| Abstrakt: | Priest Jerzy Pawlik was a fascinating person. A lot of interests, knowledge, contacts,
journeys, experiences, activity - this all makes a character worth familiarising with, above all
in the context of its activity for the Church and society. He was a particularly intriguing
character for a historian because in the life of priest Pawlik there were many unexplained
dependencies - a perfect search area for historians.
The author of this dissertation emphasised three main stages in the life and activity of
priest Jerzy Pawlik based on which he constructed his deduction. At the first stage he
examined the origins of priest Pawlik, the conditions in which he grew up, learnt and
developed. Religiousness, curiosity of the world and eagerness to acquire knowledge after
completing a general school and a grammar school - interests acquired at home, he continued
in the priestly formation. The first years of the priestly ministry of priest Pawlik took place in
the times of regime, Nazi and communist, which usurped the right to control all the fields of
human lives, including faith.
The second stage of the life of priest Pawlik was his pastoral, catechism and social
activity in Katowice diocese, in the period of extermination activities on the part of German
occupant authorities, times very difficult for the Upper Silesian Church, and then the activity
of communists eliminating the Church from the public life. Priest Pawlik was then a charity
activist, tutor of the youth and organiser of pilgrimages. A particularly important area for him,
apart from a didactic activity in the Silesian Theological Seminary in Kraków and journalistic
activity, was influencing the youth, which he reached through scouting and tourism. He also
practised his own interests, gained more licences and extended his book collection. In that
time he was within the interest of the Security Services of the Polish People’s Republic
(PRL), initially as a person dangerous to the system, then as a candidate for a position of a
secret collaborator.
The third stage in the life of priest Pawlik was the time when with the consent of
primate Stefan Wyszyński he was a pastor of Poles in the Eastern Europe and an expert of the
Polish Episcopate concerning economic migration of Poles to German Democratic Republic,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania, while staying under constant invigilation by the
Security Service.
The life and activity of priest Jerzy Pawlik was researched by the dissertation’s author
by means of a biographic method, typical for historical studies. He mainly used the resources
collected in the Archdiocese Archives in Katowice - those were documents selected by the
author called “heritage after priest Jerzy Pawlik”, a personal portfolio of priest Pawlik,
correspondence with the Primate of Poland Stefan Wyszyński and reports directed to bishops
in Poland and various institutions. The other significant research source was a collection of
registering and observational files, including formal documents, cipher texts and notes;
working portfolios of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a personal portfolio TW “Polakowski”
passport files and miscellaneous materials referring to priests from the terrain of former
Katowice voivodeship, collected in the Institute of National Remembrance in Katowice. The
author used in his work also documents from the Institute of National Rememberance in
Warsaw, as well as from the Archives of the Catholic Lublin University (KUL). For research
purposes the author tried to get to the documents gathered by the Government Plenipotentiary
Office for the Documents of Secret Services of the former German Democratic Republic in
Berlin. The author also used the materials from the Family Archives, obtained from the
discovered personal documents, and also interviews conducted with the family of priest
Pawlik as well as the correspondence exchanged with the bishops and clergymen from
Katowice archdiocese, which allowed for detailed presentation of many events from his life.
Thus, the erudite biography of priest Pawlik was created, based on the sources. The analysis
of various documents, in some cases examined for the first time, allowed for explaining
unfamiliar or insufficiently interpreted facts from the life of the priest. The author also
exchanged correspondence with the Archives of the Conference of the Episcopate of Poland,
the Museum of Polish Scouting in Warsaw and conducted a search query in the Archives of
the Parish named after Saint Wojciech in Radzionków. In preparing this dissertation the author
also used the studies and articles about priest Jerzy Pawlik, as well as his own chronicle notes
concerning priesthood in the eastern bloc countries. Selected documents from the Archdiocese
Archives in Katowice and the Family Archives of priest Jerzy Pawlik are presented in the
annex to the dissertation.
The intention of the dissertation’s author was to depict the character of priest Jerzy
Pawlik in wide interpersonal relations, in the context of an epoch in which he lived. Based on
those relations the dissertation’s author examined the relationships of priest Pawlik with the
Security Service in PRL, in particular his frequent foreign journeys and passport formalities
and he tried to find out whether priest Pawlik decided on collaboration. The author attempted
to explain the activities and motivations of priest Pawlik: Was the direct cooperation with the
Episcopate of Poland related to migration priesthood undertaken by him as a “bishop of
RWPG countries”? Was the historical knowledge held by priest Pawlik in priesthood contacts
genuinely objective or was it a colourful narration? How did scouting and pilgrimage affect
the character of priest Pawlik?
Owing to a reliable search query the author was able to reconstruct the most important
events from the life and activity of priest Pawlik both in the Upper Silesian Church and in
Poland. The materials researched demonstrated high involvement of priest Pawlik in his
priesthood: scouting, pilgrimage, the youth group, and later in the organisation and
functioning of migration priesthood. The interests and passions of priest Pawlik affected
greatly the development of his priesthood activity, which enabled his development in various
circumstances. The priesthood experiences with the youth familiarised him with the problems
of people who decided to emigrate. Describing priest Pawlik as a “bishop of RWPG
countries” was only a convention, as a respect to his priesthood activity and merits for the
issues of the youth and migrants.
On the basis of the analysis of the documents collected in the Institute of National
Remembrance and church and family documents, the author claims that priest Pawlik did not
collaborate with the Security Services. His contacts with the Security Services was only
occasional, connected mostly with a passport procedure. He refused to collaborate and in the
interviews his answers were careful and evasive. The research material did not confirm
collaboration but it helped in depicting measures which the Security Services used to exert
pressure, impede activities and attempt to gain a collaborator.
The author of the dissertation believes that priest Pawlik will become inspiration not
only for acquiring knowledge on the region, but also for searching for one’s own active place
in the Church. In the life and activity of priest Pawlik there are still unexplored areas, in
particular his activity in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and USSR, which are worth studying. It
would also be worth comparing the priesthood activity of priest Jerzy Pawlik with the activity
of Bishop Szczepan Wesoły, bishop of Polish migration, and also extend the documents
researched with foreign materials. |