The City as a Political Pawn

This is a book about four cities who were several times, and especially in connection with World War II, forcedly put into completely new national contexts. This was affected by coercion from outside. The changes included genocide and forced displacement, but preserved built environment testifies past populations and national contexts.

This book describes the urban environment in the four cities before World War II, and how the present population handles the memories of the past for future development. In connection with World War II and its aftermaths, many of the four cities Chişinău, Černivci, Lviv and Wrocław residents were either killed or subject to forced migration beyond the new national borders. People settled in the city environment which still bore the traces of the earlier population and the earlier urban life that had been brutally put to an end. Due to the continued Russian military aggression on the territory of Ukraine, this study takes on a new relevance.

This title is part of the Histories of Ukrainian Architecture programme initiated by DOM publishers in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty on 24 February 2022.