Vol. XI

2024

Publication date: 21.02.2025

Description

Wydanie publikacji współfinansowane przez Naczelnego Dyrektora Archiwów Państwowych i Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu

Redakcja, skład i łamanie: Hanna Kossak-Nowocień

Okładka: Agnieszka Juraszczyk (wg projektu Wojciecha Nawrockiego)

Licence: CC BY-ND

Editorial team

Secretary Piotr Józefiak

Associate editor Zuzanna Jaśkowska-Józefiak

Editor-in-Chief Krzysztof Stryjkowski

Issue content

ARTICLES

Lucy Katherine Wakefield i Hugo Radoliński — dzieje zakazanej miłości w świetle dokumentów z archiwum rodowego jarocińskich dziedziców

Michalina Pietras

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 7-25

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.001.21063

For three hundred years, the history of the Radoliński family and the town of Jarocin were intertwined, which significantly impacted both the lineage of the family and the functioning of the town. However, previous discussions on this topic predominantly focused on the male heirs of the town, with little attention awarded to their wives. On the one hand, this was due to the fragmentary nature of source information devoted to women in general, and on the other hand, to the traditional emphasis placed by researchers on men as the heirs of landed estates. Thus, the recognition of the Radoliński ladies from Jarocin offers a new perspective on the history of the family. Among these women, Lucy Katherine Wakefield stands out as one of the most intriguing figures. She was half-English and half-Hindu, and despite the Radolińskis’ disapproval, she became the first wife of Hugo Radoliński, the most prominent member of the family, later known as the Prince of Radolin. Her unique background and personal charm undoubtedly played a significant role in advancing her husband’s diplomatic career, granting him access to British and German high society.

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Kształcenie i praktyka prawnicza Józefa Gidyńskiego w okresie międzywojennym

Michał Widera

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 27-42

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.002.21064

Józef Gidyński came from a family with multi-generational teaching traditions. After his parents decided to move from Starokrzepice near Częstochowa to Łódź, he received the opportunity to pursue secondary education. Though he joined the army, his true ambition was to study law. He managed to pursue this in the first years of the Second Polish Republic. His great intellectual capabilities and dedication to deepening knowledge won him a scholarship to continue his education in Paris. In the next years, he showed great determination in gaining qualifications to practice several legal professions, but he derived most satisfaction from working as an attorney, which he continued after emigrating to the United States of America, and even after his retirement.

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W kręgu polityki i publicystyki. Działalność polityczna Ludwika Jaxy-Bykowskiego w okresie II Rzeczypospolitej

Jarosław Matysiak

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 43-77

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.003.21065

Professor Ludwik Jaxa-Bykowski (1881–1948) was a prominent educator, education organizer, head of the Department of Education, and co-founder of the Educational Institute at the University of Poznań. However, his broadly understood political activity in the National Party during the interwar period and his views on Polish-Jewish relations (particularly in terms of public schooling) have so far been presented in general terms only or altogether ignored. This article aims at filling the blanks in Ludwik Jaxa-Bykowski’s biography by exploring his political activity in the Second Polish Republic. Contributing to the political and social life in the interwar period was an important part of his activity that largely impacted his professional and academic life. His involvement with the National Party, public speeches, in which he defended imprisoned leaders of the Centrolew, and open criticism of the higher education reform advocated by authorities in the years 1932–1933 were behind the decision to close down the Department of Education at the University of Poznań in September 1933 and push Ludwik Jaxa-Bykowski into early retirement. The article also demonstrates his views on the issue of education for the Jewish minority in Poland and integrated education of Polish and Jewish students in primary and middle schools, and universities.

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Losy Cyganów na ziemi gnieźnieńskiej w XX wieku w świetle dokumentacji władz lokalnych

Marek Szczepaniak

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 79-111

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.004.21066

Gniezno and Gniezno County were home to one of the largest Roma populations in Greater Poland, but were not always adequately recognized in the studies on this topic. Little use was likewise made of source materials produced by local branches of national offices and stored in the Gniezno branch of the State Archive in Poznań. The first records mentioning the Roma in Gniezno and the surrounding areas date back to the Prussian period, but the largest group of records were produced in the interwar period as a result of the activities of state authorities. These records track the response of local authorities to the operation of registering and recording the Roma (the so-called operation “C”) imposed by state authorities. Another group of source records was produced during the settlement operation (announced in 1964), which aimed at forcing the Roma to transition from nomadic to stationary lifestyle. Less information is available on the activities of local authorities. Written sources made by Gniezno offices are scarce. However, their content suggests the type of activities undertaken by local officials, as in the rest of Poland, resulted from operations imposed by central authorities, which were often ideologically motivated. The problems that emerged in the course of implementing these operations, attempts to solve them, and their consequences were the same as in other parts of the country. The reactions of those most affected by the authorities’ initiatives, i.e. the Roma, were also similar throughout Poland.

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Białoruś. Niepodległość: (nie)wykorzystana szansa

Kiryl Valchetski

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 113-127

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.005.21067

At first glance, it may seem that life in Belarus is stable and peaceful. In reality, the regime of Alexander Lukashenko has implemented mass-scale repressions: thousands of people lost their jobs, were removed from universities, or experienced imprisonment. Many were simply killed or disappeared. This article describes the establishment of the Belarusian Popular Front, its ideas and struggle for independence in Belarus, a country that in the years 1988–1994 (around and following the dissolution of the USSR ) found itself in a very difficult and uncertain situation. This was a period of political, economic, cultural, and even national confusion. However, this was also the time when the national identity of Belarusians, practically wiped out during the partitions and after incorporation into the USSR , was re-born. Clearly, the establishment of the BPF Party was welcomed with hope and seen as a new opening. Soon after, though, Alexander Lukashenko entered the political scene—a “young wolf in sheep’s clothing” who built the illusion of an independent, stable, strong, and secure Belarus. The price to be paid for this illusion was an undemocratic political system, dictatorship, repressions, terror, lack of freedom, and heavy dependence on Moscow.

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Aktywność archiwów państwowych w wybranych mediach społecznościowych w latach 2018–2024

Magdalena Niedźwiedzka

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 129-156

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.006.21068

The article presents the activity of state archives on selected social media platforms, including the most popular ones: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X, in the years 2018–2020 and 2023– 2024, as well as their online activity, though only with regard to specific and limited aspects. The article features a comparison between the activity of particular archives on the above-mentioned social media platforms and the Web, through websites which often redirect users to particular Internet platforms.

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50 lat Zakładu Archiwistyki na Uniwersytecie im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

Irena Mamczak-Gadkowska

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 157-178

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.007.21069

This article commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Department of Archival Science at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The Department of Archival Science at AMU was established on November 22, 1972, thanks to the efforts of Professor Franciszek Paprocki, archivist and historian. The establishment of the Department enabled the launch of an archival program at Poznań university, a project initiated back in the interwar period by Professor Józef Paczkowski. The article presents the history of the Poznań center for archival studies, as well as the role and influence of the Department’s founder, Professor Paprocki, in its creation and later—in launching archival studies at the Poznań University. The author, involved with the Department since its inception, also presents the archival academic circles at AMU, as well as its scientific, educational, and organizational achievements, including its close cooperation with the local archival institutions, in particular the State Archive in Poznań and the Archive of Adam Mickiewicz University. The paper further explores how the archive studies curriculum changed over the years, and discusses educational and scientific cooperation between archivists from Poznań and other academic centers, archival organizations, and associations.

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STUDIES AND MATERIALS

Wykłady, seminaria i studenci Adama Skałkowskiego (1877– 1951)

Dariusz Łukasiewicz

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 179-206

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.008.21070

Quality biographical materials on historians are not very common. It is usually easier to recreate their views and the research they conducted based on literature. However, this does not apply to Adam Skałkowski (1877–1951). We have access to his memoirs, many letters, and other heritage. Thanks to his hand-written university lectures and manuscripts of his public speeches, it is possible to recreate Skałkowski’s activity as a lecturer. There are also accounts describing the style of his lectures. Letters and other materials give us an idea what his MA and PhD seminars looked like, how he supervised his students and organized exams. The letters let one appreciate how passionate Skałkowski was about helping his disciples and how personal his relationship with his students was. One can see that he supervised them not only on an academic, but also on a personal level—he organized study visits and trips to conduct archival research, provided letters of recommendation and even financial assistance. All that makes up a very interesting picture of Skałkowski’s work in the first half of the 20th century—work that was part of a completely different system of lectures, exams, and relationships with students than can be observed now. The lectures were purely monographical in nature and concerned only the current work of the professor; the same also applied to other historians. There were only five exams for the course: pedagogy; auxiliary sciences; ancient, medieval and modern history; and philosophy. The exams had nothing to do with the lectures, and the course curriculum had to be learned from textbooks.

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Tadeusza Esmana wspomnienia poznańskie. „Śródka. Moje dzieciństwo i młodość”, cz. 2: Z ciocią Bolesią wśród rodziny i najbliższych sąsiadów

Szymon Bauman, Janusz Esman

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 207-240

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.009.21071

Tadeusz Esman wrote his memoir in the years 1976–1985, in order to tell his children more about his early years. The second part of his work discusses his childhood and youth in the Poznań neighborhood of Śródka, where he was born in 1903 and lived until his move to Bydgoszcz in 1927. In this part, his memories revolve around three subjects: his Auntie Bolesia, family, and neighbors. All three aspects reflect the daily lives of people living in Śródka at the time—where and how they lived and worked, their surroundings, architecture, and social relations. The author’s language is very vivid: he shares impressions from his childhood, recounts anecdotes from his family and social life in the Śródka market and Ostrówek area, and describes his relationship with family and neighbours.

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Księgi protokołów rad pedagogicznych jako źródło do poznania praktyki nauczania (przykład liceów pedagogicznych 1944–1970)

Anita Młynarczyk-Tomczyk

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 241-263

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.010.21072

Academic literature has not yet demonstrated the importance of minute books of faculty meetings as a source of information about the practice of teaching in the Polish People’s Republic. Therefore, this topic needs to be investigated in more detail. The 43 minute books of faculty meetings in teacher training colleges were used as research material. These schools produced more than 200,000 graduates—elementary school teachers who taught millions of Polish children. Among the diverse academic applications of the information contained in the minutes of faculty meetings, the author selected those which, from the point of view of the practice of teaching in the Polish People’s Republic, were most often discussed at faculty meetings: curricula and their content, teaching strategies (methods and techniques), and educational outcomes. An overview of the work of teacher training colleges from the perspective of the subject matter of faculty meetings shows that the material collected in the books is enormous and should be considered by any scholar researching the history of education in the Polish People’s Republic.

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Francja w zainteresowaniu Ludowego Wojska Polskiego w 1969 r. na przykładzie teczki z Dowództwa Warszawskiego Okręgu Wojskowego

Łukasz Trznadel

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 265-283

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.011.21073

Most researchers describing operational plans of the Polish People’s Army rely on materials produced by the General Staff of the Polish Army and other central institutions of the Ministry of National Defense. Using the files of the Command of the Warsaw Military District, the author depicts the research potential of documentation created by lower-ranking institutions and units. The article reviews the contents of the 1969 file titled “Issues of the military theater. Map of transport networks in the French coastal operational direction”. The file contains an analysis of the road and train networks on the northern coast of France, created by planners of the Polish People’s Army, as well as a map on which place names are written phonetically. The file also includes a number of documents discussing issues going beyond those referred to in the title, such as an overview of the French military education system and difficulties with procuring valuable candidates. Another document presents the characteristics of the French officer corps and the problems plaguing it. The file also includes a study prepared by the Polish military concerning American and Israeli air forces. The analysis of the activity of the American army in Vietnam is particularly noteworthy, as it recognizes the use of drones.

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Akta Państwowego Biura Notarialnego w Poznaniu w zasobie Archiwum Państwowego w Poznaniu

Piotr Wróblewski

Archival and Historical Review, Vol. XI, 2024, pp. 285-296

https://doi.org/10.4467/2391-890XPAH.24.012.21074

During its lifetime, the State Notarial Office in Poznań (1952–1991) produced over 64 linear meters of files. This fond, now part of the State Archive in Poznań, is used regularly, mainly for ownership-related inquiries. The preserved set of registry aids allows for relatively quick identification of the notarial act that is being sought. Access to most of these files requires demonstration of legal interest, so their popularity among users is limited. The informational content of over four decades-worth of notarial acts is enormous, but at the same time, very specific. One may expect that over time, this fond (together with materials created earlier by private notarial offices) will become the subject of interest of historians of various specialties.

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