Independence Day: Myth, Symbol, and the Creation of Modern Poland

217 Pages·2012·0.904 MB·English

by  M. B. B. Biskupski

INDEPENDENCE DAY
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Independence Day
Myth, Symbol, and the Creation of
Modern Poland
BY M. B. B. BISKUPSKI
1
3

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United Kingdom
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© M. B. B. Biskupski 2012
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First Edition published in 2012
Impression: 1
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Jankowi Biskupskiemu, który zawsze był mi wzorem
starszego brata, tę książkę poświęcam
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Foreword
Th e essential content of history is legend, but the form of history is founded on
myth.
Stefan Czarnowski1
Many years ago, I was going over the papers of my late great-grandmother. Born in
Mazowsze near Warsaw, she had married an older man who had come from the
former northeastern borderlands of historic Poland. I was only a small child, and
had no conception of Polish politics or the symbols which have, to such a striking
degree, explained them. However, I found amongst these papers a picture of an old
man in a simple uniform taking a walk. He was, I later discovered, Józef Piłsudski:
a controversial fi gure in the modern history of our ancestral homeland. It was the
only picture with a Polish theme that my grandmother kept.
Years later, I noticed that my mother, a pianist, would occasionally play an odd
song on her piano, which I later learned was called M y, Pierwsza Brygada [We, the
First Brigade]. She would always burst into song—she had a very weak voice—and
become very emotional. What this meant, I had no idea, but my family was always
moved by it. It was the anthem of Piłsudski’s loyalists.
I t seems I was born into a Piłsudskiite family. What this meant had no signifi -
cance for me. Later I discovered it meant a great deal, but exactly what I have never
decided. Th e purpose of writing this book is to explore the meaning of the symbols
and characters of my childhood to fi nd answers that satisfy me and, I trust, will
prove of value to others for whom the history of Poland is a fascination.
Th is book is a radically revised version of a lecture presented at the Institute on
East Central Europe at Columbia University on November 18th, 2002. It is based,
in part, on research carried out—for a far diff erent project—during 1998–99 as an
External Fellow of the Open Society Archives of the Central European University
in Budapest. 2 My research assistant then was Izabella Main of the Jagiellonian
University in Kraków. She has gone on to make her own contributions to a fi eld
not far distant from the questions which intrigue me.
I should like to thank John Mićgiel of Columbia University for whom I fi rst
prepared a draft of the original project; Piotr S. Wandycz of Yale; Anna M. Cienciała
of the University of Kansas; my colleague Jay Bergman, the younger brother I never
had, who read the manuscript and off ered his always sage comments, correcting
many minor slips and, more importantly, raising insightful questions about the
arguments. Among others, I should single out John P. Bermon who has provided
1 Q uoted in Wanda Nowakowska, “3 Maja w lararskiej legendzie,” in Alina Barszczewska-Krupa,
ed., Konstytucja 3 maja w tradycji i kulturze polskiej (Łódź: Wydawnictwo łódzkie, 1991), 572 .
2 All references to material from this collection will henceforth be designated as OSA, CEU.
viii Foreword
wise counsel, and Waldemar Kostrzewa for unswerving friendship. My youngest
children Misia and Staś would occasionally type things in the manuscript which I
later edited out. Whether this worked as an improvement or not is an open question.
My older children, Olesia, Jadzia, and Mietek, supported me with their devotion.
Finally, I dedicate this book to my brother, Janek, whom I love.
Colchester, 2012
Contents
Preface x
List of Abbreviations xv
1. Introduction: Th e Myths and Symbols of Independence Day 1
2. Discovering Independence Day 22
3. Contesting a National Myth, 1918–26 35
4. Formalization of a Discourse, 1926–35 46
5. Independence Day and the Celebration of Piłsudski’s
Legend, 1935–39 83
6. Maintaining a Piłsudskiite Independence Day, 1939–45 99
7. Independence Day as Symbol of Protest 120
8. Th e Party in Ideological Chaos 130
9. Th e Function of Independence Day in the Th ird
Republic: Since 1989 157
10. Conclusions 177
Bibliography 181
Index 195