Filip Springer
Autor(a) de History of a Disappearance: The Story of a Forgotten Polish Town
About the Author
Filip Springer (born 1982) is a self-taught journalist who has been working as a reporter and photographer since 2006. His journalistic debut-History of a Disappearance-was shortlisted for the Ryszard Kapuscinski Literary Reportage Prize in 2011 and was nominated for the Gdynia Literary Prize in mostrar mais 2012. He was also shortlisted for the Nike Literary Prize in 2012 and won the third annual Ryszard Kapuscinski scholarship competition for young journalists in 2014. mostrar menos
Obras de Filip Springer
Associated Works
And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars Again: Writers from Around the World on the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020) — Contribuinte — 12 cópias
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Data de nascimento
- 1982
- Sexo
- male
- Nacionalidade
- Poland
- Local de nascimento
- Poznań, Poland
Membros
Resenhas
Listas
Eastern Europe (1)
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Associated Authors
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 10
- Also by
- 1
- Membros
- 105
- Popularidade
- #183,191
- Avaliação
- 4.2
- Resenhas
- 2
- ISBNs
- 20
- Idiomas
- 3
Silesia was noted, in pre-war Germany, for its scenic beauty. After the war, it attracted attention because of its reserves of uranium, which was suddenly strategically important. So the 'polification' of Kupferberg - renamed Miedzianka - was followed by an influx of workers who were directed to mine uranium, with little regard for the consequences, either for themselves, for the town, or for the environment. (Uranium can be found throughout that mountain range, which in its westward extension forms the border between the former East Germany and the present-day Czech Republic). Eventually, the town became so undermined by the uranium workings, and the townspeople so affected by the side-effects of working n the mines, that it was evacuated and allowed to fall into ruins. Today, hardly any sign can be found of the town on the ground, and indeed maps do not show the location beyond an isolated church marked in the middle of nowhere.
Springer recounts the story of the town through a series of stories about the families and the people. The stories interlock quite elegantly and you soon begin to build up a picture of the people and families., Over time, we see children grow up and take up jobs in the mines, or in support industries in the surrounding area.
Perhaps the best known product of the area in the West is the beer, Kupferberg Gold. The unique feature of the beer in times past was the local water, infused with radioactive salts that gave the beer a distinctive taste. I've actually had some Kupferberg Gold - the brand still exists - but I do not recollect any unique taste to it. The area is perhaps better known now for the rumours of German "treasure trains" hidden in secret tunnels; it's perhaps much more likely that those "secret tunnels" are actually old mine workings, The truth is usually far more prosaic.
This is a very relevant book. I recommend it to anyone who thinks they know everything there is to know about the wars of the twentieth century.… (mais)