Szaleńcy i żołnierze nieznani
Madmen and Unknown Soldiers

Summary/Abstract: The starting point of the article is that in Poland – as in other countries in the east of the Polish-German border – the memory of World War I is constituted differently than in Western Europe, where the war is still considered to be a historical disaster. For Poland the end of the war meant the restoration of independence after 123 years of occupation. The war with Russia, which followed soon after, made a much greater mark in the collective consciousness of Polish society. The author analyses surviving Polish films from the silent film era depicting the Great War and the Polish-Soviet war from the point of view of the political objectives of the young state and strengthening the myth of Marshal Piłsudski as a national hero, in the context of disputes over cultural functions of cinema.

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