Emotions under Extreme Conditions: Emotional Worlds in Poland under German Occupation, 1939-1945

• Applicant: Dr. Katarzyna Woniak
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 448792852

It is main aim of the project to analyse emotional situation of the People in Poland under the German occupation during World War II. This topic is chosen, because the historical research the history of occupation was not focussed on the emotional and biographical perspective yet. The main thesis of this research is, that the inhabitants of occupied Poland reacted on the foreign rule in different ways and developed specific methods of approach, which were connected to their individual situation. The project shall examine, under which political and social circumstances specific emotions occurred and which reactions resulted out of it. The sources are mainly based on private correspondences. Therein individual forms of mental reflexion of the occupation are echoed and it is possible to look on the various emotions out of a contemporary perspective. Up to now the correspondences nearly had not played a bigger role in the emotional history analyses yet. There is to expect a deeper view into the different societies under the NS-occupation in the years 1939-1945 by a comprehensive research on these emotions. Based on the concept of the medievalist Barbara H. Rosenwein, the society of occupied Poland during this period can be understood as an "emotional community". In this way an emotional history analyse makes it possible to attain new findings about the time of occupation.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France, Poland
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Johann Chapoutot; Professor Dr. Jerzy Kochanowski; Dr. Stephan Stach