In this study we analyse how direct and indirect social contacts affect the memory of ethnic minorities (Jewish and German) in post-migration local communities. The intergroup contact theory says that social relations reduce prejudice and have a positive effect on integration. Starting from the theory of social contact, we examine how inter-ethnic contacts influence patterns of memory about ethnic minorities.
We compare the historical context of inter-ethnic relations in different generations. The results of our research contribute to developing the theory of contact. It turns out that the mere existence of contacts is not a sufficient condition for the emergence of positive attitudes towards foreign ethnic groups and, consequently, support for their commemoration. Other important factors are the socio-cultural context shaping the social bonds and historical policy. The high level of migration at the macro level results in the disruption of social ties and continuity of the local community and increases the sense of national identity, thereby lowering the positive attitude towards the local minority, which, in turn, results in an unwillingness to commemorate it. Personal contact affects the memory patterns of the Jews and Germans, depending on the stage of socialisation at which it took place; e.g. our findings show that the generation which had direct contacts with ethnic minority at an early stage of socialization has a more positive attitudes to commemoration, than generations which had contact after socialisation. The attitude to the commemoration of a minority also depends on the strength of the social bond between the majority and the minority, the continuity of social contacts, the sense of local distinctiveness and cultural heterogeneity of the local community.
The analyses present results of empirical research on representative samples of Dzierzoniów and Racibórz inhabitants (n=1600). In both cities, which were once German cities, different ethnic groups lived side by side. in Dzierżoniów there was a Jewish minority and in Racibórz there lived and still lives Germans and Silesians.
