Loss, Fatalism and Choice: The Moral Component in the Narratives of Polish Dissident Historians in the 1980s. The Cases of Krystyna Kersten and Jerzy Holzer
Journal: Acta Poloniae Historica
Year: 2018

This article discusses the moral dimension of history writing in the opposition milieus during the last decade of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL). It focuses on the works of two dissident historians who dealt with untold or contested aspects of Polish contemporary history: Krystyna Kersten and Jerzy Holzer. First, the essay describes the narratives about the values and experiences shared in the PRL context by people belonging simultaneously to the intelligentsia, opposition dissidence, and ac