Integrating the past: regional integration and historical reckoning in Central and Eastern Europe

This article considers how regional integration in Europe has informed processes of collective remembrance and transitional justice in Central and Eastern Europe. By taking the cases of Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic, two claims are made. First, although European institutions have not initiated top-down projects of historical reckoning, activists who have an interest in promoting engagement with the recent past have been able to draw the political, financial and/or judicial weight of European institutions behind particular reckoning initiatives, on an ad hoc basis. Second, the nature of the projects that have been realized with the assistance of European resources has varied across the region, according to the extent of prior efforts to promote collective remembrance and transitional justice at the national level. Where there have previously been constraints on historical reckoning, activists have drawn “Europe” behind efforts to promote national-level confrontations with particularly national experiences of communist rule. By contrast, where there has previously been extensive state sponsorship of collective remembrance projects and/or processes of transitional justice, European resources have been used in support of efforts to raise awareness of the repressions of communist rule, and transitions from that system of rule, among a wider, international audience.     

Map of Central Asia,Western and Eastern Sectors

After first outlining the notion of anti-Semitism, the predominant survey method used for researching it, and the history of the presence and the current (near) absence of Jews in Poland, this article gives the results of different surveys of various kinds of anti-Semitism in this country, including the authors' own, and discusses the findings of their qualitative study – focus group interviews with members of three different Catholic communities from three different cities. The qualitative study confirmed the hypothesis that imagined and stereotypical rather than real Jews are the objects of modern anti-Semitism in Poland, while real historical and stereotypically perceived Jews are the objects of its religious and post-Holocaust variants. The roots of religious anti-Semitism lie in the not entirely absorbed teachings of the Catholic Church on the Jewish deicide charge. Religious anti-Semitism supports modern and post-Holocaust kinds of anti-Semitism. Modern anti-Semitism is rooted in poor education, lack of interest in the Jewish history of Poland, lack of inter-group contact, and persisting stereotypes of Jews. Among the various Catholic communities of Poles, there are considerable differences in attitudes to Jews. The qualitative study also revealed a methodological deficiency in the standard survey questions intended to measure anti-Semitism, which are sometimes understood as questions about facts rather than about opinions.     

Is there a new institutional response to the crimes of Communism? National memory agencies in post-Communist countries: the Polish case (1998–2014), with references to East Germany

Post-Communist Europe has not chosen to imitate the Truth and Justice or Truth and Reconciliation Commissions set up on several other continents. The notion of reconciliation with the Communist regime is not of much interest to certain political parties, many of which are rooted in the protest against the compromises that were part of the negotiated revolutions. The model admired by post-Communist countries was the one conceived by the Germans. Almost all the countries founded specific institutions – institutes – for managing memory, with archives located in these institutes. Some have archives that date from before World War II to 1990; they handle both totalitarianisms. What is feared is that through the game of partisan appointments, these institutes will become little more than instruments in less than honest hands for use in political contests. This is especially likely given that the Polish Institute of National Memory (IPN) employees perform several functions: classification, prosecution, and evaluating individual applicants to certain administrative positions. The specialized literature usually explains the trials and tribulations of Poland’s IPN in terms of the personalities of its different directors and the period in which each occupied that post. In this paper, we have verified this hypothesis.     

The Catholic Church in Poland on Muslims and Islam

ABSTRACT

The politicization of the increased influx of migrants to Europe in recent years, as well as Islamist terrorist attacks carried out in European cities, have led to a situation in which anti-Muslim sentiments have reached unprecedented levels. It is not only those European countries directly affected by the growth of the Muslim population that register increased generalized negative feelings towards that population, but also those that are home to very small and partially autochthonous Muslim populations, like Poland, which has not served as a transit point or a destination for the increased number of people arriving from Syria and elsewhere to claim asylum in Europe. P?dziwiatr’s article explores the ambiguity of attitudes in the Polish Catholic Church towards Muslims and Islam in these new circumstances. It examines both the Church’s official statements and the opinions of students in Catholic seminaries, which diverge significantly. When the positions of some of these present and future priests are communicated to the public, they contribute to a strengthening of hegemonic representations of Muslims as Others, rather than a deconstruction of them.     

Street-level and government-level Islamophobia in the Visegrád Four countries

ABSTRACT

Islamophobic mobilization has become a crucial aspect of right-wing populist mobilization. Hafez’s article focuses on the case of the Visegrád Four countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Based on reportedly widespread hostility against Muslims among the population in this region, one would assume a large potential for street-level activism analogous to the German Pegida. Yet, attempts to organize grassroots Islamophobic movements have not been particularly successful in the Visegrád Four. Using social movement theory, Hafez explains this by the fact that the issue of Muslim migration has been appropriated by the ruling parties, leaving little opportunity for independent grassroots mobilization.     

Women in parliament: assessing the effectiveness of gender quotas in Poland

Gender quotas aim to increase women’s parliamentary representation. However, the effectiveness of quotas varies. This article explores this issue further by examining the case of Poland, where gender quotas were introduced in 2011. The Polish case presents an interesting puzzle. Although the overall number of women candidates increased almost twofold in comparison with the pre-quota period, this translated into only a slight increase in the number of women deputies in 2011 and 2015. Hence, the impact of quotas was limited. However, the partisan analysis shows that there was a significant variation among individual parties: whereas some parties promoted wholeheartedly women’s access to political office, other parties did not facilitate it. By drawing on rational choice institutionalism, this article shows that institutions and preferences of political parties matter for the effectiveness of gender quotas. In the case of ineffective gender quota policy, political parties have a final say in women’s parliamentary representation.     

Tracking the evolution of police training and education in Poland: linear developments and exciting prospects

ABSTRACT

An important issue for police services across the world is the training and education of police personnel. Both training and education have often been linked to the professionalization of policing. An overview of current developments in police training and education in Poland is provided by a discussion and delineation of learning pathways for Polish police officers and the relevant pieces of legislation that have influenced these pathways. This contributes significant knowledge to international literature by being the first repository of information about Polish police training and education. The historical context of police and police training in Poland is introduced first, followed by an overview of the two-tier system of training. Finally, developments of police training in the Polish context are critically assessed to demonstrate the slow, yet undeniable, approach toward professionalisation of police officers in Poland.     

Y-chromosomal haplotypes for the AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR Amplification Kit in a population sample from Central Poland

Haplotype and allele frequencies for 17 Y-STR loci (DYS456, DYS389I/II, DYS390, DYS458, DYS19, DYS385 I/II, Y GATA H4, DYS437, DYS438, DYS448, DYS393, DYS391, DYS439, Y GATA C4, DYS392) were determined in 255 unrelated males from central Poland using AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR Amplification Kit. Two hundred and fifty-two different haplotypes were observed. The most common three haplotypes were shared by 0.8% of the sample, respectively. Two hundred and forty-nine haplotypes were encountered only once.     

波兰加入北约对波俄关系的影响

波兰加入北约使波兰从原来苏联对抗西方的防御区，变成了西方遏制俄罗斯的前沿，使波俄双边依存关系消失、地区安全战略相左、敌对情绪增加，对波俄双边关系的发展造成了一定的负面影响。但是作为地缘近邻国家，尽管波兰把自身安全托付给北约，但也须改善同俄罗斯的关系；虽然俄罗斯对波兰加入北约深感恼怒，但也只好接受现实，希望通过发展与波兰等北约新成员的关系加强俄罗斯在这一地区的影响，改善西部安全环境。同时，波兰加入北约，无疑使波俄关系受到美国以及北约同俄罗斯关系的影响，增加了双边关系的不确定因素。