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THE YEAR 1945 IN POLISH HISTORICAL DEBATES

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Stobiecki R.

Dzieje Najnowsze

2005

issue 4

5-17

The intention of the article was to depict the most relevant opinions expressed in a discussion on the meaning of the year 1945 in Polish history. The sheer volume of scientific and popular literature about the WW II has forced the author to propose a certain selection. The centre of gravity has been shifted to syntheses and textbooks on the history of Poland, although use has also been made of monographs and publicistics. Reflections about 1945 are closely connected with a type of memory which W. Suleja has described as 'reversed', frequently subjected to instrumentalisation and, as Michel Foucault put it, turned into 'the discourse of power'. Memory of this variety provoked a confrontation between official interpretations of assorted events and the reminiscences of direct witnesses, as well as between state and local history. At the turn of the 1980s Polish memory rediscovered other visions of the past. The milieu of professional historians expressed a specific consensus relating to prime issues associated with interpreting the role played by the year 1945 in Polish history. The new approach was tantamount to rejecting a vision which portrayed May 1945 not only as a symbol of the end of the war but, alongside 22 July 1944, as a foundation act of the new rule. At the same time, both Polish historiography and historical memory have up to this day retained a certain conceptual chaos and specific pluralism within the domain of axiology, making it possible to classify the same events and undertakings as examples of patriotism, banditry, or outright national treason. The dilemma whether 1945 inaugurated in Poland 'a civil war' or 'a new occupation' is by no means merely academic. Another example confirming the deep rifts between the Poles involves basic differences of opinion disclosed in the recently held discussion about the suitability of President Aleksander Kwasniewski's presence at the Moscow celebrations marking the end of WW II. We are entitled, therefore, to hazard the thesis that controversies among historians somehow duplicate the competing contents present in the historical memory of Polish society.

THE YEAR 1945 IN LATEST FRENCH PUBLICATIONS

100%

Gmurczyk-Wronska M.

Dzieje Najnowsze

2005

issue 4

19-35

In France the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the WW II has produced a number of publications, some of which are not always new but frequently associated with the fortieth and fiftieth anniversaries. Their authors focused on European and world issues, with a conspicuous departure from exclusively French topics in favour of European themes, often involving the application of the comparative method and the introduction of an interdisciplinary approach. Publications of photographic material are particularly noteworthy. Works devoid of an anniversary character also strongly accentuate the events of 1945 despite the fact that they frequently relate to the postwar period. Despite the fact that numerous phenomena were enrooted in the war years, 1945 is regarded as already a fragment of later developments. One of the features distinguishing the most recent French publications is research into memories of the war, including national memory, together with an attempt at depicting the impact exerted by the whole war period upon French society, including all the complicated determinants linked with collaboration and the Resistance. The discussed studies reveal greatly scattered research trends and workshop methods, although the 'Annales' school, already in a reformed version, continues to occupy an important rank and to inspire further investigations.

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2 Dzieje Najnowsze

2 2005

1 Gmurczyk-Wronska M.

1 Stobiecki R.

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THE YEAR 1945 IN POLISH HISTORICAL DEBATES

THE YEAR 1945 IN LATEST FRENCH PUBLICATIONS