Themenführung: Der Treck – Fotografien einer Flucht 1945

The special exhibition “The Trek – Photographs of Displacement 1945” documents the journey of 350 people from Lübchen (today Lubów) in Lower Silesia in January 1945 as they fled the advancing Red Army.

No other refugee trek in 1945 is as extensively documented – in part because taking photos of refugee movements was officially prohibited. The approximately 140 photographs in this exhibition were taken by professional photographer Hanns Tschira and his assistant Martha Maria Schmackeit. Tschira’s agency, "Tschira’s Bilderdienst/Eurofot," had been working since 1943 on behalf of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, which granted him special permissions.

The photographs provide insight into the harsh realities of life in displacement: traveling on foot and in horse-drawn carts, in the middle of winter, with only few possessions. They raise important questions: Who fled? Who decided on the route and timing? What role did forced laborers play? How were supplies organized? The exhibition also highlights the differences in individual experiences of flight: this particular trek escaped with relatively few casualties – others ended in tragedy.

Selected photographs from the special exhibition provide an opportunity for joint reflection: What motifs did Hanns Tschira choose? To what extent can universal experiences of displacement be recognized? What do the pictures not show?

And what happened next? What became of the Germans who were once forced to flee their homeland, and of the village of Lübchen, which has been called Lubów for three generations? New photographs taken by Thomas Meyer set out to search for traces of the past along the historic trek route.

Further information

• Language: German
• No registration required
• Participation is free
• Further dates: August 3, September 7, October 5, November 2, November 16, December 7; each at 11:30 a.m.