Reckoning with History. Public perception of the communist past from the perspective of Poland and Russia
Settlements with history. Social perceptions of the communist past from the perspective of Poland and Russia

Summary/Abstract: The article, based on public opinion polls presenting the assessment of the communist era, will present the similarities and differences in the perception of this period by the societies of the Republic of Poland and the Russian Federation, and analyze the reasons for such attitudes.The position of Polish and Russian respondents in relation to the communist times in their historical past has converging points: polarization of attitudes in assessment, dependence of the division in opinions in terms of age, education, social position, place of residence and political orientation.However, the criticism of Poles towards the times of the People's Republic of Poland is visible in the context of such factors as the attitude to communist ideology, the process of legitimizing power and its actual source, and in relation to democracy.Russians recall the times of the USSR with much greater nostalgia and blame the then rulers for the collapse of the great empire, called by many "the real homeland".

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