Ежи Борейша: историк и свидетель

Abstract

The article presents a long scholarly way of the prominent Polish historian J. W. Borejsza (1935–2019). He made a significant contribution to the study of the 19th century Poland, especially the Polish political emigration, to which his first books were devoted. Later the scope of his research interests was enlarged by the study of the 20th century totalitarian regimes and ideologies, mainly Italian Fascism and German Nazism. J. Borejsza analyzed their influence on Eastern Europe and the cultivated in the Third Reich views about the future of Slavic peoples. Having spent a significant part of his life outside Poland (in Russia, Italy, Germany, France), the historian actively participated in international cooperation and initiated major collective projects, in particular the project on the Crimean War. Since his studentship, J. W. Borejsza maintained contacts with Russian colleagues, which became especially intensive at the beginning of the 21st century. He promoted communication between historians of different countries, attaching great importance to science diplomacy. The portrait of the Polish historian is given in a broad scholarly and political context of the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The views of J. Borejsza on a number of topical issues, including his assessment of historical policy, are characterized. Along with the use of the researches of the historian, his recently published memoirs and interviews are introduced into circulation, which the author of the article supplements with own memories of his Polish colleague. Borejsza's extensive memoirs contain valuable material on the intellectual and political history of Eastern and Western Europe, as well as the history of historical science.