżec, The Nazi camp for Jews in the light of archaeological sources. Excavations 1997–1999. Warsaw–Washington.

Kostyrko, M. and Kobiałka, D. 2020. Small and Large Heritage of the Great War: An Archaeology of a Prisoner of War Camp in Tuchola, Poland. Landscape Research 45(5): 583–600. doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2020.1736533 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2020.1736533

Kotarba, R. 2009. Niemiecki obóz w Płaszowie (1942–1945). Warszawa–Kraków.

Kranz, T. 2017. Krajobrazy pamięci – podmioty kultury – obiekty turystyczne – przestrzenie edukacji. O współczesnych znaczeniach muzeów w poobozowych miejscach poobozowych. In T. Kranz (ed.), Muzea w poobozowych miejscach pamięci. Tożsamość, znaczenia, funkcje, 19–68. Lublin.

Owoc, T. and Karski, K. 2018. ‘Fundamenty pamięci’. O doświadczeniu przestrzeni i pozostałości po byłym obozie koncentracyjnym w miejscu pamięci KL Plaszow. Ochrona Dziedzictwa Kulturowego 6: 135–148. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35784/odk.880

Shanks, M. 1992. Experiencing the Past. On the Character of Archaeology. London.

Sturdy Colls, C. 2015. Holocaust Archaeologies: Approaches and Future Directions. New York. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10641-0

Sturdy Colls, C. and Brainthwaite, M. 2018. “This is Proof”? Forensic Evidence and Ambiguous Material Culture at Treblinka Extermination Camp. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 22(3): 430–453. doi.org/10.1007/s10761-017-0432-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-017-0432-3

Wysok, W. 2018. Teoretyczne założenia pedagogiki pamięci. Wokół podstawowych definicji i pojęć. In T. Kranz (ed.), Pedagogika pamięci. O teorii i praktyce edukacji w muzeach martyrologicznych, 87–125. Lublin.

Downloads

Published

2023-12-31

How to Cite

Karski, K., & Kobiałka, D. (2023). If Archaeology is Not Just About the Past. The Landscape of the KL Plaszow Memorial. Archaeologia Polona, 61, 219–237. https://doi.org/10.23858/APa61.2023.3201