An Ordinary Man, a National Hero, a Polish Palach? Some Thoughts on the Memorialization of Ryszard Siwiec in the Czech-Polish Context
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8139446 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sabine Stach (0000-0002-5017-1655, Deutsches Historisches Institut Warschau, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 113 |
| Pages | 295-313 |
| Publication date | 2016-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Acta Poloniae Historica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0001-6829 • E-ISSN: 2450-8462 |
| Publisher | Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika/Nicolaus Copernicus University (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.12775/aph.2016.113.11 |
| OpenAlex | W2480470828 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 2 |
On 8 September 1968, Ryszard Siwiec set fi re to himself during a harvest festival in the 10th Anniversary Stadium in Warsaw. Through his self-immolation, he sought to protest against Communist rule in general and the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in particular. However, his death did not gain wider attention. Further protests ‘by fi re’ took place in the subsequent months and years in East Central Europe. Among them was the self-immolation by the Czech student Jan Palach in Prague. In contrast to Siwiec, this young man was immediately recognized as a martyr in Czechoslovakia as well as on the other side of the Iron Curtain. It was only after 1989 that Ryszard Siwiec’s story became increasingly well-known. Today, his act still remains in the shadow of Palach’s, however. This article deals with the marginal position of Siwiec in the Polish national pantheon. By reflecting on the various constraints on creating martyrs in state and post-socialism, it focuses on one particular aspect of Polish and Czech – or rather Polish-Czech – memory politics. As for the ‘Polish Palach’ Ryszard Siwiec, the paper demonstrates that Czechs have played a crucial role in popularizing him
Ancient history · Art · Cold war · Communism · Context (archaeology · Czech · Economic history · HERO · Iron Curtain · Literature · Martyr · Political science · Politics · Shadow (psychology · Theology · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · History · Law · Philosophy · Polish Historical and Cultural Studies · Polish-Jewish Holocaust Memory Studies
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.1 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2016 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |