Dissertationsprojekt: Poznań in the shadow of the Great War. Mourning and commemoration of the soldiers who died on the fronts of 1914 – 1918
The theme of the dissertation, entitled “Poznań in the shadow of the Great War. Mourning and commemoration of the soldiers who died on the fronts of 1914 – 1918”, will show the population of the city of Poznań, their attitudes and behavior in the face of mass death of the soldiers who died on the fronts of the Great War or died as a result of diseases acquired while on the field of battle. The study will embrace the citizens of Poznań, both Poles, Germans and Jews, and the death of the representatives of those ethnic groups will be the starting point of work. Further considerations will apply to what happened after soldiers death, so the roads which to families and friends, as well as civil and religious institutions the information flown, the roles of these institutions and military authorities in this process, the funeral and final commemoration of soldiers.
Despite its remoteness from the main battlefields Poznań soon began to feel the effects of the conflict which very quickly reached a size so far unknown to the peoples of Europe. The economic situation of inhabitants got worse, but the most painful sign of new times become soldiers who started to return from the fronts, maimed and disabled people, mostly very young people. Many of them were buried in Poznań, on the cemetery organized specially for them. Those who did not return to their homeland, were also remembered. They were commemorated, among others, by masses organized on the initiative of the clergy or family groups on subsequent anniversaries of the soldier’s death and the money given to charity.