Język Polski
English
Archival Materials of the Office of Public Security/the Office of Public Security Affairs as a Source to Research the Views of Białystok Educational Circles from 1944–1956
Jerzy Autuchiewicz
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5210-4619
Oddział Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej w Białymstoku
Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, Vol. 18 (2025), pages: 247-264
Publication date: 2025-12-30
https://doi.org/10.48261/PAIPN251809
PDF (Język Polski)
Abstract
The war caused a catastrophic shortage of qualified staff in education and training new teachers took time. This situation forced the communists in Poland to employ teachers with pre-war experience. Among them were people who were reluctant to accept the new authorities and their loyalty was questionable. Gaining control over education was one of the priorities of those in power. As a result, it was subject to strict supervision by the Polish Workers’ Party (PPR/PZPR), assisted by its apparatus of repression. The documentation of communist security agencies is an important source for research on social attitudes and views. It complements the picture of social reality that emerges from source materials produced by state and party institutions, as well as from the memoirs and accounts of teachers themselves. The aim of this article is to discuss the specific nature of this type of historical source, its usefulness in researching the history of the school system, and to attempt to analyse the attitudes of education employees in the Białystok Voivodeship from 1944–1956 on the basis of materials created by the Voivodeship Public Security Office in Białystok.
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