''Ostforschung'' (; "research on the east") is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

term dating from the 18th century for the study of the areas to the east of the core German-speaking region. At its core, Ostforschung postulated that Germans and Germany were superior to Poles and Poland, and aimed to prove this thesis. The idea of German superiority and Prussian stereotypes about Poles were the core beliefs of this field of research.The German Minority in Interwar Poland By Winson Chu page 44. October 2012 Cambridge University Press Traditional ''Ostforschung'' has fallen into disrepute with modern German historians as it often reflected Western European prejudices of the time towards

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

. The term ''Ostforschung'' itself remained in use in the names of some journals and institutes throughout the Cold War, but was replaced by more specific terms by the 1990s (e.g., the journal ''Zeitschrift für Ostforschung'', established in 1952, was renamed '' Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung'' in 1994). Since the 1990s, ''Ostforschung'' itself has become a subject of historical research. The tradition of Ostforschung is now considered discredited by German historians. ''Ostforschung'' was also the name of a multidisciplinary organization set up before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

by Nazi German chief propagandist Albert Brackmann supporting Nazi genocidal policies, ethnic cleansing and anti-semitism. Brackmann and several other Nazi and nationalist historians and anthropologists co-ordinated Nazi German research on

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

, mainly the Second Polish Republic. The research conducted by this organisation, as well as the

Ahnenerbe The Ahnenerbe (, ''ancestral heritage'') operated as a think tank in Nazi Germany between 1935 and 1945. Heinrich Himmler, the ''Reichsführer-SS'' from 1929 onwards, established it in July 1935 as an SS appendage devoted to the task of promot ...

, was instrumental in the planning of ethnic cleansing and

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

of local non-German populations in the

Generalplan Ost The ''Generalplan Ost'' (; en, Master Plan for the East), abbreviated GPO, was the Nazi German government's plan for the genocide and ethnic cleansing on a vast scale, and colonization of Central and Eastern Europe by Germans. It was to be under ...

References

Sources

* * * Józef Szłapczyński, Tadeusz Walichnowski, ''„Nauka w służbie ekspansji i rewizjonizmu (Ostforschung)”'', Interpress, Warszawa 1969. * Drożdżyński Aleksander, Zaborowski Jan, ''„Oberländer: Przez „Ostforschung”, wywiad i NSDAP do rządu NRF”'', Warszawa 1960. * ''„Organizacje przesiedleńców oraz tzw. Ostforschung – narzędzia rewizjonizmu”, „Ost-Mittel Europa” w programie odwetowym „Ostforschung” :„Bezpieczeństwo Europy a groźba militaryzmu zachodnioniemieckiego; materiały międzynarodowej konferencji naukowej Praga 23-27 maja 1961”'', Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, Warszawa 1961. * Wróblewski Seweryn Tadeusz, ''„Ewolucja „Ostforschung” w Republice Federalnej Niemiec”, 1969-1982'' (Studium niemcoznawcze Instytutu Zachodniego), Instytut Zachodni, 1986 . * ''„Deutsche Ostforschung und polnische „, Wydawnictwo: Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk'' Poznań 2002, . * Wacław Długoborski, ''„Śląsk w oczach zachodnioniemieckiej Ostforschung”, Milan Myška, „Ostforschung w NRF a dzieje Czechosłowacji”,'' Śląski Instytut Naukowy, Katowice 1962. * ''German Scholars and Ethnic Cleansing'', 1919-1945 by Michael Fahlbusch and Ingo Haar, Berghahn Books, 2005 Area studies Eastern Europe Eastern Front (World War II) Germany–Poland relations German words and phrases Science in Nazi Germany {{Nazi-stub

See also

References

Sources