„Tutaj jest bardzo zimno…”. Życie codzienne niemieckiej urzędniczki w Poznaniu opisane na widokówkach z lat 1941-1944
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Date
2009
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Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Poznaniu
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“It’s cold round here…”. Everyday life of a German office worker in Poznań as described in her postcards sent home between 1941 and 1944
Abstract
W jednej z największych w Polsce kolekcji pocztówek, znajdującej się w ikonograficznych zbiorach Biblioteki Uniwersyteckiej w Poznaniu, znalazło się prawie sto kartek od jednego nadawcy, Wery V. – niemieckiej urzędniczki Stowarzyszenia Rolników Kraju Warty (Landesbauernschaft Wartheland), do tego samego odbiorcy – jej matki zamieszkałej w Hamburgu, wysyłanych z Poznania w latach 1941-1944. Początkowo Poznań był dość atrakcyjnym i spokojnym miejscem pracy w porównaniu z często bombardowanym Hamburgiem – pensja bez podatku, niektóre artykuły reglamentowane w Rzeszy tu bez kartek dla urzędników niemieckich, trzy naloty alianckie. W miarę upływu wojny pogarszały się warunki życia i pracy Wery. Prawdopodobnie obawa przed cenzurą i autocenzurą sprawiły, że nie ujawniła swego stosunku do narodowego socjalizmu. Jej postawę wobec Polaków trudno uznać za wrogą. Czas wolny przeznaczała przede wszystkim na korespondencję, poszukiwanie artykułów trudnych do zdobycia w głębi Rzeszy, wysyłanie paczek ze zdobyczami lub praniem czy ubraniami do przerobienia. Rzadko bywała w kinie, kawiarni, teatrze i operze – jeśli tak, to często z powodu zimna. Dużo pisała o pogodzie, niewiele o swej pracy. Dopiero od sierpnia 1944 roku, kiedy zapanował chaos, informowała
o zmianach w jej biurze i o zamykaniu oddziałów zamiejscowych.Pisane przez nią widokówki były uzupełnieniem listów do matki. Lektura całej ko-respondencji pozwoliłaby na pełniejsze odtworzenie życia codziennego Wery V.w Poznaniu.
One of the largest postcard collection in Poland, housed in Poznań University Library iconographic collection, includes a set of nearly a hundred postcards written by just one person, Wera V., a German clerk working for the German administration of the occupied region in Poznań, in the Agricultural Workers’ Association (Landesbauernschaft Wartheland), and sent to the same recipient – her mother in Hamburg in the years 1941-1944. Initially, the new town , Poznań, turned out for the woman to be fairly attractive and a peaceful working place as compared to frequently bombed Hamburg, with such advantages as a tax-free salary, or certain commodities that were rationed in the Reich here obtainable for the German state service office workers without coupons, and just three air raids. However, in the course of the war, the living and working conditions for the Germans began to deteriorate considerably. Wera’s choice of law with which to comply, most likely the fear of the Nazi censorship regulations and, plainly, her self-censorship, made her not reveal her true feelings towards the National Socialism. However, her attitude towards the Poles can hardly be called hostile. Wera V. spent her free time mostly on writing letters, searching for commodities hard to obtain back in the Reich, and sending home parcels with trophies, dirty linen and clothes to be redone. She hardly ever went to the cinema, a cafe, the theatre or the opera – the reason being, more often than not, the cold she found hard to endure. She wrote much about weather, much less about her work. It was only from August 1944, when chaos started to prevail, that she started to write about the changes going on in her office and about shutting down of non-Poznań-based departments. The picture postcards written by Wera V. complemented the letters written to her mother. A closer inspection to Wera’s epistolary output could make it possible to reconstruct her everyday life in Poznań more fully.
One of the largest postcard collection in Poland, housed in Poznań University Library iconographic collection, includes a set of nearly a hundred postcards written by just one person, Wera V., a German clerk working for the German administration of the occupied region in Poznań, in the Agricultural Workers’ Association (Landesbauernschaft Wartheland), and sent to the same recipient – her mother in Hamburg in the years 1941-1944. Initially, the new town , Poznań, turned out for the woman to be fairly attractive and a peaceful working place as compared to frequently bombed Hamburg, with such advantages as a tax-free salary, or certain commodities that were rationed in the Reich here obtainable for the German state service office workers without coupons, and just three air raids. However, in the course of the war, the living and working conditions for the Germans began to deteriorate considerably. Wera’s choice of law with which to comply, most likely the fear of the Nazi censorship regulations and, plainly, her self-censorship, made her not reveal her true feelings towards the National Socialism. However, her attitude towards the Poles can hardly be called hostile. Wera V. spent her free time mostly on writing letters, searching for commodities hard to obtain back in the Reich, and sending home parcels with trophies, dirty linen and clothes to be redone. She hardly ever went to the cinema, a cafe, the theatre or the opera – the reason being, more often than not, the cold she found hard to endure. She wrote much about weather, much less about her work. It was only from August 1944, when chaos started to prevail, that she started to write about the changes going on in her office and about shutting down of non-Poznań-based departments. The picture postcards written by Wera V. complemented the letters written to her mother. A closer inspection to Wera’s epistolary output could make it possible to reconstruct her everyday life in Poznań more fully.
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Keywords
życie codzienne, everyday life, II wojna światowa, WWII, Poznań, widokówki, picture postcards
Citation
Biblioteka nr 13 (22), 2009, s. 19-54