W służbie nauki i Uniwersytetu. Autorytet i postawy ludzi Uniwersytetu w czasie komunistycznego totalitaryzmu

Abstract

The image of the University of Silesia (UŚ) has been presented in various ways. The basic problem, which makes it possible to understand many mechanisms taking place in universities in the times of totalitarian system domination, boils down to the evaluation of the authority of the people of the University, without which the essence of universitas does not exist. In 1981, the construction of opposition structures and the possibility of effective action to eliminate various abnormalities, especially when it came to systemic solutions, proved impossible. After the institutional collapse of the totalitarian system, attempts were made to settle accounts, which often met with resistance from academic circles. At the University of Silesia, at the request of the company branch of the Solidarity Trade Union, no sooner than in April 2007 did the Senate of the University of Silesia pass a resolution to establish a Historical Commission, which was to analyse the attitudes of the University’s people in the past on the basis of the documents of the Institute of National Remembrance and the University Archives. An opportunity arose to objectively examine not only the history of the institution, but also the attitudes of its employees. The aim was to indicate not only negative examples of behaviour which were supposed to imply a violation of the principles of academic ethics, especially in the context arising from vetting statements, but also heroic attitudes of the employees of the University of Silesia in the years 1968—1990. The Commission’s reports were made public, either in the form of information about the works or in their entirety by the “Gazeta Uniwersytecka” daily. One of the most active members of the works of the Historical Committee of the University of Silesia Senate was its first Chairman — prof. zw. dr hab. Adam Lityński.