Dąbrowszczacy: między symbolem antyfaszyzmu a polityką antykomunizmu
Defending the Polish Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War: Between the Symbol of Anti-fascism and the Policy of Anti-communism

Summary/Abstract: This article concerns the changes that have been occurring in Poles’ collective memory not only in regard to historical policy but also in regard to spontaneous social activeness. The author’s empirical basis was formed by interviews with the organizers and participants of protests against plans to change the name of a street [ul. Dąbrowszczaków], and of other activities in the years 2016–2019 aimed at popularizing the history of. The problem is presented in the context of the debate among historians, publicists, and politicians of right-wing and left-liberal circles over the historical policy. The author interprets attempts to remove the civil war volunteers from the public sphere in Poland as part of a broader historical policy aimed at achieving cultural hegemony over Poles’ social memory and identity. He analyzes the protests in defense of this volunteers primarily in the context of the generational changes that have enabled the appearance of a new, leftist “memory actor.”

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