Bilans otwarcia. Nauczyciele w województwie pomorskim w 1945 roku
Opening Balance. Teachers in the Pomeranian Province in 1945

Summary/Abstract: The article concerns to the contemporary Kuyavian-Pomeranian Province (the today’s Pomeranian one in 1945 was called the Gdańsk Province). During World War II, teachers from that part of Poland were one of the social groups that were particularly subjected to German terror. The occupation brought enormous destruction to the education sys- tem in the Pomeranian Province: some teachers died, others lost their health, schools and their equipment were destroyed. So far, education has been described in the litera- ture mainly through the prism of bulding an administration along with formal and legal issues. The issues of teachers’ attitudes, their opinion on the installed regime, and their role and participation in the reconstruction of education remained on the sidelines. The article presents the results of research conducted in the educational, administrative and security archives, also being based on memories and information in the press. In 1945, educators, many of whom were teachers before the war, immediately started creating education, sometimes immediately after returning from camps and forced labour. They cleaned the buildings, prepared the necessary learning materials and teaching aids, and, in addition to fulfilling their professional duties, they took part in broadly understood social life. They did this with dedication despite very poor living conditions. Although the communist authorities tried to put ideological pressure on them, some teachers had a negative attitude towards the system and expressed it during classes. Educators joined existing parties, but few became members of the communist one.

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