Crack

I follow the trail of the unfinished Nazi motorway, which was to connect Berlin in Germany with Königsberg in East Prussia. Built on Hitler's initiative since 1933, it became one of the reasons for the outbreak of World War II.

I follow the trail of the unfinished motorway, Reichsautobahn Berlin-Königsberg, which was to connect Berlin with Königsberg in East Prussia.

Built on Hitler's initiative since 1933, simultaneously from Berlin and Königsberg, it became one of the reasons for the outbreak of World War II. In 1938, in order to connect both sections of the motorway, Nazi Germany demanded that an extraterritorial corridor, running through the territory belonging to Poland, was established. The refusal was used as a pretext to attack Poland in September 1939.

I conduct a visual investigation and examine the traces left by the Nazis. I discover these remnants, which are not visible at first glance, along the route of the unfinished motorway. I'm looking for them nearby, just under my feet. Only then do I feel that I am standing in a historic place and have a sense that all of it has really happened.

The unfinished motorway has a multidimensional significance. It is a symbol of disgraceful years in the history of mankind when the rise of extreme nationalism led to genocide and the outbreak of war.

It is a disturbance of the landscape which it violently invaded. Although the traces of the motorway's construction are undergoing a process of degradation, its remains still exist and are something unnatural. Some sections of the road are still being used today. They too constitute a disruption of modern infrastructure. The cracked concrete causes a peculiar rattling sound to be heard while driving.

We live in times of apparent stability, flooded with information about terrorist attacks, social unrests, and the revival of extreme nationalistic moods. This is a cause for concern. I am afraid that history may come full circle and nationalism may once again lead to a tragedy in the history of mankind.