Mapy pamięci. Kategoria przeszłości w polskiej kulturze politycznej

THE AUTHOR MAKES an attempt to portray ‘the memory map’, i.e. the ways of relating to the past in the postwar Poland reality. He points to educating history, erecting monuments, creating museums and memorials, war memories, vetting, etc. He points out the essential differences between the actions relating to the past in People’s Republic of Poland and in Poland after 1989. The author comes to the conclusion that during most of the postwar period Polish society perceived the past events only – or at least mainly – in the category of a victim. In Polish mentality has been deeply rooted a picture of a Polish man who is suffering and is being hurt by the German aggressor. This image has become an archetype and one of the most significant elements of the national identity.