Two extraordinary history lessons entitled “The Polish People’s Republic – a Totalitarian State?” were held at the II General Secondary School in Bolesławiec. They were conducted, and in an excellent manner, by Sebastian Górski, an educator from the Wrocław branch of the Institute of National Remembrance. “IPN educators conduct this type of class as part of the ‘Lessons in Contemporary History’ project,” says the scholar. “The project aims to present students with history that is very often absent from schools because teachers simply do not have time for it.”
“In my opinion, these were very interesting times; our parents and grandparents lived through them, so it is worth learning more about this history,” Górski continues. “All the more so because IPN provides students with materials unavailable in textbooks: photographs, posters and musical works. Very often, they contribute more to a lesson than the text of a textbook.”
At the very beginning of the class, the educator half-jokingly emphasized that “IPN is not just files.” And indeed. “I do not answer the question contained in the lesson topic,” notes Sebastian Górski. “Was the Polish People’s Republic a totalitarian or quasi-totalitarian state? And if so, was it so throughout the entire existence of that state? The students are to form their own opinion on the subject by analyzing texts and reading articles or biographies. This lesson is also intended to encourage them to read and explore the history of this period more deeply.”
The students were able to learn, among other things, how the economy of the Polish People’s Republic functioned and what absurdities of life in the Polish People’s Republic looked like. “But I also try to explain that the Polish People’s Republic was not only martial law and 1956, but also everyday life, architecture and art,” Górski explains.
The IPN associate visited II LO at the initiative of Barbara Sykulska, a history teacher. “Because of the limited number of hours, contemporary history is indeed treated somewhat neglectfully, while in my opinion it is an important epoch in Poland’s history,” says the teacher. “Lessons of this kind are important because young people realize that they now have freedom and democracy, but they did not receive them as a gift. Poles had to fight for this freedom.”
Students from II LO and the Electronic Schools Complex took part in the classes.
(information: ii)