Frank Grelka

Dr. Frank Grelka is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Academic Staff Member at the Viadrina Center of Polish and Ukrainian Studies, European University Viadrina. Specializing in twentieth-century Eastern European history, he focuses on Poland, Ukraine, and Jewish historical experiences under occupation regimes.

His educational background includes studies in theater, film, television studies, and history at Jagiellonian University in Cracow and Ruhr University Bochum, where he earned his Ph.D. with a dissertation on Ukrainian nationalism under German occupation.

Dr. Grelka's research centers on Holocaust studies (particularly forced labor systems in the Lublin district), East Central European Jewish history, German-Polish relations, and provenance research related to Nazi/Soviet cultural looting. His methodology emphasizes multilingual archival analysis across Eastern European collections, revealing how infrastructure projects like waterworks camps functioned as critical nodes in early Holocaust implementation.

Recent publications demonstrate evolving focus from Ukrainian nationalism studies toward Holocaust infrastructure and cultural restitution, with increasing emphasis on Polish-Jewish experiences under occupation. His current habilitation project examines waterworks camps as systematic components of genocide rather than isolated atrocities.

At the European University Viadrina, Dr. Grelka teaches multilingual courses including 'The Voices of the Dead. Powerlessness, Poverty and Solidarity during the Holocaust' and 'Warszawa - oblicza Paryża Wschodu', emphasizing transnational perspectives on Eastern European history. His research projects on Nazi occupation policies and Soviet cultural restitution reflect sustained engagement with complex historical legacies across national boundaries.