Der Piłsudski-Kult und seine Bedeutung für den polnischen Staat 1926-1939 by Heidi s> Hein (review)

Abstract

760 SEER, 8i, 4, 2003 Finally, the style of Homosexual DesireinRevolutionagy Russiais thoughtfulbut not ponderous, and realisticwithout being pedestrian, so that even those with considerable queer-theoretical experience may be surprisedby several new angles on the subject. In fact, one can only wish for someone to undertake a similarprojectfocusingon sexualityand gender 'trouble'elsewherein modern EastCentralEurope, say,in the context of Polishhistoryand culture.Healey's book is an outstanding example of recent research on the social and cultural historyof modern Russia, askingbig, awkwardand unconventional questions about sexual identity and self-expression in an informed and clear-headed way. Department ofComparative Literature KNUT ANDREAS GRIMSTAD Norwegian University ofScience andTechnology Hein, Heidi. Der Pitsudski-Kult und seine Bedeutung fur denpolnischenStaat I926-I939. Materialienund Studien zur Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung,9. Herder-Institut, Marburg, 2002. xii + 512 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography.Appendices. Index. ?43.00 (paperback). BYany standard,JozefPilsudski (I867-I935) was one of the most outstanding and controversial Polish personalities of the twentieth century. Indeed, only Karol Wojtyla,akaPopeJohn PaulII, may enjoy marginallymore esteem and prestige.Even beforePilsudskistagedthe coup ofMay I926, which established the so-called Sanacja regime, he enjoyed widespread admiration among Poles for his leading advocacy of the cause of Polish independence before and during the FirstWorldWar, and then more so for his command of the Polish Army's momentous victory over the Bolsheviksin the Polish-Soviet War of I919-20. Pilsudski'sown comrades in the PolishSocialistParty(PPS)and the militaryPolishLegions had alreadyby I9 I8 elevated him, their'Komendant', to charismatic, if not iconic status. In starkcontrast, this 'living legend' was loathedby the Roman Dmowski-lednationalistRight, the Endecja, particularly forhisperceived socialistandphilosemiticpredilections.During the ignominious period of Communist 'People's Poland', remembrance of Pilsudskiwas officiallydiscouraged as part of a campaign, eagerly supportedby many leftwing academic and othersympathizersin theWest,of mendaciousdenigration of the Second Polish Republic (I9I 8-45) as a whole. Popularinterest in and acclaim for the First Marshal of Poland (the title formally conferred on Pilsudskiin November I920) revived strongly after i989, however, and was most overtly manifested in the renaming of numerous streets, squares, buildings and organizations after him. His fundamental importance to the development of modern Polandis incontrovertible. In this 'lightly revised' University of Dusseldorf dissertation, it is argued that the Sanacja used a multifariousvarietyof methods and means to sponsora 'Pilsudskicult' as an institutionalized system of veneration, with the aim of achieving not only its own legitimacy following a period of profound political instabilityin Poland,but also of creatinga sense of nationalpride and identity. Above all, however, it is emphasized that the cult was designed to promote national integrationin a countrywith bitterpolitical divisions,and alsowhere REVIEWS 76I approximately one-third of the population was composed of non-Polish minorities, such as Ukrainians, Germans, Belorussiansand, of course, Jews. The conceptual basis of this hypothesis is informed by Benedict Anderson's notion of 'imagined communities', Pierre Nora's 'lieux de memoire' and, somewhat more inauspiciously, the radical left-wing historian Eric Hobsbawn's 'invention of tradition'.These ideas purportto show how rituals, symbols, festivals, monuments and myths can be used to engender patriotic emotions as an integralpart of the process of nation-building. The empirical underpinning of the argument is provided by a copious but not entirely original amount of information relating to how the Sanacjadeveloped and propagated the cult, an endeavour which was intensified immediately following Pilsudski's death in I935. For example, a special government committee, the Naczelny Komitet Uczczenia Pamifci Marszalka J6zefa Pilsudskiego, was set up to direct and coordinate the commemoration throughout the country, while the newspaper GazetaPolski,the scholarly periodical Niepodlegtosc, and even an historical institute, the Instytut Badafnia NajnowszejHistoriiPolski,made a significantcontribution.The finaloutcome was that Pilsudskiwas presented as the inspirational embodiment of Polish patriotismand heroism. The basic weakness of this interesting and well-referenced monograph is that it lacks a proper perspective as well as an appropriatebroader historical context. The emphasis on the role of the cult is exaggerated because other aspects of the Sanajca's development and policies, which were arguablyjust as crucial to its legitimacy, are virtuallyignored. Hence, the I926-39 period is glossed over in fewer than a dozen pages. To argue that the cult was a tool of national integration is also...