Students of the Second General Secondary School in Bolesławiec had the opportunity to take part in another exceptional history lesson conducted by Sebastian Górski, an educator at 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 a history that is very often absent from schools because teachers simply do not have time for it.”
“Those Persecuted and the Terror Apparatus in 1944–1989” is one of the most difficult lessons, Górski emphasizes. “Students work with challenging texts: encyclopedias, biographies and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
The IPN educator sought to show the young people that the terror apparatus in the Polish People’s Republic operated not only in the 1940s and 1950s, but also later. The students of II LO learned, among other things, the story of Mieczysław Chojnacki, code-named “Młodzik,” a Home Army soldier who was imprisoned in 1946. He was released in 1960, but the security service continued to take an interest in him—the last report concerning him was drawn up in 1986. “They kept checking what he was doing,” Górski states. “Workers and intellectuals were placed under surveillance, including Adam Michnik, Leszek Kołakowski and Władysław Frasyniuk. This state of affairs continued until 1989.”
In March, the students of II LO will take part in further classes במסגרת the “Lessons in Contemporary History” project. This time, the subject will be art in the service of communist propaganda. “In my opinion, this is one of the most interesting lessons prepared by the Institute of National Remembrance,” the educator emphasizes.
The IPN associate visited II LO at the initiative of Barbara Sykulska, a history teacher.
(information: ii)