Violetta Rezler-Wasielewska

The Site of National Remembrance in Łambinowice, Poland, is a complex of former prisoner of war (PoW) and resettlement camps that functioned in the vicinity of the village from the time of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-1871 until 1946. This article focuses on the material remains and landscape transformations related to the functioning of Stalag 318/VIII F (344) Lamsdorf. The authors present the applied methodology of the “Science for society, society for science at the Site of National Remembrance in Łambinowice” project, in which available archival sources and obtained archaeological data complement each other. Such a holistic approach has allowed conducting a more complete inventory and mapping of what has remained of Stalag 318/VIII F (344) Lamsdorf until the present day.

‘Lamsdorf/Łambinowice: an archaeology of memory’ is an interdisciplinary project that uses archaeological research methods and tools to locate unknown and unmarked graves of prisoners of war (PoW) and civilians related to the functioning of the German camp Stalag VIII B (344) Lamsdorf in the years 1939–1945.

Since June 2022, the Central Museum of Prisoners-of-War (Poland) has been carrying out a multidisciplinary research project entitled “Science for Society, Society for Science at the Site of National Remembrance in Łambinowice.” The aim of this article is to discuss the preliminary results of selected non-invasive and invasive archaeological and ethnographic research realized during the first months of the field activities. Additionally, they show the value of so-called community archaeology in which the participation of local inhabitants in field research is an important element of applied methodology.