History Of Poland Research Articles

Sylwa of Aleksander Jastkowski, a Przemyśl land judge from the second half of the 17th century

Sylvias (from the Latin silva rerum, i.e. forest of things) belong to the category of domestic books manuscript books, created in Old Polish times (17th-18th century) mainly in the noble community gentry circles. They are considered a valued source for historical and literary research due to the historical and literary research due to the variety of materials they contain, collected by their authors without a specific plan according to their tastes possibilities and needs. The author of one of the largest works of this kind was Aleksander Jastkowski (c. 1625/30– c. 1691), a nobleman from the Przemyśl land Ruthenian Voivodeship, a judge of the Przemyśl lands. His sylva entitled. ‘Compendium omnis activitatis politici et rei economicae ex variis authoribus collectae’ (National Ossolineum Library in Wroclaw, manuscript no. 3554) should be considered a typical example of this type of writing. This sylva was created successively probably for more than half a century mainly by A. Jastkowski, and was completed after his death at the beginning of the 18th century by persons unknown to us. It numbers 594 pages and contains in copies numerous materials, mostly relating to public life at the time (approx. 45% of the total manuscript), such as journalistic writings, correspondence and speeches by dignitaries state dignitaries, the Diary of the Sejm of 1652, records of the Sejmik of the Ruskie Voivodeship in Sądowa and others. In addition, it contains notes by A. Jaskowski concerning his private matters, copies of his and his family’s estate documents, extracts from his and his family’s property documents, excerpts from books he had read, and notes on various fields of knowledge (cultivation of the soil, medicine, Polish and general history, legal and constitutional subjects, etc.), literary works, and notes on the history of Poland etc.), literary works, specimens and examples of occasional letters, materials concerning the private affairs of various individuals.

In Search of Female Agency: Latest Trends in Polish Research into Women’s History in Polish Lands in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

The article discusses the latest trends in research on women’s history in Poland. Attention is drawn to the increasing number of biographies, and an attempt is made to answer the question of whether and in what direction this type of writing is changing our perception of women’s roles in Polish history. The article discusses the autobiographical literature written by women, whose publications reflect a growing interest in individual history and are a response to the demand to give a voice to previously unheard groups. It raises questions about the role of memoirs in describing past societies and gender order. The role of oral history methods in gaining insight into the past of women and society is also discussed.

Zmarnowana szansa. O nowym-starym wydaniu dzieł Świętosława Orzelskiego

A wasted opportunity. On the new-old edition of Świętosław Orzelski’s works Between 2019 and 2022, Włodzimierz Kaczorowski, a historian affiliated with Opole University, published a total of five volumes (with one volume being published twice) containing the works of Świętosław Orzelski, a sixteenth-century Polish parliamentarian, orator, and chronicler. It is, in fact, a reissue of the translations of these works made and published by Włodzimierz Spasowicz almost one hundred and seventy years ago with the addition of scholarly enhancements. Kaczorowski enriched the volumes with introductory notes, afterwords, extensive footnotes, and indexes. The article is a critical analysis of the result achieved, pointing out numerous errors, misrepresentations, and raising questions about the advisability of “revitalisation” of an outdated translation. The reviewer justifies the concern that issuing a source publication in such a form can do more harm than good to research on the history of Poland in the sixteenth century.

Analysis of Poland’s enotourism product model

The development of winemaking has never been as dynamic as today in the whole history of Poland, with more and more vineyards being created each year. Such a state of Polish winemaking constitutes the development potential of the Polish enotourism product. The main purpose of this article is to develop the concept of the Polish tourism offer model, the target group of which are enotourists, including the identification of the elements of the enotourism offer in Poland along with a discussion of their current quantitative and/or qualitative status and recommendations for its improvement. In order to achieve the purpose of the article, a desk research method, known as a desk data analysis, was used, which involved the use of secondary data. The results of the conducted research allow concluding that Poland as a destination has a multi-element enotourism product. In the course of achieving the goal of this article, the concept of Poland’s enotourism product model was developed, within which four main elements were distinguished, i.e. natural values enabling the cultivation of grapevines, local and regional enotourism products, entities supporting and promoting enotourism in Poland, and content inspiring enotourists.

„Godłem moim było i będzie zawsze: kraj – jego dobro i jego wola”. Przyczynek do historii rodu Czartoryskich

“My Emblem was and always will be: The country – its goodness and its will.” A contribution to the history of the Czartoryski family The Czartoryski family, originating from the Gediminas family, is mentioned many times in the history of Poland. It has been present in its history since the beginning of the Polish-Lithuanian union. Its importance grew systematically so that in the 18th and 19th century the Czartoryski family became one of the richest and most influential families in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Political connections and friendships gave the opportunity to influence the course of events, while strengthened the position of the family; the growing fortune and income that flowed from it supported these efforts. The characters selected are only examples from among all representatives of the family. They are a testimony that the Czartoryski family has always served, and continues to serve Poland faithfully, both in times of its splendor as well as its decline, supporting with their strength and abilities the efforts for its flourishing and rightful place in Europe.

THE EUROPEAN INTERPARLIAMENTARY SPACE CONFERENCE – THE WAY TO INFLUENCE THE SPACE LAW AND POLICIES IN POLAND

The article presents the European Interparliamentary Space Conference as an interesting and effective way to collaborate on space law. It shows the path that needs to be followed to join the European Interparliamentary Space Conference. The presentation of its activities is assessed in light of the space governance concept. The European Interparliamentary Space Conference affects the creation of law by national parliaments and the legal regulations of European institutions working for space. It also affects law-making by the European Parliament and the European Commission. The article assesses the role of the European Interparliamentary Space Conference as an actor in the European space arena. It evaluates the ability of the EISC to determine a common strategy for Europe’s space activity, the shape of its space policy, and the directions of the European space industry integration. The history of Poland in the EISC is presented, and the assessment of Polish activities in the forum is characterized. Conclusions underline that the EISC is a significant actor in the space sector in Europe. Moreover, Polish participation in the activities of the ESIC should be more visible, especially at the national level.

Conservative Ideas as the Source of Activity of the Polish White Cross in the United States of America

The purpose of this article is to analyze the conservative ideas that are the source of the work of the Polish White Cross in the United States of America. Consideration of this issue is desirable for several reasons. First, today’s resurgent radicalisms are causing the world that we have known for the past quarter of a century to cease to exist right before our eyes. At the same time, the European status quo has been challenged by the war steered by Putin. In this context, a question arises: Does Europe, which is in the process of “change”, still need a conservative voice? To answer this, it is worth recalling not only non-ideological ideas attempting to define the reality of the future, but also practical ones, including those from the early 20th century initiated in the U.S., which played a historical role in the building of Polish statehood, and are now a testimony to joint-Polish-American initiatives that support democratic changes in the world. The reference to these examples is all the more justified because they are based on American conservative thought, which was the source of American human rights policy in the early 20th century. Representatives of the so-called idealist trend (also called Wilsonism), proclaimed that the United States could effectively exercise its function as a world leader if its policies promoted the traditional values of protecting individual rights and freedoms. Of breakthrough importance for the Polish cause was President Thomas Woodrow Wilson’s speech of January 18, 1918, in which, defining America’s war aims, he declared that an independent Polish state must be established as a result of the war. President Wilson also authorized the recruitment of volunteers for the Polish army and their training. Since every national army has its own humanitarian unit called the Red Cross, it was felt that the Polish Army should also have one. Unfortunately, as Poland was non-existent on the map of Europe at the time, it did not participate in the founding deliberations of the international Red Cross association established in 1864 in Switzerland, and therefore did not have the right to establish its own organization under this name. For this reason, Ignacy Jan Paderewski suggested the idea of establishing the Polish White Cross (PBK), which was grounded in conservative ideas. In addition, the tradition of the Polish White Cross is worth discussing because of some opinions that volunteering in Poland was less common than in other Western countries and that Poland has no tradition of it. Meanwhile, the work of White Cross is a spectacular undertaking, unprecedented in the history of Poland, based on the principles of volunteerism, and is comparable to Poland’s current provision of relief action to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian migrants due to Russia’s ruthless invasion. This, therefore, is another reason to recall the work of the White Cross. Unfortunately, despite the fact that almost every soldier in the Second Republic and in the Polish Armed Forces in the West came into contact with the Polish White Cross, the awareness of its existence and commitment to the cause is still limited. This is probably due to the fact that the so-called People’s Polish Army grew out of other ideological aspirations detached from the traditions of the military formations of the interwar period and organizations cooperating with it. The authorities of People’s Poland supported only socio-political associations associated with “real socialism”.

Perception of the architecture of socialist realism in the adjudications of Polish administrative courts

Stalinization in mature form was a period in the history of Poland from 1948 to 1956 characterized by the influence of Stalinism on the shaping of social and economic relations. The period of Stalinism is unequivocally associated with the functioning of the communist apparatus of repression. In culture, it manifested itself in the development of an artistic direction called socialist realism. In public life, it was a departure from the multi-party system in favor of the leading role of the communist party – the Polish United Workers’ Party. Considering the above, for the inhabitants of Poland with democratic views, the architecture of socialist realism was clearly associated with the totalitarian system and was a symbol of enslavement by the USSR. However, after many decades, in the case of some objects of the socialist realism period, their values were appreciated and they were recognized as monuments. The purpose of this article is to present the adjudications of Polish administrative courts that pertain to this issue.

Syntheses in the Academic Output of Maria Bogucka

Maria Bogucka was the author of several synthetic studies, which included topics such as the history of Poland until 1864, the history of the Netherlands, the history of Polish towns and the burgher classes in the early modern era, as well as the history of Polish culture up until 1989. This article discusses these particular syntheses; and the critical assessments they gave rise to following their publication.

Early Modern Gdańsk in Maria Bogucka’s Research

Research on the socio-economic history of early modern Gdańsk marked the various stages of Maria Bogucka’s research career, from her doctorate in 1955 to full professorship in 1981. She came from the research grouping of Marian Małowist, and her works, along with the contributions of other students from this circle, are among the most outstanding achievements of Polish historiography of the twentieth century. This article is devoted to discussing the most important Gdańsk-related works of Bogucka against the background of German-Polish controversies, which touched upon an assessment of the city’s role in the history of Poland.

Slavic Lives Matter The Lack of Attention for the Polish-Ukrainian Conflict during the Second World War in German and Russian Historiography

ABSTRACT For various reasons, the Polish-Ukrainian conflict of 1941–1942 has not received in-depth treatment in Russian and German historiography. Russians have little interest in the history of Poland and Ukraine, preferring to study either their own country or Western European countries; German historiography concentrates on studying the Holocaust and pogroms in this region. 1 ‘Slavic Lives Matter. Nevnimaniye k pol’sko-ukrainskomu konfliktu v gody Vtoroy mirovoy voyny v nemetskoy i rossiyskoy istoriografii’, translated by Dr. Harold Orenstein. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author; they do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. The latter is explained by the fact that the Shoah [Hebrew for ‘catastrophe’, specifically used to refer to the Holocaust] occupies the central place in historical research in Germany; everything that is associated with it is of considerable interest. A second reason for the disproportionate attention presumably is the fact that the Ashkenazi (Jews whose ancestors are from Central and Eastern Europe) are a Germanic people — Yiddish is closely related to German, English, and Dutch. Accordingly, in the minds of researchers who are native speakers of these languages, what may subconsciously arise is a pattern of pogroms - ‘Slavs attack the Germans’, that is, ‘foreigners are attacking our people’ - and the associated emotions and desire to understand the issue. As for the Ukrainian-Polish conflict of 1943–1944, in Germany only and exclusively representatives of neo-Soviet historiography have written about this; they see Ukrainian nationalists as an absolute evil. However, they do not glorify the Polish Home Army, nor do they promote the idea of Polonophilia or victimization of the Poles, i.e., they attempt to create an illusion of objectivity, impartiality, and balance regarding this issue.

Biografia inżyniera Jerzego Budzyńskiego (1892-1979) na podstawie zasobu archiwalnego Instytutu Badawczego Dróg i Mostów

The article describes the life of Jerzy Budzyński, born in 1892 in Warsaw, a student of the gymnasium branch of the Warsaw E. Konopczyński School, a student of the Belgian University of Liège, and a graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology. Fragments of his unpublished diary show how Polish independence organizations were formed in the early 20th century: the Association of Polish Progressive and Independence Youth “Filarecja”, the Union of Active Struggle, the Riflemen’s Association, and the Polish Military Organization. The content of the justifications for the applications for the threetime decoration of the Cross of Valor document Jerzy Budzyński’s participation in the capture of the Mokotów Airport in Warsaw in November 1918 and the self-sacrificing fight in defense of Łomża against the Soviet III Cavalry Corps of Gai-Khan (Gai Dmitrievich Bzhishkyan), at the end of July 1920. During the interwar period, Budzyński was the head of the Road Traffic Division of the Road Department in the Ministry of Transport, creating conditions for the development of road transport and the construction of modern roads in Poland. After the war, as the head of the Poviat Road Administration in Grójec, he rebuilt roads and bridges, e.g. using bridge structures donated by the United Nations Relief and Reconstruction Administration (UNRRA). Budzyński ended his professional career working at the Central Research and Development Center for Road Technology (currently the Road and Bridge Research Institute) as the manager of the Center for the Scientific, Technical and Economic Information and Documentation, disseminating world achievements in road technology in Poland. Jerzy Budzyński’s personal file has been preserved in the archives of the Road and Bridge Research Institute, containing source documents of great value for research on the history of Poland in the 20th century.

Nephrology Before Nephrology in Poland.

It was in the 1950s that nephrology crystallized as an independent specialty out of internal medicine. However, references to modern nephrology appeared in the works of doctors much earlier. Some researchers consider Hippocrates to be the father of clinical nephrology, while John Merrill is widely regarded as a specialty founder of modern nephrology. The situation is similar in Poland, where early references to urinary tract diseases appeared in medieval works of Polish authors. Poland's first clinic of nephrology, established in Wrocław in 1958, was managed by Zdzisław Wiktor. During the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association and International Association for the History of Nephology congresses, Polish authors presented precursors of nephrology, including Thomas of Wrocław, Simon Sirenius, Samuel Goldflam, Józef Dietl, Jędrzej Śniadecki, Marceli Landsberg, and Witold and Tadeusz Orłowski. This article focuses on late 19th and early 20th century giants who contributed to the development of nephrology in Poland. The period discussed covers memorable milestones in the history of Poland, ranging from the long-term Russian, Prussian, and Austro-Hungarian annexation through World War 1, after which the country regained its independence, to World War 2. These scientists represented clinical medicine and basic sciences, such as pathologic anatomy, physiology, and physiologic chemistry, and came from 3 different regions of Poland. Professor Tadeusz Browicz was associated with the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Professor Anastazy Landau worked in Warsaw, and Stefan Dąbrowski represented the University of Poznań. Although based on the cooperation with European universities, their works were published in Polish, preventing them from gaining wide recognition in the European medical community of the time. Therefore, presenting their achievements to a wider group of historians after such a long time seems justified.

Editorial Note

This issue of Polish American Studies opens volume 80 of the Polish American Historical Association's journal. Volume 1, edited by Constantin Symonelewicz, appeared in 1944 under the imprint of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America, PAHA's parent organization. A lot has of course changed since 1944, but Polish American Studies remain a premier scholarly journal with a mission to present and promote the history of Polish diaspora in the Western Hemisphere. Polish American Studies is now broadly indexed and available online through JSTOR (past issues) and Scholarly Publishing Collective (current issues). Subscribers to Polish American Studies, both individuals and institutions, come from countries on all continents, and our editorial board as well as contributing authors represent a variety of disciplines, methodologies, and research interests. Volume 80 is certainly a milestone worth celebrating.As tradition dictates, we open the issue with an address by the outgoing PAHA President, Neal Pease, who reflects on his term in office during the challenging pandemic and post-pandemic times. In the first article in this issue, James S. Pula revisits foundational questions of why immigrants from the Polish lands came to America, how many came and when, and where they settled. Taking a long view of the problem, Pula examines both Polish and American circumstances, and uses the most recent research on the topic.In the second article, Thomas Hollowak presents a more focused view of American Polonia's history in a particular place and particular time. Hollowak explores the press chronicles of crime and murder in Baltimore that involved Polish immigrants as both perpetrators and victims, highlighting an understudied aspect of Polish American experience at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. An announcement of note follows: John J. Bukowczyk shares news about PAHA Books, a new publishing initiative of our organization.In “Varia,” we present another research institution that focuses on the history of Poland and the history of Poles in America. The Polish Heritage Library and Archives in Panna Maria, Texas, although a relatively new institution, grows out of the tradition of Polish immigrant settlement in Texas, which continues since 1854.Last but not least, the book review section includes reviews of books authored or edited by Magdalena Kubow, Imogene Salva, Joanna Kulpińska, Dominik A. Stecula, Beata Dorosz, and Karen Walczyk Prescott.

The Polish Heritage Library and Archives in Panna Maria, Texas

The Polish Heritage Library and Archives in Panna Maria, Texas

The Pope in Poland: The Pilgrimages of John Paul II, 1979–1991

The Pope in Poland: The Pilgrimages of John Paul II, 1979–1991

The role of local government as a stabilizer of the functioning of the state in the period of political and systemic crisis in Poland

In the 2018–2022 (2023) term of office of local government bodies, numerous cases of transferring problems generated by national policy to local governments can be indicated. The commune self-government, being the entity closest to the citizens in terms of handling most matters, experiences the effects of actions taken at the level of systemic and national regulations, as well as being the object of specific actions initiated at the central level. Among the numerous challenges in which the local government plays a stabilizing role in the state, taking over responsibility for solving problems in emergency situations, it is worth paying attention to the activities related to helping refugees after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The decision of the Polish government to open borders to millions of refugees was not preceded by proper preparation. The assumption of this analysis is based on the claim that without bottom-up activation of the local government and its organizational units as well as inhabitants of communes, accepting the largest number of refugees in the history of Poland could have caused the paralysis of the state and a humanitarian crisis. The main question is whether we can talk about the success of the government or the local government in this matter.

A THINKER AHEAD OF TIME: THE PRINCIPLES OF PERSONALITY EDUCATION AND MANAGEMENT OF COLLECTIVE SOCIETY BY BRONISLAW FERDINAND TRENTOVSKY

The article analyzes the biography, the stages B. Trentovsky’s formation as a scientist under the influence of the academic courses of Victor Cousin, Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot, Abel-Francois Villemain and others, listened to during his studies at Warsaw, Berlin, Heidelberg and Paris universities. From the general list of scientific works, those dedicated to pedagogical issues were singled out, which made it possible to highlight the foundations of the pedagogical views of the outstanding Polish philosopher of the XIX century. The specifics of the historical processes that took place in the history of Poland in the first half of the 19th century have been clarified as well as the circumstances that shaped the peculiarities of the philosophical and pedagogical preferences of the Polish thinker-pedagogue. Attention is focused on the formation of the Polish variant of messianism as an attempt of Polish intellectuals to return the lost greatness of the Polish people, and the affiliation of B. Trentowski to this philosophical trend is emphasized. His interpretation of the principles of personality education, features of studentsʼ assimilation of knowledge, abilities and skills is highlighted. Emphasis is placed on the authorʼs vision of the general principles of team building, the peculiarities of human behavior in the collective, the necessary prerequisites for its harmonious functioning, the expediency of taking into account the existing objective and subjective contradictions of the personal value priorities of individuals. The role of the leader in the team management, the need for him to make unpopular managerial decisions, the mandatory executive discipline of subordinates, the system of incentives and punishments for personnel are emphasized. At the same time, possible risks associated with power abuse are formulated. The philosopherʼs personal contribution to the formation of cybernetics and the importance of his scientific heritage for the further development of philosophy and pedagogy of the 19th and 20th centuries are highlighted.
 Keywords: philosophy; freedom; romanticism; messianism; pedagogy; didactics; cybernetics; personality; сollective; manager; management.

Primate Stefan Wyszyński’s Pro Memoria Journal as a Historical Source

This article is a concise analysis of the value of Primate Stefan Wyszyński’s Pro memoria as a historical source. It presents the most important facts concerning the hierarch’s journal, and proceeds to present a comprehensive discussion of the topics which Wyszyński touched upon in his notes, and of his writing style. The summary indicates fields of research which could utilize Pro memoria to their benefit, and also recapitulates the potential importance of the journal for scholarly research into the history of Poland in the years 1949–81.

Walka o kapitał moralny w polu polskiej inteligencji. Wojciech Roszkowski jako aktor historii i teraźniejszości

The fight for moral capital among the Polish intelligentsia. Wojciech Roszkowski as an actor of history and the present The publication of Wojciech Roszkowski’s textbook for high schools, Historia i teraźniejszość. 1945–1979 [History and the Present. 1945–1979], has led to the fiercest controversy over the place of history in Poland’s public life since Jan Tomasz Gross’ Neighbours. The aim of the article is to examine the debate surrounding the textbook, particularly taking into account Wojciech Roszkowski’s trajectory and position among the Polish intelligentsia. Firstly, I demonstrate that the textbook crowns the author’s journey from solitary activity as a writer in the opposition movement and solitary work in the underground, through the mainstream of the elites of the Third Polish Republic to the heterodoxy of the conservative counter-elites. Secondly, I place the textbook in the tension between the Polish intelligentsia and the world of politics. Thirdly, I reconstruct the romantic, highly polemical, lofty and doom-laden structure controlling the historical narrative of the textbook, which strikes at the dominant, orthodox, progressive beliefs of the Polish intelligentsia. In conclusion I argue that the debate surrounding the textbook has stemmed from the author’s exceptional position and trajectory, the fight within the Polish intelligentsia as well as the unique, “hot”, monumental and explosive narrative of the textbook.