Regained Territories: a term created by the propaganda of the People's Republic of Poland, it referred to the eastern and northern German territories that were incorporated into Poland as a result of the allies’ settlement in Potsdam in July 1945. The regained territories included a major part of Silesia, Lubusz Land, West Pomerania with Szczecin, East Pomerania with Gdańsk, and the south part of East Prussia, that is Warmia and Masuria. Germans, who inhabited those territories, have been displaced to the Soviet and British Zones of Occupation. In 1945, a mass migration of Poles began to the western and northern territories. By 1950, 5 million people came there, including 1,5 million of repatriates from the Soviet Union. There were many Jews among the settlers, especially in Lower Silesia. In the middle of 1946, 90,000 Jews were inhabiting that region, which was the biggest centre of Jewish settlement in Poland. Polish government started an intense propaganda campaign, which aimed to prove the Polish character of the Regained Territories: the names of towns were translated into Polish, traces of German presence were destroyed, historical bound of those territories with Poland was emphasised. At the same time, it remained uncertain whether they had belonged to Poland. In 1950 the German Democratic Republic approved the new border, while the Federal Republic of Germany did this no sooner than in 1970. After the reunification of Germany in 1990, those arrangements were confirmed.
Ziemie Odzyskane, Ziemie Zachodnie i Północne, Ziemie Nowe, Ziemie Uzyskane
The term was created within the framework of the project Zapisywanie świata żydowskiego w Polsce [recording the Jewish environment in Poland], whose author is Anka Grupińska, a well-known Polish journalist and writer, specializing in the modern history of the Polish Jews. The project, initiated in 2006 by the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, consists in recording interviews with Polish Jews from all generations.