Napis (Dec 2023)
Cenzurowanie tekstów literackich dotyczących drugiej wojny światowej, okupacji i Zagłady. Kontrola słowa w latach 1966–1970
Abstract
The stopping of a literary text, forcing the author to change the ending, or denying approval for a reprint are just several of many forms of repression used against writers in the period around the March events. World War II as a political (from the perspective of the censors) topic, was always treated as a priority by Główny Urząd Kontroli Prasy, Publikacji i Widowisk [Main Office for the Control of Presentations and Public Performances]. The actions of the Office had already intensified in the second half of the 1960s due to the tense situation in the country: the anti-Semitic campaign, removal of the play Dziady from performance programmes, the student protests. By censoring literary texts devoted to the Holocaust, armed conflict, or repatriations, attempts were made to shape the historical memory, as well as to build a positive image of the Polish People’s Republic. As presented by the analysis of archival material, these actions were used consistently over many years. Among the authors of halted or censored texts in 1966-1970, one can find Wincenty Burek, Kazimierz Brandys, Henryk Grynberg, Józef Hen, Jan Kurczab, or Jerzy Wilmański. The article is divided into three principal parts. The first part discusses the archival legacy of Główny Urząd Kontroli Prasy, Publikacji i Widowisk (GUKPPiW) related to the topic of war and occupation. The second part explores strategies of control aimed at literary texts set between 1939 and 1945. The third part presents examples of censored texts. The aim of the article is to depict the contemporary mechanism of censoring of literary texts, whose time setting spans the years of World War II. The article also attempts to establish the extent to which those texts were distorted, and what the consequences of that were. It is also worth to highlight the existence of numerous archival artefacts relating to the years 1939-1945, and to point out the research perspectives associated with those.
