Wyzwoliciele, sojusznicy czy okupanci? Armia Czerwona na niemieckim Górnym Śląsku w 1945 roku w świetle badań historycznych.

Abstract

Upper Silesia was a unique region in 1945, for before World War II its part (Opole Silesia) belonged to the Third Reich, while another part (the Silesian voivodeship) to the Polish State. The consequences of the Red Army entering Upper Silesia are interpreted according to the represented political perspective: in the two extreme cases either as an element of the anti-Nazi coalition’s fight with Nazism (in which case the Red Army is seen as a liberating army), or as a part of the process of building the Soviet empire after the war in Middle-Eastern Europe (the Army is viewed in Upper Silesia as an invading enemy army). This dispute, however, is not entirely historical in character; rather, it is still relevant in the political context. It refers to questions fundamental in the entire post-war history of Poland, that is, the interpretation of the sovereignty of the Polish People’s Republic, as well as to the ways of settling issues of nationality in post-war Poland. The article makes an attempt at answering these questions from the historical perspective.