Sprawa polskich kandydatów i członków Międzynarodowego Komitetu Olimpijskiego w okresie Polski Ludowej
The issue of Polish candidates and members of the International Olympic Committee in the period of the Polish People’s Republic

Summary/Abstract: After the end of World War II, the activities of the Polish Olympic Committee were reactivated. In the new political reality this institution was treated by the communists as a „remnant of the bourgeois sport structure” but it was deemed necessary as sport could be used for political propaganda of the system prevailing in the countries of the people’s democracy. Therefore, the Kremlin accepted an invitation to participate in the International Olympic Committee and, consequently, in the Olympic Movement. The membership of Poles in the IOC was an important element of this participation. Formally, the IOC was governed by the principle of „reverse” membership. IOC members were therefore representatives of organizations in the countries from which they came. However, in accordance with the assumptions of the communists, IOC members from Poland were expected to be trusted people of the people’s power, in order to shape the profile of the IOC together with their counterparts from other countries of people’s democracy. The communists made unsuccessful attempts to introduce such persons to the IOC several times. It was not possible until 1961 when Włodzimierz Reczek became a member of the IOC.

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