I Will Tell You about Free Poland – The Youth Meeting Eyewitnesses to History.

This is an educational project that is realised by the Institute of National Remembrance, the Centre for Citizenship Education and the Warsaw Rising Museum. It aims to bring events that are connected with the newest history of Poland closer to young people and to show the way in which civil society has been created within the last half-century. The lot of eyewitnesses to history serves to reconstruct the course of events many years ago, to reveal the social context thereof, and to enable young people to “get the feeling” of the past.

The project was launched in the school year 2007/2008. Over 900 schools applied (both inside and outside the country), in which the full reports of the course of the project – including accounts by eyewitnesses to history, as recorded on electronic data carriers – were submitted by 432 schools. Witnesses’ reports, making for rich source material, will be developed and stored – the most interesting ones are available on the project website at www.ceo.org.pl/portal/b_opowiem. The school year 2008/2009 has seen the start of the second edition of the project.

The PRL History Lessons

A lesson package for schools that are run by teachers-practitioners who have been trained for this respective purpose. Students, using methods of active teaching-learning, become acquainted with the various aspects of the reality of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL) – from arts to economy. Each lesson is based on a wealth of source material, and, thanks to the application of a variety of teaching methods, it makes students search for answers on their own.

The offer includes following topics:
• The Polish People’s Republic - a totalitarian state?
• The victimised and apparatus of terror 1944-1989
• Art in the service of propaganda
• The story of one experiment - the economy of the Polish People’s Republic
• Across the newest history of Poland with the national flag
• "High Noon". The elections of June 4, 1989
• "It’s war ..." - the Polish September of 1939
• Katyń - the Golgotha of the East. Why, after so many years, we still talk about it?

Accounts

The goal of the programme is to document the testimony of participants (or at least observers) of historical events. Thus, a collection of accounts is being created, which serves for scientific and educational purposes. Records concerning World War II and the origins of the Polish People’s Republic are to be documented first of all. The representatives of veteran circles, the Russian Gulag inmates, the Katorga survivors, people to do with the independence opposition and the Church – these, in particular, have been asked to share their recollections. Among the people who agreed to record an account for the IPN are, among others, Rev. Zdzisław Peszkowski, General Elżbieta Zawacka – the only “cichociemna” (“silent dark one”), Artur Balazs, Władysław Bartoszewski and Archbishop Kazimierz Majdański. In the future, the account l activity will evolve towards documenting activities by the anti-Communist opposition in the Polish People’s Republic, as well as the course of events with respect to the Polish post-war crises. At present, the educational units of the IPN – both at the Head Office and at the Branch Offices – feature ca. 400 accounts by eyewitnesses to history. A portion of the most interesting material is going to be published on DVDs – serving as aids for history teachers.

The project is to be realized by the employees of the Public Education Office and the Branch Public Education Offices, as well as a team of pre-trained volunteers.

Examining the Polish Youth’s Historical Awareness

In December 2006, a project was launched aiming to examine the level of historical awareness of the contemporary grammar and high school youth in Poland. From February to June 2007 there was a survey concerning secondary school young people, with 12,086 respondents having filled in the questionnaire. This included questions dealing with Poland’s history, in particular young people’s perception of World War II and the Polish People’s Republic. A scientific elaboration of the results of the survey will be published in 2009. The knowledge, as thus acquired, will not only better direct the educational activities of the Public Education Office of the IPN but also draw specific conclusions concerning the directions in which to pursue historical education in Poland.

The Polonia Programme

The project is aimed at those people who teach in Polish schools (schools and consultation points at embassies, weekend schools, and parish schools) or Polish classes outside Poland. A separate target of the project is composed of Polish citizens to work among the Polish Diaspora, as sent by national centres, first of all teachers commissioned to work in the East by the National In-Service Teacher Training Centre in Warsaw.

Within the framework of the programme, the employees of the Dept. of Exhibitions and Historical Education establish contacts with Polonia educational centres, run classes for Polish Diaspora teachers, stage presentations of historical exhibitions, etc. In the years 2006-2008, the Public Education Office had classes in Sweden, Denmark, and Ukraine (twice), as a result of being invited by the teachers located there. Ukrainian teachers and students also partook in the Ukrainian classes. These were interested in the Polish-Ukrainian relationships, the newest history of Poland, and the state-of-the-art teaching methods. The “Polonia Meetings with the Newest History” serve as a recapitulation of the "Polonia Programme". The “Polonia Meetings” consist in a course in Poland’s newest history and effective methods of teaching thereof. Such courses have been staged twice: in 2007 and 2008; the classes attended by a total of nearly 100 teachers from all over the world (Greece, France, Canada, the USA, Sweden, Great Britain, Lithuania, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Lebanon).

The National Historical Contest

Nearly since the beginning of its operation, the Public Education Office of the IPN has been organising national history contests for students at grammar and high schools. These are held every other year. In 2007, the contest was concluded entitled "Hope and Disappointment. The Polish Society at the Time of Gomułka and Gierek. The Experience of an Eyewitness to History". The school year 2008/2009 has seen the fourth edition of the contest – this time it is entitled “On the Way to Freedom – The Polish Society in the 1980s. The Experience of an Eyewitness to History”. Participants in the contest will describe the lot of Poles against the background of the stormy era of the 1980s. This shall be effectuated through reaching eyewitnesses to history, as well as evidence thereof (photographs, documents, accounts, memoire, letter, etc.). The next edition of the contests is to be held under the honorary patronage of the Speaker of the Sejm, Mr Bronisław Komorowski, President of the Self-governing Trade Union “Solidarity”, Mr Janusz Śniadek, and President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Mr Janusz Kurtyka.

Exhibitions

Within the 8 years of the IPN’s operation, nearly 200 exhibitions have been held. These were successfully staged inside the country and abroad. The subject matter of these was varied, in which they present a wealth of, oftentimes unique, photographic documentation and archival materials. Exhibitions are frequently created with the participation of local museums, veteran organisations, schools, college and local governments.

They are most frequently put up on lightweight and plain structures that make moving and assembling easier. Consequently, they are presented at small localities, schools, cultural centres and regional museums, as well. Recently, a number of outdoor exhibitions were also staged, which resulted in increasing the number of the recipients of such events. Exhibitions are supplemented with museum lessons schools, which are managed by the employees of the IPN, as well as professional advancement courses, which are aimed at teachers.

Within the last two years, the following exhibitions, among others, have proven successful: “The 1968 Invasion” (realized in four language versions), “The Expelled” (in English only), "Fighting Solidarity" (a three-language version), "Victims of the Martial Law", “Extermination of Polish Elites. The German AB-Aktion Operation in Poland – The Katyn Massacre”, and “Polish Peoples’ Republic: So Far Away, So Close…”.

A series of exhibitions was initiated in 2006, presenting the staff of the security apparatus of the Polish People’s Republic. The first one, staged on 2 March 2006, was entitled "The Faces of the Krakow Security Service". Analogous events were prepared by other Branch Offices in succession: in 2007, 21 exhibitions of the series were held, including the nationwide one entitled "The Faces of the Security Service 1944-1990", opened on 22 July 2007 in Warsaw, opposite the former Ministry of Public Security building. The year 2008 saw, among others, the following exhibitions: "The Faces of the Jelenia Góra Security Service" and "The Faces of the Częstochowa Security Service".

The Educational Portfolios

The educational portfolios are aimed as a teaching aid for the teachers of history and other humanities. Each package comprises three parts: source materials, student’s materials and teacher’s materials. The portfolios are donated to the teachers and representatives of other educational establishments. In 2007, the portfolios were dispatched, free of charge, to over 11,000 grammar and high schools, pedagogic libraries, teachers’ colleges and teachers’ training centres.

The following, among others, have been released so far:

• ”The Holocaust of Polish Jews during World War II”
• ”Auschwitz – Remembrance for the Future”
• ”Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński – Primate of the Millennium”
• ”The Polish Underground State in the Years 1939-1941”
• ”Martial Law”
• ”The Polish-Ukrainian relations in the years 1939-1947”
• ”June '76 – A Step Towards Freedom”
• ”Poles Saving Jews in the years of World War II”

The Audio-Visual Aids

In 2007, the employees of the Dept. of Exhibitions and Historical Education of the PEO IPN elaborated and released a DVD entitled The PRL in Films comprising fragments of Polish feature films. The disc was annexed with exemplary exercises to be used in lessons of history, Polish, knowledge of culture and others. The DVD has been sent to all Polish grammar and high schools. Another publication of this type appeared in 2008, which was World War II in Polish Feature Films.

Participation in External Events

The Public Education Office takes part in annual events popularising science, such as The Scientific Picnic and The Festival of Science. The employees of the Department also attend scientific and educational conferences.