Polish Underground State - Definition, Historiography and Remembrance

Definition, Historiography and Remembrance

For decades, research on the Polish Underground State was restricted, largely because the communist People's Republic of Poland did not wish to fully acknowledge the role of the non-communist resistance. During the first postwar Stalinist years, efforts to explore this topic were regarded as dangerous, bordering on illegal. Research into the events occurring in the Soviet-annexed territories in the 1939–1941 period was particularly difficult. The limited research devoted to the Underground State that did take place was done mainly by Polish émigré historians living in the West. The communist state downplayed the importance of the non-communist resistance movements, while the communist movement (Armia Ludowa) was emphasized as being of primary importance; in fact, the opposite was true. The absence of research by Polish scholars, along with obstacles presented to foreign scholars seeking access to source material in communist Poland, contributed to a situation in which there was virtually no discussion by Western scholars of one of Europe's largest resistance movements—the non-communist Polish resistance movement. The bulk of Western research centred on the much smaller French Resistance (la Résistance).

With the fall of communism, Poland regained full independence and Polish scholars could begin unrestricted research into all aspects of Polish history. Scholars who chose to investigate the Underground State were also confronted with the issue of its uniqueness (no country or nation has ever created a similar institution), and hence, the problem of defining it. Polish historian Stanisław Salmonowicz, discussing the historiography of the Polish Underground State, defined it as a "collection of state-legal, organizational and citizenship structures, which were to ensure constitutional continuation of Polish statehood on its own territory". Salmonowicz concluded that "This constitutional continuity, real performance of the state's functions on its past territory and the loyalty of a great majority of Polish society were the most significant elements of its existence."

The Underground State also became officially recognized by the Polish government, local authorities and the community, with most major cities in Poland erecting various memorials to the Underground State affiliated resistance. In Poznań, there is a dedicated Polish Underground State Monument, erected in 2007. On 11 September 1998 the Sejm (parliament) of Poland declared the day of 27 September (anniversary of the founding of the Service for Poland's Victory organization) to be the Day of the Polish Underground State.