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The Past Returns to Gdansk

The Past Returns to Gdańsk

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BBC Radio 4 - The Past Returns to Gdańsk

Michael Segalov traces his Jewish roots in Gdańsk and the politicisation of Poland's past.

Michael Segalov traces the story of his Jewish grandfather, who fled Gdańsk before World War Two. But why is this history so politically fraught in Poland today?

Journalist Michael Segalov traces the story of his Jewish grandfather, who fled Gdańsk before World War Two. Should he reclaim his own lost citizenship? And why is this history so politically fraught in Poland today?

Michael’s grandfather, Oskar, returned home from school one day in 1937 to be told that the family were leaving Gdańsk (then Danzig). His parents told him they were going away for a wedding, but in fact they were fleeing the growing Nazi threat. By the end of the war, the Jewish community of the city had been completely destroyed and Oskar never saw many of his friends and family again. 

Over 80 years later, Oskar died a proud British citizen, having never fully opened up to Michael about this traumatic period in his life. Now, Michael heads to Gdańsk to investigate his family’s past and to think about claiming citizenship. But he quickly learns that the past is far from dead in Poland.

Pawel Machcewicz, the founder of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, explains why he was forced out. Michal Samet, leader of the Jewish community in the city, describes recent antisemitic attacks and the fear that history is repeating itself. Ruth Wodak, expert on the far-right, analyses the role that national memory plays in the politics of the present across Europe. Donna Swarthout and Francois Guesnet explore complex questions of citizenship and live-wire history.

Producer: Dave Anderson
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4

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