Abstract
Germany and Poland have been com mon members of a politically united Europe for several years now, and there is no denying that relations between the two countries have developed at an accelerating pace ever since the fall of the Iron Curtain. The view that the events of 1989–90 marked the end of a short twentieth century and ushered in a new era for German-Polish relations has much to commend it. It seems far less convincing to believe, however, that both peoples have since come to terms with their traumatic past in such a conclusive manner that their common history can now be reduced to readymade lessons for political and moral instruction.
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Notes
See Hayden White, Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973).
For a general explanation of the term, including reference to its Marxist interpretation, see Siegfried Wiedenhofer, “Tradition, Traditionalismus,” in Otto Brunner, Werner Conze, and Koselleck Reinhart (eds), Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe (Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1972–1997), especially pp. 639–642 and 647–648.
Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).
Alois Hönig, “Zur geschichtsphilosophischen Kategorie Tradition,” Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 12 (1964): 1056–1057.
Bogusław Leśnodorski, “Die Geschichtswissenschaft im ersten Dezennium Volkspolens,” Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft Beiheft 3 (1956): 47–48.
On the two-track model of history as developed by historians in the GDR, see Martin Sabrow, “Beherrschte Normalwissenschaft. Überlegungen zum Charakter der DDR-Historiographie,” Geschichte und Gesellschaft 24 (1998): 412–445.
Slavic minorities in the GDR were a regular topic at the sessions of the GPCH, which initiated cooperation between the Institut für Sorbische Volksforschung and the University of Wrocław. See Alexander Fischer, “Forschung und Lehre zur Geschichte Osteuropas in der sowjetischen Besatzungszone bzw. der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (1945–1990),” in Erwin Oberländer (ed.), Geschichte Osteuropas: Zur Entwicklung einer historischen Disziplin in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1945 –1990 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1992), p. 311.
Zygmunt Wojciechowski, Polska—Niemcy: Dziesieć wieków zmagania, 2nd ed., Prace Instytutu Zachodniego 3 (Poznań: Instytut Zachodni, 1945);
Marian Friedberg, Kultura polska a niemiecka: Elementy rodzime a wpływy niemieckie w ustroju i kulturze Polski średniowiecznej, 2 vols. (Poznań: Instytut Zachodni, 1946).
Wacław Długoborski, Notatka o okolicznościach mojego powrotu z NRD, November 27, 1956, Instytut Historii PAN (henceforth IHPAN), 5/115, 41–42.
Jürgen Kuczynski and Bogusław Leśnodorski, Schlussprotokoll der 2. Tagung der deutsch-polnischen Historikerkommission, Berlin, November 17, 1956, ABBAW, ZIG 555.
Felix-Heinrich Gentzen, Einschätzung der Forschungsarbeiten auf dem Gebiet der Geschichte Polens seit 1955, August 27, 1962, Bundesarchiv Berlin (henceforth BAB) SAPMO DY 30/IV 2/9.04/98.
Heinrich Scheel, Die Wanderausstellung “Nauka w słubie Drang nach Osten” (Wissenschaft im Dienste des Dranges nach Osten) in der Volksrepublik Polen (3.10.19 60–2 3.1.19 61). Abschlußbericht der Ausstellungsleitung, March 1, 1961, ABBAW, ZIG 710/4.
See, for example, Reinhold Jeske, Stellungnahme zur Arbeit der Deutsch Polnischen Historikerkommission (Abschrift), June 22, 1966, ABBAW, Nationalkomitee der Historiker 4.
Antoni Czubiński, “Sesja naukowa poświęcona roli Prus i reakcyjnego pru-sactwa w historii Niemiec,” Przegląd Zachodni 26, no. 1 (1970): 232.
Zum Vortrag von Dr. Jarema Maciszewski vom Juni 1980, June 1980, ABBAW, ZIG 710/4. See also Heinrich Scheel, Aktennotiz über eine von dem Vorsitzenden der polnischen Sektion der bilateralen Historikerkommission DDR-VR Polen gewünschte persönliche Unterredung am 29.5.80 anläßlich der 27. Tagung dieser Kommission in Leipzig, Berlin, June 17, 1980, ABBAW, ZIG 710/2.
Ingo Materna, Bericht über eine Vortragsreise in die VR Polen vom 18.–20.1.1988, organisiert durch die Liga für Völkerfreundschaft der DDR auf Anforderung der “Gesellschaft Wisla-Odra,” Berlin, January 22, 1988, ABBAW, HG 160.
Ernst Wurl, “Macht und Last der Tradition. Das Exempel PDS,” Utopie kreativ 141/142 (2002): 670.
Heinrich Scheel, Bericht über die XVII. Tagung der Kommission der Historiker der DDR und der VR Polen in der Zeit vom 2. bis 5. Juni 1970 in Görlitz, June 4, 1970, BAB DY/30/IV A 2/9.07/160.
Gerhard Schilfert and Kazimierz Popiołek, Schlussprotokoll der XI. Tagung der deutsch-polnischen Historikerkommission, Wernigerode, May 28, 1964, ABBAW, ZIG 710/1.
If one was to rephrase this argument in terms of truth theories, it appears that the consensus theory of truth—as opposed to the correspondence-and coherence theories—would best be suited to describe the way in which historical narratives tend to be established in this context. According to the consensus theory, something is true if the parties involved in the dispute can agree on it. By contrast, the correspondence theory asks for a statement to correspond to the facts as closely as possible (and thereby implies that there is such a thing as objective truth), while the coherence theory demands that a statement fit into an explanatory context without causing contradictions. Traditionally, historiography is associated with the latter two understandings of truth. On the practice of negotiated truth in the establishment of historical narratives in a cross-national context see Falk Pingel, “Can Truth Be Negotiated? History Textbook Revision as a Means to Reconciliation,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 617, no. 1 (May 2008): 181–198, and
Marina Cattaruzza and Sacha Zala, “Negotiated History? Bilateral Historical Commissions in Twentieth-Century Europe,” in Harriet Jones, Kjell Östberg and Nico Randeraad (eds), Contemporary History on Trial (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006), pp. 123–143. For some recent thoughts on the category of historical truth see Marina Cattaruzza, “How Much Does Historical Truth Still Matter?” Paper presented at the 21st International Congress of Historians at Amsterdam in August 2010, available from http://www.ichs2010.org/downloadpaper.asp?id=849
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© 2012 Kristin Kopp and Joanna Niżyńska
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Guth, S. (2012). History by Decree? The Commission of Historians of the German Democratic Republic and the People’s Republic of Poland 1956–1990. In: Kopp, K., Niżyńska, J. (eds) Germany, Poland, and Postmemorial Relations. Europe in Transition: The Nyu European Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137052056_3
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