Miejsca pamięci masowych egzekucji jako element dziedzictwa kulturowego, rozwoju regionalnego i tanatoturystyki na wybranych przykładach z Wielkopolski
Memorial site of mass executions as the element of cultural heritage, regional development and thanatotourism on selected examples from Greater Poland

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to present the effects of field research which explores forest memo-rial sites of mass executions carried out between 1939 and 1945 during the German occupation in the Land of Warta (German: Warthegau) in areas of today’s Greater Poland (Wielkopolska). Mass graves are elements of material and spiritual culture, a component of historical-social narration and region-al, national and international modern thanatopolitics. Memorial sites receive today a “second life” thanks to being joined with signposted trails and hiking, cycling, nordic walking, horse riding and wa-ter routes which increase sightseeing and recreational movement thus promoting discovering Greater Poland region. Wielkopolska’s memorial sites stop being “sites of memory” (fr. mémoire collective, Nora 1974, 2022), “non-sites of memory” (fr. non-lieux de mémoire, Lanzmann 1993), “non-places” (fr. non-lieux, Augé 2012), “contaminated landscapes” (Pollack 2014), becoming destinations which are consciously chosen by the residents of the region as well as culture tourists from Poland, Europe and the world. This enriches the sports-tourist capital and activates regional development. Physical activ-ity, sport and tourism – correlated with cultural heritage and the history of Greater Poland region and Poland – are the area of special interest for the author of this article – as great development potential. The research was provided in 2020–2022 and then updated in 2023.

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