POLISH PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC
(PRL). FACTS AND MYTHS
Radosław Domke
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Bolesław Bierut
Edward Ochab
Władysław Gomułka
Edward Gierek
Stanisław Kania
Wojciech Jaruzelski
BOLESŁAW BIERUT
EDWARD OCHAB
WŁADYSŁAW GOMUŁKA
EDWARD GIEREK – THE KISS OF FRIENDSHIP
STANISŁAW KANIA
WOJCIECH JARUZELSKI
MYTH NO. 1
1944-1989 – PRL
MYTH NO. 1
No.
In the years 1944-1952 there was the Republic of Poland.
The Constitution of July 1952 introduced the new name of the state, the Polish
People's Republic/ the Polish Republic of People.
It is safest to use the term People's Poland for the entire period.
MYTH NO. 2
People's Poland was a totalitarian
state.
MYTH NO. 2
Nothing similar.
Poland was an authoritarian state.
During the Stalinist period, it was closest to totalitarianism, but it was never fully
achieved.
MYTH NO. 3
Poland was a communist country.
MYTH NO. 3
● What is communist?
● What is socialism?
● What is marxism?
MYTH NO. 3
We can't make it that simple.
Communism was never achieved in Poland.
The government in Poland is best described as real socialism, coined in the 1970s.
MYTH NO. 4
Poland was part of the Soviet empire and was completely dependent on the
authorities in Moscow.
MYTH NO. 4
It's not even a myth anymore, it's just a lie.
During its forty-odd years of existence, the People's Republic of Poland repeatedly
opposed the Soviet Union.
The strongest in 1956, when Soviet troops even moved against Warsaw. Then
China supported us.
MYTH NO. 5
People's Poland was a poor and backward country.
MYTH NO. 5
People's Poland was modernizing with each decade.
The apogee of development occurred during the decade of Edward Gierek's rule
in the 1970s.
Poland then had a huge army and merchant fleet. The Pole then flew into space.
Passenger cars numbered in the millions. The houses had household appliances
and television. Polish culture stood very high. You could travel almost all over
Europe.
MYTH NO. 6
Everything was for talons (vouchers), and there were empty counters in the shops
anyway.
MYTH NO. 6
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The post-war post-war card system existed only for a few years after the war and
in all of devastated Europe.
Later, only money was used until the second half of the 1970s, when rationing of
individual items began. The vouchers were, among others: for sugar and meat.
Store supplies have also changed over the years. It was the best at the beginning
of Edward Gierek's decade and the worst at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s,
when it actually happened that only vinegar was available in stores.
MYTH NO. 7
There was no freedom of speech in Poland.
MYTH NO. 7
It's quite complicated. Officially, freedom of speech was constitutionally
guaranteed, but de facto it was limited. The worst in this respect was during the
Stalinist period, and the best during the "Solidarity carnival". Censorship was
officially abolished only in 1990.
CONCLUSIONS
These are just selected myths and their demythologizations. The popularity of the
so-called The Polish People's Republic in popular culture (cult comedies, board
games, establishments styled for that period, etc.) and the direct accounts of our
parents and grandparents mean that there are many more myths. The best
weapon against this is to confront them with tacts.
THANK YOU FOR ATTENTION