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In the twilight of and right after World War II millions of Germans were expelled from areas initially called the Recovered Territories, and later – the Western and Northern Lands in Poland. This article focuses on the property left behind by Germans. It investigates the experiences of the Poles who directly and actively took part in the practices of appropriation of German objects. The analysis is based on memoirs submitted to the contest for diaries by settlers in the Recovered Territories that was organised by the Western Institute in Poznań in December 1956. Through the analysis of the testimonies, this paper aims to explore the constellation of meanings attributed to taking over of German property by actors who directly participated in those practices, and the meanings according to which looting functioned in daily experience after the war. It argues that the internal resistance against loot is weaker than against ordinary theft because the objects are taken out of the context of the social relations in which they functioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the specific political and economic situation, in the period immediately after World War II Poland was characterized by a low standard of living, difficulties in obtaining supplies of basic products, limited opportunities to travel abroad and the arrival of foreign aid packages which fueled consumer desires. This paper explores how clothes were used and valued at a time of shortage, and particularly the way that the bazaar was seen as “a seedbed of fashion and elegance.” This research explores the Polish bazaars as a manifestation of Elaine Freedgood’s concept of “thing culture,” contrasted with “commodity culture” in herThe Ideas in Things(2006). Using three different examples from diverse parts of post-war Poland, the paper explores how people experienced the “thingness” of clothes in a period of extreme hardship. Even in times of austerity, clothes were much more than simple commodities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]