Title:

Henryk Dembiński: The Man Who Became a Communist after Death?

Subtitle:

Acta Poloniae Historica T. 123 (2021), In Memory of Professor Jerzy W. Borejsza

Creator:

Libera, Paweł (1979– )

Institutional creator:

Polska Akademia Nauk. Komitet Nauk Historycznych ; Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla

Contributor:

Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Publisher:

Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Date issued/created:

2021

Description:

p. 239-260

Subject and Keywords:

communism ; Communist International (Comintern) ; left (political science) - Poland - 1900-1945 ; Communist Party of Poland (Komunistyczna Partia Polski) ; Communist Party of Western Belarus ; Dembiński, Henryk (1908-1941) ; Miłosz, Czesław (1911-2004)

Abstract:

The case of Henryk Dembiński (1908–41) represents the left-wing involvement of Polish intellectuals in the interwar period. After 1945, the party historians left a communist mark on his image. Those in exile also accepted this thesis. In fact, party historians portrayed Dembiński’s life in a one-sided fashion and omitted events inconsistent with their narrative. In light an of relevant accounts and documents, this article shows that Dembiński was neither a member of the communist party nor its youth organisation even though, in 1935–6, he participated in some activities inspired by the Communist Party of Poland (KPP), and edited a periodical supported financially by the KPP. It is unclear whether this was conscious cooperation or a matter of manipulation by the party. In 1937, Dembiński joined the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) and was engaged in catholic activities centre, which the communists at the time perceived as a change of his political views. Nonetheless, after the war, party historians unequivocally stated that he was a communist.

References:

Brodowski Leon, Henryk Dembiński, człowiek dialogu (Warszawa, 1988).
Filaszkiewicz Olga, Respublica Academica Vilnensis: polskie stowarzyszenia ideowo-wychowawcze studentów Uniwersytetu Stefana Batorego w Wilnie w latach 1919–1939 (Elbląg, 2014).
Filipajtis Eugeniusz, Lewica Akademicka w Wilnie, 1930 – pocz. 1935 (Białystok, 1965).
‘Henryk Dembiński, Listy do żony’, ed. by Marek Zaleski, Res Publica Nowa (lato 2004), 128–41.
Henryk Dembiński. Wybór pism, ed. by Michał Szulkin (Warszawa, 1962).
Jędrychowska Anna, Zygzakiem i po prostu (Warszawa, 1965).
Kołakowski Leszek, Main Currents of Marxism, ii (Oxford, 1978).
Miłosz Czesław, The Captive Mind (New York, 1953).
Pełczyńska Wanda, ‘Tworzenie legendy’, Polemiki, 6 (1967), 336–66.
Po Prostu – Karta, 1935–1936, ed. by Barbara Winkiel (Wrocław, 1953) (Materiały do dziejów postępowej publicystyki, 3).
Sukiennicki Wiktor, Legenda i rzeczywistość. Wspomnienia i uwagi o dwudziestu latach Uniwersytetu Stefana Batorego w Wilnie (Paryż, 1967).

Relation:

Acta Poloniae Historica

Volume:

123

Start page:

239

End page:

260

Resource type:

Text

Detailed Resource Type:

Article : original article

Format:

application/octet-stream

Resource Identifier:

0001-6829 ; 2450-8462 ; 10.12775/APH.2021.123.09

Source:

IH PAN, sygn. A.295/123 Podr. ; IH PAN, sygn. A.296/123 ; click here to follow the link

Language:

eng

Rights:

Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. [CC BY-ND 4.0] May be used within the scope specified in Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license, full text available at: ; -

Digitizing institution:

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Original in:

Library of the Institute of History PAS

Projects co-financed by:

National Programme for the Development of the Humanities

Access:

Open