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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur

@agatumilowicz.bsky.social

1.9K followers 1.5K following 830 posts

Scholar & Writer ✍🏻 Ph.D. NYU Comparative Literature I write on archive, nature, memory, and layers of Polish, Jewish and German heritage in my native Lower Silesia. Words in The Brooklyn Rail, Triangle House Review, CEU Review of Books, Apofenie, etc

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Oct 12

I am part of the 2nd generation born in the so-called "Recovered Territories"– formerly German lands that are now part of Poland.
In the spirit of Lower Silesian pride, I'd like to give you an idea of what it means to live surrounded by traces of a foreign population.
🧵🗃️

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · 6d

Not sure about successful, hahaha, but at least, happy to be spreading some of my exciting finds and thoughts. Thank you!

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · 6d

Thank you. Will try to go back to it, as much as I can!

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · 6d

♥️♥️♥️ thank you!

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · 6d

Thank you, Doug!

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · 7d

Hiii there! It’s been a while. Just wanted to say I’ve been busy writing and putting my research out to public differently. Yesterday I had a pleasure to present a paper in my hometown, and next week I will take part in a debate in Warsaw. But if you miss some Lower Silesian posts, let me know!💛🖤

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Sep 4

So many emotions in one face 🤣

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 31

A town that is now called Yuratishki in Belarus.

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 31

It’s always weirdly moving for me to depart or arrive at this train station. It’s where my grandparents and great-grandma got off exactly 80 years ago, to restart their lives in the shapeshifting postwar Poland. Seeing this sign, the first thing they must have seen, was especially eerie.

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 29

🤣🤣🤣

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 29

How many dust particles are you away from Copernicus? Well.
In this episode of “crazy traces in the attics”, let me present a hanger. It taught me about Moritz Leiser’s late 19th century department store in Toruń. Apparently, it was located in a building owned in the past by…Copernicus’ parents.

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 29

Thanks 🥰 I was taking a summer break.

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 29

Filing this under “attic idiosyncrasies of Lubuskie”

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 29

Thank you! And thank you for sharing. This story of loss is then somewhat forever embedded in us, the descendants, isn’t it.

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 29

Prewar tiles, layers and years of paint peeling off - of course I got excited.

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 27

Thank you so much ♥️♥️♥️

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 26

Sto lat plus VAT 🥲

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 26

Thank you!!! ♥️

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 26

We actually had to sing something else, because otherwise it would’ve been awkward 😅

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 26

He did it!
My awesome grandpa turned 100 today!

He got congratulatory letters from the Polish Prime minister, Lower Silesian Voivode, a visit from the city Mayor, and he’s happy as a clam!

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 25

There was more, of course.

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 25

Good morning from an early 20th century hike, I suppose. Yet another glitch in the space-time continuum.

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 18

Happy to report my hometown embraced its German past - at least on postcards.

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 18

Sure thing, it’s just that there are/were so many layers of stories there, I would at least want to give them some justice. I did write an essay about it once (short, old but somewhat sweet, I hope)➡️ culture.pl/en/article/i...

If Attics Could Talk: The Misplaced Objects of Displaced People

The attics of the Lower Silesia tell a multitude of peculiar and complex stories. Even though they often look pretty ordinary, the objects they hold in a dusty embrace tend to form unlikely alliances....

culture.pl

Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 11

Oh gosh…so here’s the thing, I’m writing a book now (in Polish) on women & layers of history/memory in the „Recovered Territories”. If I was to write about my attic (which I could do in English, provided I find a publisher 🤣) that would mean I need to read through all the letters I found up there…

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Agata Tumiłowicz-Mazur @agatumilowicz.bsky.social · Aug 11

Took a break from bluesky to clear my head but now, going through the archive left on my attic, I can’t help but share these stamps I found: the big ones from 1946 portray the WWII destruction of Warsaw, the small ones are commemorating the 1948 Exhibition of the Recovered Territories. Nerdy finds!

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