The partisan unit under the command of captain R. Rajs (Bury) activity on the territory of Białystok region in 1944–1946 in the politics of memory of the Republic of Poland
Abstract
The polish politics of memory concerning the activities of the unit under the command of captain R. Rajs (Bury) in Białystok region in 1944–1946 is considered in the article. The aim of the study is to analyse public practices, places of memory and their role in forming and reflecting the collective memory about R. Rajs’s unit (whose representatives are referred to as «cursed soldiers»). The analysis of public practices, memorable days and places of memory in Poland revealed a confrontation between two narratives. The first one is the nationalist and anti-communist narrative. It is transmitted by the state through the Institute of National Remembrance, museum institutions, as well as by right-wing political parties, movement, public organisations and the media close to them. According to them, R. Rajs is a hero who fought in the interests of the Polish state. Another narrative is presented by Belarusian national minority, their public organisations and mass media. They try to preserve the memory of the 1946 tragedy in the society and define the activities of the R. Rajs’s unit as crimes. The author emphasises that the judicial investigation completed in 2005 by the Institute of National Remembrance came to the conclusion that R. Rajs actions had signs of genocide. The author notes that the polish historical politics departs in some sense from humanistic, universal values. It focuses on the nationalist vision of history and actually ignores the interests of the Belarusians of Białystok region.
References
- Miller A. [Russia: power and history]. Pro et contra. 2009;13(3–4):6–23. Russian.
- Jurek M, Nowak A, Rybicki A, Skibiński P, Kurtyka J, Żaryn J. Polska polityka historyczna [debata]. Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. 2006;5:2–33.
- Safronova YuA. Istoricheskaya pamyat’: vvedenie [Historical memory: an introduction]. Saint Petersburg: Publishing House of the European University in Saint Petersburg; 2019. 220 p. Russian.
- Chwedoruk R. Polityka historyczna w Europie – periodyzacja i wiodące dyskursy. Studia Politologiczne. 2015;35:47–74.
- Kas’yanov G. Ukraina i sosedi: istoricheskaya politika. 1987–2018 [Ukraine and its neighbors: historical politics. 1987–2018]. Moscow: NLO; 2019. 631 p. Russian.
- Malinova OYu. Commemoration of historical events as instrument of symbolic policy: possibilities of comparative analysis. Politiya. 2017;4:6–22. Russian. DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2017-87-4-6-22.
- Moroz A. Między pamięcią a historią. Konflikt pamięci zbiorowych Polaków i Białorusinów na przykładzie postaci Romualda Rajsa «Burego». Warszawa: IPN; 2016. 258 s.
- Moroz A. A memories conflict on the Polish-Belarusian borderland with reference to activity of Romuald Rajs aka «Bury». Studia z Geografii Politycznej i Historycznej. 2016;5:61–91. DOI: 10.18778/2300-0562.05.04.
- Orciuch M. Controversy surrounding Romuald Rajs nom de guerre «Bury» in paper and electronic media vis-à-vis Polish historical politics. Białoruskie Zeszyty Historyczne. 2018;50:219–230.
- Kułak J. Pacyfikacja wsi białoruskich w styczniu 1946 roku. Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. 2001 Wrzesień;8:49–54.
- Mironowicz E. Polityka narodowościowa PRL. Białystok: Białoruskie Towarzystwo Historyczne; 2000. 284 s.
- Vjaliki AF. Na razdarozhzhy. Belarusy i paljaki w chas perasjalennja (1944–1946 gg.) [At the crossroads. Belarusians and Poles during the resettlement (1944–1946)]. Seljamenew VD, editor. Minsk: Belarusian State Pedagogical University; 2005. 319 p. Belarusian.
- Iwaniuk S. Białoruska samoobrona na Białostocczyźnie w latach 1945–1947 (przyczyny tworzenia i działalność). Białoruskie Zeszyty Historyczne. 1995;1(3):57–67.
Copyright (c) 2020 Journal of the Belarusian State University. History
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:
- The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
- The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
- The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)