Conflict of Memories

Memory under pressure: How the past divides Poland today

Anna Ratke-Majewska explores how the Law and Justice Party's rule (20052010, 20152025) shaped a specific vision of Polish national identity through the politics of memory. Focusing on the Warsaw Uprising, the Cursed Soldiers, and PolishJewish relations during World War II, she reveals how state-endorsed narratives elevated selected interpretations of the past while marginalizing others. The rising conflicts of memories reflected and intensified political and social divisions, turning history into a contested space of identity, legitimacy, and ideological struggle in contemporary Poland. These struggles influenced public debate, education, and the international image of the Polish state.

Autorentext
Anna Ratke-Majewska, Associate Professor, is Head of the Center for Regional Studies and Cross-Border Politics at the Institute of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Zielona Góra, Poland. Her research focuses on the shaping of memory of events significant for the existence and functioning of a national community and individuals within it (primarily in Poland), politics of memory, political identity, Polish-Latin American relations, and the internal situation of selected Latin American and Iberian Peninsula countries.

Klappentext

Anna Ratke-Majewska explores how the Law and Justice Party's rule (2005-2010, 2015-2025) shaped a specific vision of Polish national identity through the politics of memory. Focusing on the Warsaw Uprising, the Cursed Soldiers, and Polish-Jewish relations during World War II, she reveals how state-endorsed narratives elevated selected interpretations of the past while marginalizing others. The rising conflicts of memories reflected and intensified political and social divisions, turning history into a contested space of identity, legitimacy, and ideological struggle in contemporary Poland. These struggles influenced public debate, education, and the international image of the Polish state.