Komunizm a mniejszości narodowe w Polsce po II wojnie światowej

Abstract

In 1945 national rhetoric became an essential part of the communist propaganda in Poland. Nationally homogeneous, post-war Poland was to be the contrast to the multinational Second Polish Republic torn by internal conflicts. In fact, a 4-million minority including Germans, Ukrainians, Belorusians, the Jewish and Slovaks lived within Polish borders. The authorities wanted to resolve the problem mainly by displacement and assimilation. The way in which the minorities were perceived and the methods of realization of national policy had a tendency to change depending on the current political situation (e.g. in 1949, when GDR was established, the concept of a 'goodGerman' appeared and the policy towards that minority was slightly moderated, and the June War of 1967, which took place in the Middle East, provided Polish authorities with an argument for disposing of the Jewish from Polish territory) although the objectives remained unchanged. Nevertheless, communist authorities were perceived by most of the minorities as those who guaranteed the safety in the face of Polish nationalism. The changes began in 1980s when the opposition made a successful attempt to reject the myth that there was a threat from Polish nationalism.