The State of the Natural Environment and the Environmental Conservation Activity of the UN

Stan środowiska naturalnego oraz działania ONZ na rzecz jego ochrony

Author(s): Anna Sakson / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

Protection of the natural environment is one of the fundamental problems of the contemporary world. The major threats of the 21st century include global warming, water pollution and decreasing water resources, deforestation and loss of biological diversity. Many international organizations engage in counteracting the effects of those threats and the United Nations Environment Programme plays an important role in this respect. The organization is an agenda of the UN, founded in 1972 to monitor the state of the natural environment worldwide and to identify problems that require international cooperation. Furthermore, it assists in the codification of the international law for natural environment conservation and recommends implementation of national environmental policies by governments in various countries. The article also presents the genesis and structure of the organization and the range of its activities. Special emphasis is placed on the role of the UNEP as administrator of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. This is followed by a discussion of the results of the 14th Conference of Parties to the Convention that took place in Poznań from 1st to 12th December 2008.

The United States of America as an Example of a “Lonely” Superpower

Stany Zjednoczone Ameryki jako przykład „osamotnionego” mocarstwa

Author(s): Sebastian Wojciechowski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

“Loneliness” on the international scene means a more or less significant either volunteered or enforced distancing oneself from the rest of the international community. It can pertain to different spheres: political, economic, technological or cultural, can be attributed to various causes and manifests itself in a variety of ways. It usually befalls states or other agents that function in the international system. However, the situation of a “lonely” superpower is a special case. The above issues are discussed on the example of the present position of the USA. The following questions have been taken as a point of departure: How does contemporary American domination manifest itself? Does the USA today meet the criteria of a “lonely” superpower? What are the causes, symptoms and consequences of the international “loneliness” of the USA?

Obituary: In Remembrance of Professor Wacław Wilczyński (1923-2008)

Wspomnenia: PAMIĘCI PROFESORA WACŁAWA WILCZYŃSKIEGO (1923-2008)

Author(s): Wacław Jarmołowicz / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

Terrorism Networks in the World. Connections between Groups and their Financing

Sieci terroryzmu na świecie. Powiązania między grupami i fi nansowanie

Author(s): Maria Tomczak / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

One of the most effective methods of fighting terrorism is to cut off the sources of its financing. That is why issues related to this problem are of special interest to people and institutions engaged in fighting terrorism as well as scholars. Regrettably, scientific investigations on the ways of financing terrorism and business connections between particular groups face serious difficulties due to a lack of reliable and verifiable data. We are largely left to conjectures and therefore it is only possible to present some trends and hypotheses. The article discusses ways of obtaining funds by terrorist groups from mid-19th century until today. It also shows the development of terrorism from amateur operations on a relatively small scale by Russian revolutionists and western anarchists, through “substitute war” from the cold war period up to a union of politics, religion and purely criminal activities that we witness today. In consequence, ideologically committed enthusiasts guided by their own peculiar ethics have been gradually replaced by ruthless cynics who are ready to break any taboo.

Propaganda Campaign of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) Following the Address of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops (Wrocław Region)

Kampania propagandowa PZPR po orędziu biskupów polskich do biskupów niemieckich (województwo wrocławskie)

Author(s): Zbigniew Mazur / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

In connection with celebrations of the anniversary of the Baptism of Poland (966) and the address of the Polish bishops to German bishops (1965), state and party authorities launched in mid-1966 a propaganda campaign directed to various social groups, particularly the rural community. An interesting element of this campaign was that officers of the Polish Army were engaged in it, and proved fairly successful in their attempts to establish contacts with clergy of the lower ranks. The article presents how the drive proceeded and its results. The study is based on surviving party documents, produced mainly by the party units of the Wrocław region.

The Memory of East Prussia in German and Polish Literature after 1945

Pamięć o Prusach Wschodnich w literaturze niemieckiej i polskiej po 1945 r.

Author(s): Rafał Żytyniec / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

The article describes Aleida Assmann’s concept of memory applied to literature on the theme of East Prussia after 1945. The key issue is the concept of ‘‘memory landscape’’ in the Polish and German literature. There are two different and specific memory frames assigned to this literature in Germany and Poland: ‘‘loss’’ and ‘‘reclaim’’, respectively. In the case of German literature the article deals with authors from the so-called Landsmannschaft Ostpreußen circle, who primarily accentuate the German contribution to the history and culture of East Prussia (e.g. Agnes Riegel). There are also authors (e.g. Johannes Bobrowski, Siegfried Lenz, Manfred Peter Hein) with a different point of view, who regard the loss of East Prussia as a consequence of World War II. In turn authors who write about the Warmia and Mazuria region before 1989 emphasise its Polish roots and their literature is often close to the convention of socialist realism (e.g. Igor Newerly, Eugeniusz Paukszta). Erwin Kruk’s works are an exception. The final part of the essay is dedicated to recent changes of perception concerning the history of East Prussia (Günter Grass’s ‘‘Im Krebsgang’’ and literature of the ‘‘Borussia’’ circle).

Exhibition on the Crimes of the Wehrmacht. Specificity of the Photographic Medium of Memory

Wystawa o zbrodniach Wehrmachtu. Specyfika fotograficznego nośnika pamięci

Author(s): Bartosz Korzeniewski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

The article discusses the controversies that arose following the presentation of an exhibition in Germany on the crimes of the Wehrmacht. The topic is developed in the context of the specificity of the photographic medium of memory and in relation to the problem of an increasing medialization of memory. The author strives to explain the reasons of the huge interest in the abovementioned exhibition and the discussions it triggered, by referring to the current state of German collective memory. The exhibition punctured a myth of the Wehrmacht’s innocence, which was widespread after World War II and played an important role in relief strategies undertaken by the German society in order to cope with the problem of guilt for the crimes of National Socialism. Special attention is drawn to the ideological underpinning of the set of images of the Nazi past conserved in the German society, and enhanced by visual representations promoted by the mass media. Violation of this set of images by photographs documenting the participation of the Wehrmacht in the crimes of the racial war contributed to controversies that started in response to the exhibition.

The Past in the Present. The German Expulsed in Polish Media

Przeszłość w teraźniejszości. Niemieccy wypędzeni w polskich mediach

Author(s): Marcin Zaborski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

The article tries to re-create the picture of the German expulsed that has been created by the Polish media. The author makes use of the results of monitoring nationwide radio and TV stations. On the basis of the analysis he calls attention to the context in which the category of expulsed persons appears in the media – such as Polish-German relationships, the problem of reparations, ‘‘the culture of memory’’ or the re-interpretation of history. To complete the picture, the results of an opinion poll have also been included. According to the author, the presence of the abovementioned subject matter in the public debate shows that the war past is still alive in the consciousness of Polish and German societies and it is still a political problem.

Education and Commemoration of the Holocaust as an Instrument of Shaping the National Identity of the Israeli Society

Edukacja i upamiętnienie Holocaustu. Instrument kształtowania tożsamożci narodowej społeczeństwa izraelskiego

Author(s): Joanna Nitka / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

Strong connections between the Shoah and contemporary times, as well as the impact of the memory of the Holocaust on the national awareness and identity of Israelis, especially the young generation, can be seen in how the theme of the Holocaust is rendered in the school curricula, textbooks and speeches of politicians delivered at commemorative ceremonies, during study visits to Poland and the Marches of the Living. What is also worth noting are the pedagogical methods employed and the experience of Israeli places of memory, connected with survivors of the Holocaust, including museums created by those survivors who emigrated from Europe, scientific and research institutes, cemeteries of soldiers who fought in the war of independence and in the Israel-Arab wars, as well as places of special importance for Israel’s statehood.

Polish Debates on History and Memory. Historical Policy

Polskie spory o historię i pamięć. Polityka historyczna

Author(s): Anna Wolff-Powęska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

Polish discussions on historical memory have their objective international framework and specificity, being part of a general process of a renaissance of memory and debates on the issue of identity that have been going on almost all over the world since the 1980s. They are also predominantly connected with the transformation of the political system in Poland and therefore with the democratization of memory. Such developments could not pass without inducing significant changes in the culture of doing history. The slogan of historical policy that entered public circulation in recent years encompasses a variety of contents. Above all, however, it stands for an assessment of the Third Republic of Poland and is an integral element of controversies over the so-called Fourth Republic.

The Memory of the Media

Pamięć mediów

Author(s): Beata Ociepka / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

This study discusses the role mass media of communication play in the construction of collective memory, basing on some research done on Polish and German media. The sample covers the years 1998-2006. Using the analytic tools given by the news values theory and framing, the author concentrates on history as a theme of media coverage (with a stress on anniversary journalism) and on a ‘‘history conflict frame’’, typical for Polish media coverage on Germany. Mass media of communication in both countries are presented as transmitters and main actors of public debates on history. The results of the analysis showed that media can play both a destructive and constructive role in the process of collective memory building and proliferating. Among the study’s other findings are that the effects of media coverage are more visible in setting the agenda than in the changes of the public’s attitudes.

Władysław Bartoszewski's Contribution to the Polish-German Dialogue

Władysława Bartoszewskiego wkład w dialog polsko-niemiecki

Author(s): Jadwiga Kiwerska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

Keywords: Polish politician; Polish historian; Polish history

An homage to Władysław Bartoszewski who is Polish politician, professor of history, journalist, writer, Auschwitz inmate, soldier of the Home Army (Polish resistance organization during the World War II), Polish underground activist, participant of the Warsaw Uprising, twice nominated for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, bachelor of The Order of the White Eagle, honorary citizen of Israel.

Using the Middle Ages to Construct Spanisch Identity. 19th and 20th Century Spanish Historiography of Reconquest

Średniowiecze a kształtowanie się hiszpańskiej toż samości. Rekonkwista w hiszpańskiej historiografii XIX i XX wieku

Author(s): John V. Tolan / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

The main goal of the article is to show the major tendencies in Spanish historiography of the reconquista from 1800 to 1975 (from Napoleon’s invasion to Franco’s death) and the impact of this historiography on the intellectual and political culture of the time. The author shows what the reconquista meant to Spanish historians. The notion of reconquista goes to the heart of the problem of Spanish historical identity, the heart of the questions: Who are ‘‘true Spaniards’’? At what point can a historian speak of ‘‘Spanish’’ culture? Spanish intellectuals were divided between two tendencies: on the one hand, a conservative affirmation of Spain’s identity as a Catholic nation, for whom the reconquista was a glorious prelude to the Spanish colonization and evangelization of America; on the other, a progressive, anti-clerical reinterpretation of Spain’s medieval past as a period of substantial political freedoms and of openness and cultural exchange between Muslims, Jews and Christians, followed by a tragic imposition of autocracy and religious unity. This debate about the historical reality of ‘‘Spanishness’’ took place in the historiography from the nineteenth century through the 1970s. It seems irrelevant to a new generation of Spanish historians, while the reconquista is still seen by many Spaniards as a vital formative element of their culture. Translation by Dorota Leśniewska. The article of John V. Tolan "Using the Middle Ages to Construct Spanish Identity. 19th and 20th Century Spanish Historiography of Reconquest" had been originally published in: Historiographical Approaches to Medieval Colonization of East Central Europe. A Comparative Analysis against the Background of Other European Inter-Ethnic Colonization Processes in the Middle Ages, red. J. M. Piskorski, New York, Columbia University Press 2002 [East European Monographs 609], s. 329-347.

From Scientific Chronicle

Z kroniki naukowej

Author(s): Ryszarda Formuszewicz,Renata Urbanowicz,Marcin Tujdowski,Tomasz Budnikowski,Ireneusz Smolarkiewicz,Joanna Nitka / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

Keywords: Migrations of Poles; Polish-German relations; Poland and Germany in the European Union/EU;

Ireneusz Smolarkiewicz, Migracje i rozszerzenie Unii Europejskiej. Stan i perspektywy rozwoju Renata Urbanowicz, Europejskie i narodowe wyznaczniki polityki historycznej w Polsce i w Niemczech po 1990 roku Marcin Tujdowski, Walny Zjazd Członków Stowarzyszenia Instytut Zachodni Ryszarda Formuszewicz, Stosunki polsko-niemieckie w rok po wyborach parlamentarnych w Niemczech i w Polsce Tomasz Budnikowski, Spotkanie z ambasadorem Finlandii w Polsce Joanna Nitka, Polacy i Niemcy w Unii Europejskiej. Pola konfliktów i płaszczyzny współpracy

Attitudes of Poles towards the Problem of Expulsions. Some Reflections on "Flucht und Vertreibung aus Sicht der deutschen..." of Thomas Petersen

Polacy wobec problemu "wypędzenia". Refleksje nad publikacją "Flucht und Vertreibung aus Sicht der deutschen, polnischen und tschechischen Bevölkerung

Author(s): Ryszarda Formuszewicz,Michał Nowosielski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

Keywords: Herbert Hupka; Herbert Czaja; Adam Krzemiński; Polish-German relations; Polish-German history; Czech-German history; Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact; Expulsion; Vertreibung

Marian Wojciechowski (1927-2006)

Marian Wojciechowski (1927-2006)

Author(s): Władysław Markiewicz / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

Obituary for Polish historian prof. zw. dr hab. Marian Wojciechowski, expert in Polish-German relations.

History and Memory

Historia a pamięć

Author(s): Hanka Dmochowska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2007

Editorial. The issue is dedicated to Hubert Orłowski on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

Scientific Chronicle

Z kroniki naukowej

Author(s): Zenon Kachnicz,Tomasz Budnikowski,Jadwiga Kiwerska,Piotr Kubiak / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2009

Introduction

Wstep

Author(s): Hanka Dmochowska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2009

Następstwa wybuchu II wojny światowej były tak różnorodne zarówno dla zmiany układu sił na świecie, pozycji poszczególnych państw, jak i losów każdego człowieka, że do dzisiaj trudne są do ustalenia i zobrazowania.

Losses of Polish Population in Poznań in September 1939; Register of German Citizens Executed in the Years 1942-1944 on the Basis of Sentences...

Straty ludności polskiej w Poznaniu we wrześniu 1939 roku; Spis obywateli niemieckich straconych w latach 1942-1944 na podstawie wyroków sądów...

Author(s): Łukasz Jastrząb / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2009

Z problemem ustalenia wysokości strat osobowych różnych zdarzeń historycznych (wojny, bitwy, ruchy społeczne) boryka się większość badaczy, a ich drobiazgowe często ustalenia i tak spotykają się z wątpliwościami, krytyką lub negacją. Zdecydowana większość list strat nie jest autorytatywna i zamknięta oraz co najważniejsze – nigdy nie jest pewne, czy zawarte w niej dane są prawdziwe, nawet, gdy zostały oparte na urzędowych dokumentach zgonu. Dokumenty takie wystawiane w okresie kataklizmów, klęsk czy zawieruchy wojennej są obarczone marginesem błędu z powodu panującego chaosu. Dane o śmierci, które podają np. sąsiedzi, znajomi, dalsza rodzina, mogą być oparte na przypuszczeniach. Często akt zgonu wystawiany jest po latach – tak jak w przypadku ofi ar II wojny światowej, gdzie polskie sądy przez wiele lat po zakończeniu okupacji wydawały postanowienia o uznaniu za zmarłego.