Elżbieta Trela-Mazur (born 1947) is a Polish historian, author, Doctor of Humanities in contemporary history, and Professor in the Department of International Relations at Opole University, specializing in political history of modern world with emphasis on the

history of Germany The concept of Germany as a distinct region in Central Europe can be traced to Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as ''Germania'', thus distinguishing it from Gaul. The victory of the Cherusci, Germanic tribes ...

, Russia and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

;

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public s ...

, Sovietization of the Eastern Borderlands, Polish diaspora (Polonia) in Europe and elsewhere, as well as Central and Eastern Europe in general.

Professional career

In 1973–89 Trela-Mazur worked at the WSP Institute of History (''Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna'') in

Opole Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...

, and in 1990–2004 at the '' Akademia Świętokrzyska'' in

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

, as well as in Brussels (1998-2003). Since 2004 she has served at the Opole University Institute of Political Science. Trela-Mazur received her degree of Doctor of Humanities in 1979 for the work ''Education among Polish children in the Soviet Union in the years 1941-1946''; awarded First Prize in Doctoral Thesis for the year 1979 by the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Technology. Trela-Mazur obtained her post-doctoral degree in 1999 at the University of Opole for dissertation titled ''Sovietization of education in eastern Lesser Poland under Soviet occupation from 1939 to 1941''. The work earned Trela-Mazur an Achievement Award from WSP. In her scientific and archival research into history of Polish education in the eastern part of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

she travelled to Leningrad in 1981 and to Lviv in 1996. Trela-Mazur wrote over a dozen articles on the fate of the Polish community in Western Europe as well, following the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1989.

''Powojenne losy''

Trela-Mazur is the author of a compendium of postwar history of Polish

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

from the eastern territories of Poland (known as

Kresy Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with ...

), which were incorporated into the Soviet Union by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The book, ''Powojenne losy inteligencjii kresowej'' (''Postwar History of the Kresy Intelligentsia''), is a result of conference held in November 2005 in

, in which 16 notable writers and academics participated. The monograph, composed of articles resulting from their research, is focused on specific regions of

, including Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939), Polesie Voivodeship, and Wołyń Voivodeship (1921–39). Apparently, the most notable paradox of the flight and expulsion of Poles from the Kresy

macroregion A macroregion is a geopolitical subdivision that encompasses several traditionally or politically defined regions or countries. The meaning may vary, with the common denominator being cultural, economical, historical or social similarity within a ma ...

was the fact that following border shift, the eastern spirit was revived mainly in the westernmost part of new Poland. Contributing writers included S. Czerkas, J. Duda, E. Dworzak, A. Guzik, A. Hanich, P. Harupa, J. Hickiewicz, A. Hlebowicz, H. Stroński, Stanisław Vincenz, A. Wierciński, A. Wolny, and Elżbieta Trela-Mazur.

Books

* Elżbieta Trela-Mazur, ''Polskie placówki oświatowe i wychowawcze w Związku Radzieckim w latach 1943-1946 : liczebność i rozmieszczenie'' (book), 5 editions, 1981, * Elżbieta Trela-Mazur, ''Edukacja dzieci polskich w Związku Radzieckim w latach 1941-1946'' (book), 5 editions, 1983, * Elżbieta Trela-Mazur,
Sowietyzacja oświaty w Małopolsce Wschodniej pod radziecką okupacją 1939-1941
' (book), 3 editions, 1998 in Polish and in Russian translation, * Elżbieta Trela-Mazur (with) Maria Kalczyńska & Krystyna Rostocka, ''Kresowianie na śląsku opolskim / Eastern borderland expatriates in Opole Silesia'' (book), 2 editions, 2011, * Elżbieta Trela-Mazur, ''Powojenne losy inteligencji kresowej : materiały z konferencji naukowej, Opole 18-19 listopada 2005 roku'' (book), 1 edition, 2007, Paweł Należniak, Stanisław Sochaniewicz, Danuta Trylska-Siekańska
Cracovia Leopolis - historia i kultura Lwowa oraz Małopolski Wschodniej
''Powojenne losy inteligencji kresowej'' by Elżbieta Trela-Mazur (section: reviews). * Elżbieta Trela-Mazur, ''Problemy bezpieczeństwa współczesnego świata'' (book), 2 editions, 2009, * Elżbieta Trela-Mazur, ''Małopolska Wschodnia po 17 września 1939 roku : sowietyzacja - wybrane zagadnienia'' (book), 1 edition, 1998, WorldCat Identities
Trela-Mazur, Elżbieta
at WorldCat.org

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trela-Mazur, Elzbieta 1947 births Living people 20th-century Polish historians Polish women historians 21st-century Polish historians Academic staff of the University of Opole