The website www.polskiepodziemie.pl contains a vast collection of photographs and documents that present the essence of the Polish Underground in an accessible way. These materials are complemented by texts written by historians from the Lublin branch of the IPN, providing information about the purpose and activities of the post-war underground, as well as the methods used to combat it by the communist apparatus of repression.
As Dr Sławomir Poleszak, head of the Branch Office of Public Education of the IPN in Lublin, explains, the website continues the album “Zaplute karły reakcji... Polskie podziemie niepodległościowe 1944-1956”, first published in 2008 and reissued in 2013.
The album had enjoyed considerable interest among readers for years, but it was understood that it still reached only a limited audience. This led to the idea of using multimedia capabilities and turning it into a website accessible to everyone, especially young people. The website can be successfully used, among other purposes, by teachers during history lessons. According to Dr Poleszak, access to complete information about the people who fought after the war against a forcibly imposed system of enslavement is extremely important. Stereotypes dating back to the previous era still persist in Polish society regarding these people.
Work on the website lasted a year and a half. As Magdalena Śladecka of the Lublin IPN, who was responsible for the project’s visual design, points out, the greatest difficulty was transferring the album’s content and illustrative material into the concise format of a website. It was necessary to preserve the substantive content while presenting the rich illustrative material in an appealing way. Hence, the website includes, among other features, sliders—photo galleries—soundtracks, and recordings by Marian Pawełczak “Morwa”, a soldier in Major Hieronim Dekutowski “Zapora’s” unit. One of the chapters presented is devoted entirely to Józef Franczak “Laluś”—the last partisan of the Polish independence underground, whose 51st death anniversary will be commemorated in October this year.
“The website www.polskiepodziemie.pl is also available in a mobile version, so it can be viewed on phones and tablets,” adds Grzegorz Gałęzowski, an IT specialist from the Lublin IPN.
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The phrase “zaplute karły reakcji” (“reactionary spit-covered dwarfs”), used in the album and on the website, is a derogatory term for members of the underground, popularized by the propaganda of the communist authorities, which sought not only to annihilate the conspirators but also to besmirch their memory. Juxtaposing this widely known propaganda slogan with the material presented is also intended to emphasize the tragedy of the people who decided to continue the underground struggle and devoted their lives to it.
IPN Lublin/ii