Obraz stosunków etnicznych w opracowaniach historii Białegostoku

Abstract

The connotation of Bialystok as a multicultural city has recently become a part of its image, but thanks to advertising endeavours it has become popular. This article answers the question how ethnic relations in the twentieth century were presented in the studies of the history of Bialystok intended for the broad masses of readers. In what light have the vicissitudes of Poles, Jews, Belarusians, Russians and Germans living in one city but next to each other rather than to each other been shown by historians? What knowledge about ethnic relations can younger generations of Bialystokers, for whom the twentieth century has become ancient history, draw from popular books? What lessons should we all learn from history to avoid mistakes of our ancestors? My hypothesis is that this aspect of the history is generally presented in a fragmentary way and almost exclusively from the Polish perspective.