The Decree of February 9, 1953 on appointments of clergy to church positions was a legal act crowning a broad array of actions aiming at subjugation of the Catholic Church to the communist authorities by forcing the clergy to make a pledge of allegiance to the state, and by gaining influence on filling church positions. This problem is presented through a reconstruction of the realization of the act of making the pledge – on the example of Lower Silesia and from the point of view of the political police. The pledge action was for the security apparatus not only another task within the scope of its responsibilities, but also an opportunity to build up its own position in the power structures of a totalitarian state. In the current study, lists of priests allowed and not allowed to make the pledge were reconstructed; the author describes the selection process of the clergy members, how did the involved priests react and – in the end – what meaning the whole operation had for the security apparatus. The conclusions are presented in the context of a stereotypical view that repressions against the Catholic Church were unusually harsh.
Nationalization and the introduction of state-controlled economy led to the emergence of abnormal social phenomena, including system-specific crimes. Economic transformations were the foundation of the systemic revolution carried out in the first decade after the Second World War, therefore they were the subject of interest for the Ministry of Public Security. That is why financial crimes were treated just like political crimes, which was also justified by legal provisions, as no specific definition of this type of crime existed. This allowed the authorities (secret police, prosecutor’s office, courts, media) to interpret the events according to their will and current political needs, and, as a result, to administer various overt or covert repressions (death penalty, imprisonment, forced cooperation with the secret police).
The subject of the article is the relationship between civilian secret service officers and personnel managing economic entities in the first three decades of the Polish People’s Republic. By discussing the tasks of the security apparatus carried out in enterprises and various institutions providing services to the economy, the author shows the context of this relationship which took place amidst Poland’s systemic transformations in Poland after World War II, namely: the formation of a totalitarian system and the fiasco of this project, followed by the construction of the foundations of an authoritarian system with all its consequences for the functioning of the people involved in both the economy and the special services.
PL
Tematem artykułu są relacje między funkcjonariuszami cywilnych służb specjalnych a kadrami zarządzającymi podmiotami gospodarczymi w trzech pierwszych dekadach PRL. Omawiając zadania aparatu bezpieczeństwa realizowane w przedsiębiorstwach i różnych instytucjach zajmujących się obsługą gospodarki, autor ukazuje kontekst tytułowych relacji – przekształcenia systemowe w Polsce po II wojnie światowej: kształtowanie się ustroju totalitarnego i fiasko tego projektu, a następnie budowanie zrębów systemu autorytarnego ze wszelkimi tego konsekwencjami dla funkcjonowania osób związanych zarówno z gospodarką, jak i służbami specjalnymi.
The paper analyses literature as a research tool of perceptions of Poland and its reality in the 1970s and 1980s, using the example of the trend known as political fiction or social fiction (soc-fiction). One of the interpretative codes of this literature is its use of allusion towards the reality of the time. In addition to a description of the mechanisms of the system at the political, social and economic level, one can also find reflections on its amenability to reform, subversion, or the consequences of its impact on individual identity.
PL
Przedmiotem rozważań jest analiza literatury jako narzędzia do badania wyobrażeń o rzeczywistości Polski lat siedemdziesiątych i osiemdziesiątych na przykładzie nurtu określanego mianem political fiction lub social fiction (soc-fiction). Jednym z kodów interpretacyjnych tej literatury jest jej aluzyjność wobec ówczesnej rzeczywistości. Oprócz opisu mechanizmów funkcjonowania systemu na poziomie politycznym, społecznym i gospodarczym znaleźć można także refleksje dotyczące jego podatności na reformy, obalenie czy też konsekwencje jego wpływu na tożsamość jednostki.
The article focuses on the processes of commemorating the deceased Public Security Ministry officers in the first post-war decade – since the establishment of the Public Security Department in 1944 to the festivities of the 10th anniversary of the Polish People’s Republic. The discussion concerns the questions: to what extent the security apparatus was an institution of the politics of historical memory, who was the target audience for the activities commemorating the ministry’s officers, what forms those activities took before the 1956 breakthrough, and to what extent the department’s employees fell within the category of the New Man or homo sovieticus.
PL
Artykuł poświęcony jest procesom upamiętnień funkcjonariuszy resortu bezpieczeństwa w pierwszej dekadzie powojennej – od powstania Resortu Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego w 1944 r. do obchodów 10 rocznicy PRL. Rozważania poświęcone są odpowiedzi na pytanie o to, do jakiego stopnia można mówić o aparacie bezpieczeństwa jako instytucji polityki pamięci historycznej, do kogo skierowane były działania upamiętniające funkcjonariuszy resortu, jakie formy przybierały przed przełomem 1956 r. oraz w jakim zakresie pracownicy resortu mieścili się w ramach kategorii Nowego Człowieka lub homo sovieticusa.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.