http://hdl.handle.net/11089/57694 2026-04-04T08:43:20Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/57713 Keeping the Memory Alive: Ukrainian Commemoration Practices in Public Spaces Amid the War with Russia in 2025 Beck, Kathrin Franziska On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, marking a dramatic escalation of the conflict that had been simmering since 2014. Russian troops advanced into Ukrainian territory from Russia, Belarus and the occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 14,200–14,400 people were killed between 14 April 2014 and 31 December 2021. Additionally, 12,500 civilians and 45,100 soldiers have been killed since the full-scale invasion, prompting efforts to commemorate those who perished in the war. This article discusses and shows images of different commemorative practices that take place in Ukraine during the ongoing war, including Independence Square in Kyiv, the Field of Mars and Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church in Lviv and the Alley of Glory in Ivano-Frankivsk. The results show many forms of commemoration, such as the installation of national flags and cubic frames displaying banners with the faces of soldiers who died due to Russian aggression. 2025-12-30T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/57712 ‘Our Folk Who Have (Not) Become Foreign...’: Political Loyalties in the Donbas During the War of 2014‒2024 (In Light of Oral History Sources) Tytarenko, Oksana The military conflict that started in the Donbas in 2014, which, in 2022, turned into a full-scale Russo-Ukrainian war, has created a specific way in which it is remembered. This article is based on more than sixty interviews with residents of the Donbas and other regions of Ukraine who fled the country in the period between 2014 and 2024. It addresses the distinctive way in which the events of 2014–2024 affected the formation and evolution of political loyalties; characterises the key factors that have influenced the circumstances of the refugees; analyses the specifics of adaptation in a new place and the practicalities of interaction with the environment; and identifies key socio-political challenges that the region may face after the war.The gathered recollections paint a complex picture of the political positioning of the Donbas populace in the context of the 2014–2024 war. Worldview attitudes formed over the years, propaganda influences from opposing sides, as well as the direct military experience of the region’s residents were crucial to the formation of different models of political loyalties. It is noteworthy that the decision to flee or to stay in the Donbas was determined by several factors, such as the physical security situation, family circumstances, opportunities for adaptation in a new place, the ability to find new accommodation and a job, fear of discrimination, political and ideological preferences, etc. Situations in which some refugees were forced to return home, to the combat zone, demonstrate a set of problems related to the lack of a consistent state policy towards this category of the population. It is emphasised that a fully representative depiction of the formation and evolution of the system of political loyalties requires that, in the future, the experiences of people who have left for Russia or Belarus and those who continue to live in the occupied territory should also be taken into account. 2025-12-30T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/57710 Use of Panzerfaust-Type Grenade Launchers by German and Soviet Soldiers during the Fighting for Pomerania in 1945 Gliniecki, Tomasz The mass use of anti-tank grenade launchers known as Panzerfausts (armoured fists) by the German Wehrmacht in the final phase of the Second World War in Europe made them an immediately formidable weapon. Faced with dramatic shortages of fuel needed for the mobility of armoured forces, as well as tungsten as a component for the production of steel plates and ammunition, new ideas were sought for fighting tanks. Thus, the combat-proven effectiveness of shaped-charge projectiles fired from a hand-held tubular launcher was exploited, together with the ease of their production and their low unit cost compared with tanks and other armoured vehicles, which they immobilised and sometimes outright destroyed. Mass training in the handling of this weapon was undertaken, and even improvised tank-destroyer units armed only with grenade launchers and equipped with bicycles were created. The successes achieved by the Germans in defensive fighting, thanks to the use of Panzerfausts, also galvanised the opponent. In the spring of 1945, the Red Army issued an order to recover captured weapons of this type and to provide instruction on their operation. Their employment in combat, however, looked different because Soviet troops readily used grenade launchers during assaults on fortified strongpoints, especially masonry structures. A specific adaptation of the Panzerfaust to fighting in urban areas was the construction of makeshift devices for firing salvos. At the same time, Soviet engineers attempted to develop their own grenade launchers with characteristics similar to the German ones, but they achieved satisfactory results only after the war. 2025-12-30T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/57709 The Influence of France on the Economic Development of the Second Polish Republic in the First Years after Regaining Independence: An Outline of the Problem Ambrochowicz-Gajownik, Anna This text aims to highlight the issue of building Polish-French economic relations in the first years after Poland regained independence. For the Polish state at that time, a key concern was securing French support in the political, military, and economic spheres. For victorious France, however, economic matters were at least as important as political issues, and perhaps even more significant in relations with Poland. This was evident when the Republic of Poland was contesting the eastern territories or asserting its rights in Silesia. Primarily, the French side — particularly entrepreneurs with influence over politicians — was interested in investing capital, which consequently translated into pressure during negotiations with the Polish government. Poland did not acquiesce to all demands; nevertheless, it was keen to finalise economic agreements and conclude a trade treaty, the signing of which was made conditional upon the implementation of the political accord and the secret military convention of 1921. Another important aspect of economic relations was the exchange of goods and the principles governing such exchanges. Commercial transactions were based chiefly on preferential customs concessions granted to the French side. The negotiations culminated in the signing of the trade treaty in 1922, which stipulated numerous benefits and privileges for the French state. 2025-12-30T00:00:00Z