RECOVERING FORGOTTEN HISTORY - 15TH EDITION OF THE PROJECT in English-Language Academic Textbooks
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RECOVERING
FORGOTTEN HISTORY
”The Image of East-Central Europe
in English-Language Academic Textbooks”
15TH EDITION OF THE PROJECT
9–24 June 2017
Warszawa / Toruń / KrakówA FOREWORD PIOTR
TO THE ”RECOVERING WOŹNIAK
THE PRESIDENT
FORGOTTEN HISTORY” OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD
PROJECT
“
As one of the largest companies in Poland, PGNiG SA has a duty to- The conference entitled ”Recovering Forgotten History. The Image of
wards the society which goes beyond its business activity. Corporate East-Central Europe in English-Language Academic Textbooks” fits
social responsibility in the modern sense also covers the care for the perfectly into our activities conducted as part of the ”We warm up
heritage of the national memory. Since February 2016, we have been Polish Hearts” programme. It is a wonderful project. Recovering the
successfully carrying out the innovative ”We warm up Polish Hearts” truth about the Polish history should be a priority of the historical
programme, whose aim is the care for patriotic values, historical policy pursued by Poland. We cannot allow the ”Polish death camps”
education and building our Polish national community. It forms part lie to prevail. For 11 years now, the ”Recovering Forgotten History”
of a long-term and carefully thought-out strategy. It is also impor- conference has been helping to correct those lies in English-language
tant that the knowledge of history lets us better understand the con- academic textbooks. The Foundation for Civic Space and Public Pol-
temporary geopolitics, which impacts the interests of our company icy, the organiser of the conference, fills in the gaps in the Polish
and the entire Polish economy alike. history. As a Polish company, we want to help the foundation to ac-
complish this task. We encourage everyone to get to know this ex-
traordinary initiative.Far away from cameras, far away from all the bustle and publicity, far
away from emotional excitement and delusions of superiority, accu-
sations and resentments, which are so characteristic of the ”fight” for
PROF. PIOTR the truth in the contemporary public ”debate”, the organisers of the
GLIŃSKI event undertake painstaking work at the grass roots. They analyse the
content of English-language textbooks and look for ways to commu-
DEPUTY PRIME nicate with their authors and convince them to the Polish point of view
MINISTER, MINISTER in an honest and sincere discussion and not in a duel with ideological
OF CULTURE AND clubs.
NATIONAL HERITAGE
LET US RECOVER THE TRUTH This work is priceless. Its value resides, among other things, in the
“
ABOUT POLISH HISTORY persistence of the positive changes it brings. When the participants of
the project manage to convince influential foreign historians that the
Polish vision of the history is the right one not because it is Polish, but
because it is simply true and then they—of their own free will and with
personal conviction—incorporate it in their textbooks, the in-depth
knowledge about the history of Poland will be passed on to the future
There are those who say that the truth does not exist and that what elites of Western societies.
seems the truth is not a reflection of reality, but a subjective construct,
i.e. that we live in a reality that is completely relative and fluid. Consequently, the initiative of the organisers of ”Recovering Forgot-
Our view is different. The values that we believe in lead us towards quite ten History” is utterly important because it appeals not to the hearts
a different standpoint: not only does the truth exist, but serving the truth (where it would probably be fast re-forgotten), but to the minds of
is our inalienable duty, even if determining the historical facts is often a foreign students. It has been that way for 11 years, which is particular-
tedious and arduous process, which may not be fully successful. ly important, because continuity forms an integral part of the project:
without this, it would never become so influential. Thanks to the dis-
I have no doubt whatsoever that such axiological assumptions are pur- cussions taking place under the auspices of the ”Recovering Forgotten
sued by the organisers of the ”Recovering Forgotten History” conference. History” project, we have managed to change the content of foreign
Otherwise, they would not be carrying out the task they have set before academic textbooks in such matters as the ”Polish death camps” lie,
themselves. the ”liberation” by the Soviet Union’s Red Army in 1945, knowledge
about the Warsaw Uprising, the Soviet invasion on 17 September 1939
For Poles, due to the ordeals we have endured in the history, historical and the role of John Paul II and Solidarity in overthrowing the com-
truth is also a certificate of the condition of the community we create. The munism.
”Recovering Forgotten History” project is in line with this fact. It combines
the search for the truth, which is the obligation of any decent historian, There are those who say that history is written by the winners. The in-
with the Polish cause, which is the duty of each patriot. itiators and participants of the ”Recovering Forgotten History” project
prove beyond any reasonable doubt that it is not the only possibility.
It is not only in this synergistic approach that the phenomenon This is why they deserve the greatest praise.
of the ”Recovering Forgotten History” initiative resides. The ob-
ject of the work carried out here is worthy of highest recognition.PROF. ANDRZEJ
S. KAMIŃSKI:
THE AUTHOR
OF THE ”RECOVERING
FORGOTTEN HISTORY”
PROJECT
It was an immensely successful idea to organise conferences as part of which
authors and editors of publications printed in many thousands (or even millions)
of copies come to a country so cursorily described in the accounts of the histo-
ry of Europe and the world, World War II, the Cold War and the European culture
and about which those authors and editors used to know so little. The project
affords a unique opportunity to change the image of Poland in English-speaking
countries and, consequently, in the entire world.
Prof. Andrzej Sulima Kamiński graduated from the Faculty of History at the
Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Later, he completed post-doctoral studies at
Stanford and Oxford. In 1970–1982, he was a lecturer at the Columbia Universi-
ty in the City of New York. Since 1982, he has been teaching history at George-
town University in Washington. The professor specialises in the history of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, East-Central Europe and Russia in the 16th
to 18th centuries. He emphasises the multinational, multireligious and multicul- His Jewish undergraduate and Ph.D. students speak about the ”Kamiński
tural character of the Commonwealth. School” in Jewish historiography, while the professor’s activity in Ukrain-
ian community has served to build bridges between Ukrainian and Polish
In his lectures and publications, he points to relations between the civic tradi- elites. Prof. Andrzej Kamiński has devoted his time to serve the interests of
tion and the system of values in the Commonwealth. He emphasises that the Poland and Poles multiple times. He worked for Poland and the post-Soviet
history of Poland should have a strong presence in the history of European par- area as part of the East Central European Scholarship Program (ECESP).
liamentarism and constitutionalism, which has been neglected and is now being The professor took part in selection of candidates to the programme and
recovered from oblivion. He is the author of many books and articles dedicated then served as a scientific advisor to the scholarship holders. In recognition
to the history and culture of East-Central European countries. The professor of the professor’s achievements, on 3 March 2008, he was awarded the
has also contributed to dispelling numerous stereotypes about Poland in vari- Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by the late President
ous periods of history. of Poland Lech Kaczyński.“
I do not know a more efficient way of changing the (up to now usual-
ly unfavourable) image of Poland and the entire region, which could
be described as the heritage of the First Polish Republic, held by the
American academic community and, through this community, by
millions of students from the United States and other Western uni-
versities using American textbooks. In the atmosphere of an intel-
lectual dialogue accompanying the conference, surrounded by the
most magnificent and dramatic relics of Polish cultural and historical
tradition, we can witness a small but true miracle. It consists in the
fact that books shaping the beliefs of American elites are amended
in ways that are consistent with the Polish historical perspective and
beneficial, to put it briefly, to the Polish statehood. During one of
the conferences, we succeeded in convincing, for example, authors
of the two most popular American textbooks on the history of Rus-
sia that it is worth making an honest mention of Katyn, adequately
presenting the meaning of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, exposing
the attractive force of the political, systemic and cultural model of
the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th and 17th centuries
for the neighbouring countries and, last but not least, changing the
term Russia to the more adequate Rus’ or Rutenia when referring to
the area of today’s Ukraine and Belarus in the Middle Ages and in the
early modern era. Is it too little? On the contrary, it is a huge achieve-
ment. No five- or even thirty-second video coverage in CNN will have
any major impact. The content of those footages will be forgotten
ANDRZEJ by its random viewers after several seconds, at most days or weeks.
NOWAK Textbooks on the history of the European civilisation or Russia, which
PROFESSOR are improved thanks to the conferences, have to be ”crammed” by
OF THE INSTITUTE OF HISTORY, American students. The Katyn massacre or some reminiscence of
THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY the Polish Golden Age may remain in their memory. They will be-
come the political, business, cultural and OPINION-FORMING elites of
America. If we underestimate this ”channel” of influencing their ideas
about our region and about Poland, a great chance will be wasted.RECOVERING
FORGOTTEN HISTORY:
THE MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION
03
One of the major achievements of the project is the offer made to Prof. Andrzej
Nowak in 2016 by a publisher from Harvard University Press to publish a text-
book entitled History of Modern Poland, which is currently under preparation.
01
The book is to be published in 2017. The publishers of Oxford and Pittsburgh
offered the experts taking part in the conference an opportunity to publish
three other textbooks.
The basic aim of the project is to change the negative image of Poland and
the region of East-Central Europe in the Western historiography and media
content. ”Recovering Forgotten History” stands for annual meetings (organ-
04
ised for 11 years) of invited authors and publishers of English-language his-
torical books with Polish and foreign experts. The reviews and discussions on
the analysed texts result in introduction of the desired supplementations and
corrections. The participants of the meetings of the ”Recovering Forgotten History” se-
ries include English-speaking publishers and authors of academic textbooks
02
and historical monographs, as well as Polish historians and experts from the
Visegrad Group countries and other countries of East-Central Europe.
The conferences consist in revising information contained in university textbooks
such as History of Western Civilization, History of World Civilization or Western
05
Society, which are the basic sources of information on the history, societies and
culture of the countries of Europe and the world. The texts contained in those
sources are read by all students, regardless of the field of study, in the United
States and in countries of the Anglo-Saxon culture. The image of Poland’s past in In the long term, the project is to contribute to reversing the heritage of the
the United States and in the Anglo-Saxon world is shaped to a large extent by a nineteenth-century historiography with its Germany- and Russia-centric per-
small group of approx. 15 publishers and approx. 50 historians. spective on the East-Central Europe and the history of the 20th century.The topics that require rectification
and are often referred to in discussions
87 87
REVIEWED
TEXTBOOKS AND
PROFESSORS FROM
THE UNITED STATES,
“Polish
death camps”
The liberation of Poland
and the entire East-Central Europe
by the Red Army in 1945
The Polish fascism after
the coup d’état carried
out by Piłsudski
MONOGRAPHS THAT THE UNITED KING-
REACH HUNDREDS DOM, CANADA
OF MILLIONS OF AND ISRAEL Knowledge about the Warsaw Ghetto
Uprising, but lack of knowledge about
Glorification of Mikhail Gorbachev as the
”vanquisher of communism” with no reference
STUDENTS ALL OVER ENGAGED the Warsaw Uprising to the role of Pope John Paul II and Solidarity
THE WORLD IN THE PROJECT
27
COOPERATING
EDITORS
15
EDITIONS
OF THE PROJECT
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact portrayed as a pragmatic choice made by Stalin
and the Soviet invasion of 17 September 1939 interpreted as an attempt
to protect civilians against the German occupation
AND PUBLISHERS OVER 11 YEARS
RECOVERING
The conviction that Europe
ends at the eastern border
of Germany
FORGOTTEN
HISTORY IN FIGURESObviously, we cannot expect Poland to compete with Germany in financial terms. However, not
only does Germany spend a lot of money, but it also does it wisely. Apart from that, they have
RECOVERING
an excellent knowledge of the reality at American universities, explains Prof. Andrzej Kamiński
We, in turn, cherish delusions that we will be able to change the vision of the Polish history and
strengthen the position of our country through the Polish community in America.
FORGOTTEN HISTORY
As a result, the authors of books on the history of the world civilisation who have to write
something about Poland use German and Russian sources, adds the coordinator of the
”Recovering Forgotten History” project, Eulalia Łazarska, representing the Foundation of
Civic Space and Public Policy. However, the historical traditions in those countries are not
IN THE MEDIA favourable for us. We face this problem constantly at the ‘Recovering Forgotten History’
conferences. In those serious academic books, we sometimes encounter information that
are utterly absurd for Poles.
How to prevent a situation in which the history
of Poland and the East-Central Europe at foreign
THE BATTLE
FOR HISTORY IS ON
universities is taught based exclusively on Ger-
man and Russian historiography? Prof. Andrzej ”Only this
Kamiński claims that publishing Polish historical
www.nowahistoria.interia.pl books in the United States is not a good solution.
If those textbooks are not published by universi-
kind of historical
ty publishing houses, no one will read them, says
Prof. Andrzej Kamiński, who works at George- policy makes
town University and has an excellent knowledge
Our task is to remove gaps in the history of Poland, which unfortunately is not appro-
of the realities of the American academic com-
munity. The right solution is to approach foreign
sense”
priately represented by Western scholars,says Prof. Andrzej Kamiński to Interia web
authors and convince them in a scholarly discus-
portal in the interview, explaining that the reason for this situation should be sought in
sion to make supplementations and corrections.
the activity of German and Russian historians dating back to the 19th century.
Publishing books to say that Poles are the best is pointless. No American historian is going
In the 19th century, when the contemporary knowledge about history was being
to pay attention to that. The only reasonable way is what this programme is based on: es-
formed, taking national forms, often nationalistic or—which is of great significance
tablishing contacts with foreign scholars. Importantly, we do not pressurise them or censor
from the Polish perspective—in some cases imperialistic, Poland as a state was not on
their books. If we are able to convince them to make changes, they do it. If no, we can do
the maps. We certainly were a nation, an idea, but there was no state as such. At the
nothing. However, the conference provides them with an opportunity to get to know the Pol-
same time, the superpowers taking part in our partitions such as Russia or Germany
ish perspective, comments Prof. Maciej Janowski, one of the experts participating in the ”Re-
were able to formulate a well-established version of history with a message that was
covering Forgotten History” project. ”I have had the pleasure of participating in the project
favourable to them. Even earlier, the Empress of Russia Catherine the Great used to
for several years and I think that if historical policy is to make sense, it has to be the kind of
pay hefty amounts to Voltaire for writing pasquils about the Polish state justifying par-
policy that Professor Andrzej Kamiński is pursuing when implementing this project”, he adds.
titions, which were widely read in the entire Enlightenment-era Europe. It is this German
and Russian version of history that entered the European and global canon and was
It is important to understand the mechanism of the enterprise. The project does not have
preserved in this form and not a different one, the Professor Kamiński explains.
the form of a traditional scholarly conference with speakers’ presentations followed by a
short discussion. In the ”Recovering Forgotten History” project, it is the talks and discus-
We are witnessing—let us not be afraid to name it—a permanent battle for history. It is
sions that are the most important element of the meeting.
nothing new. Some countries spend huge money on it nowadays – he says. For example,
Germany spends approx. 20 million EUR to ensure operation of the German Institute at
Georgetown University. This unit educates American scholars, who later work at other
American universities.What we try to achieve is to improve a given author’s research work that we receive Another outcome of the ”Recovering Forgotten History” project is the agreement between
in the form of manuscripts of his books through discussions. At the moment, approx. the Harvard publishing house and Prof. Andrzej Nowak concerning a book on the history
90% are manuscripts of books that will be published only after the conference, says of Poland in the 19th and 20th centuries. There is no doubt that a work by such a promi-
Prof. Andrzej Kamiński. nent scholar as Prof. Andrzej Nowak will
be free from misrepresentations and
I would also like to emphasise one thing, because it seems that not everyone under- gaps. Without our programme, this pro-
stands that: it is not only historians and authors who participate in the conference, but ject would not be possible, Prof. Andrzej
also publishers. If we invite Kathleen McDermott of Harvard, we can talk to a person
that has a great influence on the decision on what historical books will be published by
Kamiński points out. What are other tan-
gible effects of the ”Recovering Forgot- ”It is not
Harvard University Press and, consequently, what books will be read by historians all ten History” project? Professor John Mc-
over the world because Harvardian books are read by everyone, he adds. It turns out
that not all historians are very eager to make corrections to accommodate the sugges-
Neill of Georgetown University contacted
us himself with a manuscript of his new
a regular
tions of Polish historians. During the conference, there were two such cases. Finally, the
authors agreed to amend their works only after an intervention by the publisher who
book, History Of The World, to obtain our
feedback on its content and avoid mis- scientific
threatened not to publish the book. It appears
conference”
takes, Eulalia Łazarska reveals. And he
that publishers appreciate our achievements is an internationally renowned historian.
since they themselves ask for comments on
books that they intend to publish, notes the The project is not a regular scholarly
”Foreign
Polish historian. conference with lectures and at most
15-minutes-long discussion, if any. Here, the dialogue is on-going. As a result, we are able
Prof. Andrzej Kamiński shares a meaningful to convince world-famous historians that the history of Poland was different after all and
publishers came example from this year’s conference. One
of the discussed publications was a book
sometimes of significance to the global history. They will not write about our country only
to please us. They have to have scientific arguments that the history of Poland helps to
to appreciate
by Prof. Karin Friedrich entitled ”The Other explain the processes taking place in the world. It is a challenge for us to prove it, explains
Prussia. Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty Prof. Maciej Janowski, pointing to the dual effect of the project: a project that brings results.
1596–1772”, issued by Cambridge Universi- Thanks to the efforts of the participants of the ”Recovering Forgotten History” project,
our achieve- ty and granted awards in the United States.
The publication interprets the history of Po-
changes have been made to over eighty foreign textbooks and historical books, and the
Polish initiative has gained recognition among foreign scholars. The results are nothing but
ments” land in a manner that is different from what
is typical of the German scholarly tradition.
positive for the image of Poland abroad since—unlike what others may want us to think—we
have nothing to be ashamed of, he sums up.
The findings of the historian are closer to
the Polish perspective: due to the predato-
ry politics of the Prussian King Frederick II, Poland fell prey to the first partition in — ARTUR WRÓBLEWSKI
1772. The publisher and two German historians took part in the scholarly discussion.
Participation in the ”Recovering Forgotten History” project convinced them to translate
the English book into German and publish it in the country of our western neighbours.
Will this book be published in German? I have no idea, comes the response from the
initiator of the project. However, we have undertaken an attempt to introduce the Polish
perspective on the history of Prussia into the German historiography, casting doubt on
the German interpretation, which is unfavourable for us. As far as I know, the interest
in the book is so high that it is likely to appear in Germany, he adds.This is why a regular American gets to know Poland through the perspective of the tragedy
of Holocaust, mass executions and Auschwitz etc. However, they have no idea about the
RECOVERING
three partitions of Poland or Piłsudski. For Americans, these are very remote topics.
However, the same applies to publications from other countries, e.g. Germany.
FORGOTTEN HISTORY
I spend half of my life in France, where my children live. Since it is Europe, knowledge about
Poland is at a much higher level than in the United States. However, in Europe, we have
enough other problems, including growing populism, right-wing parties and terrorism. I do
not know Germany, but Germans are probably more interested in Poland. They are your
IN THE MEDIA neighbours and a lot of Poles live there. They are lucky to have the fabulous Lewandowski
play for them.
How should Poland respond to purposeful distortions of historical facts so that its actions
are effective?
PROF. JOHN What kind of distortions are you referring to?
MERRIMAN The most frequent case is the ”Polish death camps” lie.
THE USE OF THE TERM
”POLISH DEATH CAMPS” Obviously, you have to react to it. I do not remember which idiot said that, but it was a sign
IS A SIGN OF STUPIDITY of stupidity of the statement’s author. If you want an example of lack of knowledge in Amer-
icans, in particular politicians, it is a prime one. It was a total madness. It was evident that
www.superhistoria.pl
somebody had to react to it.
How should Poland intervene in the case of such erroneous statements as ”Polish camps”
Marcin Bartnicki: Polish politicians and journalists often claim that the authors to make the reaction effective but not too harsh? Journalists in Germany, Norway and the
of books and articles published in the West intentionally misrepresent the Polish United Kingdom often shorten the complex term to those two words.
history (a note by PGNiG: the interview was conducted before Donald Trump’s visit
to Poland). Is it a serious problem or do we exaggerate? It is an obvious error that should be reacted to. It is a stupidity and a misunderstanding dis-
torting what happened to Jews in Poland, but also in Hungary, Bulgaria, France and many
Prof. John Merriman: Americans know very little about everything that is located out- other places. We must be clear that it presents a totally false interpretation of what hap-
side America. I do not think that the President of the United States, i.e. currently un- pened.
fortunately Donald Trump, could even locate Poland on a map. This is exactly a part of
the problem: Americans have always been interested in the American history and know You specialise in the history of the nineteenth-century France. How did you become inter-
very little about the world. Even 70% of Americans are unable to locate France on a ested in the history of Poland?
map of the world. It is rather funny when some of them place France in Africa, next
to Zimbabwe. It seems that the present president of the United States belongs to the The history of France in the 19th and 20th centuries is the subject of all my books except one:
same category. “A History of Modern Europe: From Renaissance to the Present” (editor’s note: several hun-
dreds of thousand copies sold all over the world). In 2006, I was invited to Poland for a
Your assessment of the knowledge of the American society is very harsh. discussion about this book. As a result, in the new edition, I dedicated much more space to
Poland. The first time I came to Poland was as a young boy. I was in Warszawa in 1969 and
Yes, but it is the reality. For years, the society’s interest in history has been decreasing. I remember that when I looked down from the Palace of Culture and Science, I saw streets
The millennials are more interested in getting hold of a new smartphone than in history, still covered with debris. I did not return to Poland until 2006.
even that of their own country. Americans are mostly interested in the American Civil
War, the American War of Independence and World War II.This is my fourteenth visit to Kraków. I have had an opportunity to spend a lot of time Do such conferences make a significant contribution to eliminating similar shortcomings?
there and I have learned a great deal about Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus. Po-
land is my favourite country, second to France. I have friends here and they help me to Prof. Andrzej S. Kamiński invited many experts, not only from Poland, who analysed mis-
get to know much more than before about Poland. takes and suggested corrections. I think it works well and helps authors to create better
books. In my opinion, it is a very successful and important programme. It contributes to
There must be something captivating in this country. achieving the goal of disseminating knowledge about the history of East-Central Europe in
the United States and the United Kingdom. If Americans elect Donald Trump, who knows
You can always make comparisons. Here are some obvious things. In France, almost nothing about anything, we need to educate the next generation that will have knowledge
no one goes to church. Only 5% of those who declare themselves to be Catholic go to about the rest of the world, about the challenges, tragedies, successes, which abound in
mass. The average age of priests is 70 and one fourth of them are over 80. In Poland, the Polish history and which have shaped its current form. This is what we are trying to do.
the situation is completely different. If you go to Saint Mary’s Church in Kraków, with
10 masses celebrated in a day, you can see a totally different picture: there are young
priests and young nuns. It is the kind of Catholicism that has completely disappeared
in France. The reasons for that are interesting. It is just one example of the many com-
parisons that can be made. Another example is the history of Poland during partitions
compared to what happened in Western Europe at the same time. “Poland had a great impact
Do your students share your interest in Poland? on the American constitution”
Yes. The events in Ukraine brought about an increased interest in Central Europe. I work
TV REPUBLIKA
at the University of Yale so the students are very good. The history of Poland is taught www.telewizjarepublika.pl
by Timothy Snyder, but I often refer to the history of Poland during my lectures on the
history of France.
What is the single fact related to the history of Poland that is the most interesting for
your students?
I do not teach the history of Poland, but the history of Europe from 1648 to 1945. It
is one of the lectures I give. I talk about Poland in the 1920s and 1930s, which means
When will foreign students get
that I obviously talk about the tragedy of World War II. This is what my students are to know the full history of Poland?
interested in.
PROGRAMME 1,
The conference you took part in concerned mistakes in the descriptions of the history
of Poland that appear in English-language textbooks. How often do you encounter
POLSKIE RADIO
such errors? www.polskieradio.pl
I do not read those books. My book is rather top-end. It is read by highly skilled students
of good universities and participants of classes dedicated to the most talented secondary
school students. Consequently, it is not a good example representing the entire Western
civilisation. In the first edition of my book, there was nothing about the Warsaw Uprising “Recovering Forgotten History.
and nearly nothing about ghettoes in Poland. These were not mistakes as such, but rather
an undervaluation of the complex and tragic Polish history. Since that time, I have visited The Image of East-Central Europe
the Warsaw Uprising Museum many times. It is extraordinary. It helped me to get to know in English-Language Academic
the history of Poland and I could expand on this topic in my book.
Textbooks”
PORANEK RDC
www.rdc.plRECOVERING
With Prof. James Collins’ great support, I managed to get through to American colleagues
who were writing about the history of Europe, such as Prof. John Merriman. It is he who
came here with A History of Modern Europe since the Renaissance, and I gathered a group
of Polish experts. The discussion about his book stretched over three separate conferences.
FORGOTTEN HISTORY
This is what was required by the high number of corrections and the author’s conviction that
there is another Europe that he had had no idea about. Europe ended with the Iron Curtain.
Grzegorz Chlasta (RDC): What does an American professor think about recovering forgot-
IN THE MEDIA ten history? What does this conference mean to you?
Prof. James Collins: I am not a historian specialising in Polish history, although I have studied
it a bit. I specialise in the history of France in the 16th to 17th century. I examined relations
between France and Poland, mainly because of Henry III. For me, he is a good example of
AN INTERVIEW WITH PROF. what should be ”recovered”. In 1468–1789, there was only one adult king of France that
held the Estates General. It was Henry III and he did it twice. I argued that it was due to the
ANDRZEJ KAMIŃSKI
experience that he had gained in Poland. Henry III saw that the parliament could be an effec-
AND PROF. JAMES COLLINS tive counterbalance to French magnates, similarly as the Polish Sejm was a counterbalance
OF GEORGETOWN to the Senate. The 1570s were one of the most important moments in the development of
UNIVERSITY the Western political thought. In 1576, the great French philosopher Jean Bodin published
his famous work entitled The Six Books of the Republic, in which he formulated the modern
www.rdc.pl concept of state sovereignty for the first time.
When the Polish delegates went to France to bring the king Henry III with them, they stopped
Grzegorz Chlasta (RDC): The title of the conference contains the word ”recovering”. in Metz. The local bishop, a delegate of the Estates General and a member of the royal fami-
Why? ly, delivered a welcome speech in Latin, which was later published as a pamphlet and trans-
lated into French. It is very probable that the author of the speech was Jean Bodin. When
Prof. Andrzej Kamiński: I suppose that it is rather obvious for us Poles. We have always several years later he wrote his classic book in which he dealt with the history of the An-
been part of Europe. At least since the 10th century, we have been engaged in what we cient Greece and Rome, he also recounted the history of his own times. For that purpose, he
call Europe: the civilisation created based on ancient models set out by Aristotle and used the works of the best historians from all over Europe, but he most often cited Marcin
Christianity. We ”dropped out” of this civilisation after World War II, when we were in- Kromer. We know that the Polish delegation of 1573 brought a copy of Kromer’s chronicles.
vaded and when the Iron Curtain separated us from the remaining part of Europe. In all Another member of the delegation was a Polish historian, Jan Herburt, who brought his own
American textbooks on the history and the contemporary world intended for politics book on the history of Poland, which was quickly translated into French.
and politicians, Western Europe was the only one that existed at the time. Between
this part of Europe and Russia, there was ”unchartered land”. When I had to prepare We started the programme from books concerning the history of the United States and
materials for students in America, it was difficult to find the necessary information Europe. Twenty-five years ago, a textbook on the history of the United States would never
about obvious matters in the textbooks available there. For example: where were good mention the story I will tell you now. The first English colony in North America was James-
universities located? No university in Poland was mentioned, neither any famous uni- town, founded in 1607. Five years later, the famous John Smith brought Polish craftsmen
versities in Prague or Hungary. Obviously, only Italian, Spanish, German and English from Gdańsk and Toruń. In 1619, the colonists decided to set up a democratic assembly.
universities were mentioned. However, all of us know that the universities in Prague and However, the voting right was given only to men from England. The Polish carpenters went
Kraków were already there before any German universities were founded. You could on strike. They said that either they would be allowed to vote or they would refuse to work,
leaf through three thousand pages of an academic textbook with thousands of photo- and thus they got the voting rights. Poles fought for the principle of democratic representa-
graphs representing the European civilisation cast in stone without ever seeing a single tion and won. I live in Virginia. I have three daughters and a 16-year-old grandson. All the
picture of Wawel or Zamość. children in the state learn about the history of Virginia at 10 or 11. When my daughters were
at school in the 1990s, they obviously heard the famous story about the assembly of 1619,
I think that the fundamental political transformation that took place after 1989 result- but no mention was made about Poles at the time. My grandson, who learnt about it in 2011,
ed in a situation in which Americans became open to filling in those white spots with already knows that Poles were part of that history. This is what the ”recovering” is about.
a true history instead of calling everything Russia. Up until recently, in each American
textbook, Kiev was presented as a Russian city.THE 15TH EDITION The monograph entitled Maria Theresa: A Dynastic Life by Rita Krueger, dedicated to the
biography of Maria Theresa, did not bring new materials about the issues that were of par-
OF THE ”RECOV-
ticular importance for us.
The conference also made it possible to discuss two very important works about Ukraine:
ERING FORGOTTEN
Wars, Revolutions, Peace Talks and the Politics of National Self-Determination: Ukraine and
Its Borderlands by Mark von Hagen and Young Europe and the Birth of Modern Nationalism
in the Slavic World by Anna Procyk. Those works drew attention to the assessment of Pol-
HISTORY”
ish-Ukraine relations and their European and Russian repercussions.
The meetings took place in Kraków, Toruń and Warszawa.
CONFERENCE The conference guests visited Catholic churches and old, but still active synagogues. They
were impressed by each of the interesting and distinct cities. If they complained of some-
thing, it was of the lack of time to ”see even more”. Some of them wanted to ”drop in” at
9–24 JUNE 2017 Gdańsk and Gdynia, others at Łódź or Zamość and Sandomierz, about which they heard
from their colleagues. Scholars specialising in the times of the Commonwealth of Diverse
Cultures would love to visit Grodno, Vilnius or Lviv and Kiev, whose names repeatedly
During the 15th edition of the ”Recovering Forgotten History” conference, fourteen
popped up during the discussions.
texts were reviewed: 12 manuscripts prepared for the first edition, one translation
of a book that has already been published in the United States and in Poland and is
The authors expressed their gratitude for the detailed comments and extensive suggestions
now to appear in Germany and the sixth edition of a basic textbook on the current
of additions made by the experts, promising to make numerous changes. Some even com-
European politics.
mitted themselves to writing additional chapters. All the publishers were very grateful to
the organisers “for the extraordinarily relevant comments”. The conference was conducted
The participants included 15 authors from the United States, Canada and the United
in a focused and pleasant (or even warm) atmosphere; it was very satisfying to see the
Kingdom, 7 publishers from the United States, Canada and Germany and 39 experts,
authors and publishers establish friendly relations with the experts representing numerous
including scholars from Israel, Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine, the United States and
Polish universities and research establishments, as well as with foreign experts.
Hungary.
With the help and engagement of Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo (PGNiG) and
Three of the discussed academic textbooks will influence a wide range of Eng-
the PGNiG Foundation, information about the project appeared in numerous radio and TV
lish-speaking students all over the world: History of the World by Prof. John McNeill,
programmes, and in the most popular Internet portals, reaching millions of domestic and
The Ottomans in Europe by Gábor Ágoston and Europe Today: A Twenty-first Century
foreign readers. The patrons and media partners of the projects were: WSieci, WSieci His-
Introduction by Erik Jones. The other monographs will be used as auxiliary materials
toria, TVP Info and the Polish Press Agency (PAP). The interviews with the participants, in-
for the undergraduate and basic levels in master’s and doctoral classes. Two of the
cluding the foreign guests and the organisers, demonstrated the importance of the project
discussed works were a tribute towards our colleagues from the Visegrad Group: ex-
in disseminating knowledge about the history of Poland and the region of Central Europe in
perts for the texts Between the Sacred and the Profane: Clericalism, the Sciences, and
the world, and the role of the seminar in changing the image of our country abroad.
the Romanian-Hungarian Contest for the Moldavian Csangos by Chris Davis and Borders
on the Move: Identity Politics and Territorial Change in the Hungarian-Slovak Borderland
by Leslie Waters. Blood and Paper: European Diplomacy and Cultural Knowledge in the
Aftermath of Anti-Jewish Libels by Magda Teter, which is a work of an impressive scope, — EULALIA ŁAZARSKA
presents the ”policy” of the Catholic Church towards Jews in the context of accusations THE PRESIDENT OF THE FOUNDATION
OF CIVIC SPACE AND PUBLIC POLICY
of ritual murders.
The Polish-Jewish issues made Polish experts criticise certain interpretations and omis-
sions that appeared in two of the discussed texts that concerned other issues: Edge
of Destruction: Warsaw Intelligentsia under Nazi Occupation, 1939–1944 by Jadwiga — PROF. ANDRZEJ S. KAMIŃSKI
Biskupska and Justice behind the Iron Curtain: Nazis on Trial in Communist Poland by GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Alexander Prusin and Gabriel Finder.“
RECOVERING
FORGOTTEN
HISTORY I will never write anything about World War II and the Cold
War in the same way as before. This conference was an eye
“
IN THE OPINION OF PROFESSORS and mind opening experience, showing the manner in which the
history about America in the second half of the 20th century
could be and should have been written...
The ideas which are shared here will have a beneficial impact
The conference proved a unique combination of an intellectual on millions of American students who will be reading the text-
discussion and learning through experience. The conference sig- books (revised by you) during their classes... The passion, pat-
nificantly exceeded my expectations as a forum for getting to riotism and humanism: these are the distinguishing features
know the local, East-Central European perspective on my book of the Polish national character. I hope that I will be able to
concerning the political and administrative decentralisation af- convey this to my readers.
ter 1989. The two reviewers who read my manuscript provided
us, me and my publisher, with many insights and valuable criti-
cism.
— PROF. RANDY ROBERTS
“
PERDUE UNIVERSITY
My book improved a lot after the conference. What is more,
the conference enlivened my classes in political sciences, which
I conduct for students at Colby College. Soon, I will be teach-
ing ”Post-Communist Transformation” and I wish to enrich the
recommended reading list with two memoirs I heard about in my I and my colleagues and co-authors are greatly indebted to the
discussions with Prof. Andrzej Kamiński, and a Polish film about conference and its participants. The discussions conducted at the
which I heard from other experts. The experience of exchanging conference during the two visits to Poland, which were undoubt-
ideas with my colleagues, making new acquaintances and the edly one of the most intellectually challenging and stimulating in
time spend in the microcosm of the East-Central European histo- my academic career, forced me to change the concept of how
ry and culture were immensely valuable for me as a scholar. I conduct my two classes: ”The History of Western Civilisation”
and ”The Europe of the 20th Century”. I am very grateful for it.
— PROF. JENNIFER YODER
COLBY COLLEGE, WATERVILLE — PROF. MEREDITH VELDMAN
LUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITYTHE HONORARY PATRONAGE
OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
OF POLAND ANDRZEJ DUDA
The project has been organised by:
Miasto Toruń
Media partners
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