Sources of contemporary volunteering in Poland. Influence of the voluntary work experiences of the past eras on the condition of today’s volunteering

Abstract

The article describes the main sources of contemporary volunteering, i.e. the historical and social context of changes in the perception of voluntary work in the past hundred years. The year 1918 was established as the starting point, i.e. the beginning of the creation of a system of social assistance (welfare) in Poland within the resurgence of the state, the volunteers of which (then called volunteers) were a significant and distinctive element. Moreover, at the same time (1920) the foundations of modern international volunteering were laid, the father of which is commonly referred to as the Swiss pacifist Pierre Cérésole. Subsequent turning points are marked by the times of the People’s Republic of Poland (1944–1989), when all social activities acquired an unequivocally ideological meaning and undertaking such work was associated with expressing support for the ruling system and its political authorities. On the other hand, the times of the Third Polish Republic that began with social changes in 1989, brought the necessity to create the structures of Polish volunteering almost from the very beginnings.