18 MILLENIUMthe lands of the Archbishop of Gniezno. But it moved on to expound a theoret-
ical discipline that exerted considerable influence on the professionals of the
People's Republic. His Metodologia bistorii (1973) became a standard guide.^23
Ironically, his introduction to Marksizm a Historia (1977) was published
shortly after Poland's best-known ex-Marxist philosopher, necessarily working
abroad, had published his devastating critique of Marxism's origins, growth,
and dissolution. (See p. 552.)
However, the respectable face of history-writing in the People's Republic was
irreparably scarred by the detailed revelations of an official censor who defected
to the West in 1977 and who took a complete set of the Censorship Office's
directives with him. Unlike the Soviet Union, where the very existence of the
censors was censored, the general activities of the Glowny Urzad Kontroli
Prasy, Publikacji i Widowisk (GUKPPiW) were well known in Poland.
Publishers were required to submit an annual publishing plan for approval in
advance. They were then required to submit every approved title for scrutiny
and to incorporate all the censor's textual changes before printing. No undesir-
able author or subject could find a way into print, and no approved text could
ever contain unapproved material. Official permission had also to be obtained
for paper allocations and hence for the size of print runs. So much was general
knowledge to all scholars and would-be authors. Yet the Black Book of Polish
Censorship showed beyond question that the controls were far more extensive
than anyone outside the Party elite could have suspected. For the directives were
not merely concerned with negative methods of suppressing or limiting inform-
ation. First and foremost, they constituted a huge body of pre-emptive instruc-
tions which laid down what facts were to be known, what interpretations were
to be preferred, what aspects were to be emphasized, and which people were to
be praised. In the large historical section, for example, much space was allotted
to the American Bi-Centennial of 1976. Here, the Polish censors gave instruc-
tions to the effect that 'the American Revolution' was to be presented in a posi-
tive light; that Americans were to be congratulated on their achievement; and
that the overthrow of British imperialism by the colonists was to be lauded. The
progressive role of Poles, such as Kosciuszko and Pulaski, was to be stressed, as
was the reactionary role of German (Hanoverian) redcoats. At the same time,
great care was to be taken to keep history apart from current affairs. Polish
readers were not to be told that workers in the USA belonged to free trade
unions, drove cars, ate steaks, and generally enjoyed a standard of living
unimaginable in the Soviet Block.^24
In the last quarter of the twentieth century, three events re-awakened interest
in Polish History more than anything that had happened since the Second World
War. The election of a Polish Pope in 1978, the emergence of the Solidarity
Movement in 1980-1, and the collapse of the People's Republic in 1989-90, all
served successively to liberate the subject from its former chains.
The election of John Paul II reverberated through all corners of Polish life, not
least in history lessons, in history books, and in historical interpretations.