Kultura radziecka na Dolnym Śląsku po 1945 w świetle materiałów źródłowych

Abstract

Soviet culture in Lower Silesia after 1945 in the light of surviving sources

Original collections of jobbing prints and occasional publications kept in scientific libraries and archives in Lower Silesia constitute a unique testimony to cultural activity of the Red Army. The surviving sources demonstrate that artists who were conscripted into its ranks and who were present in Lower Silesia after 1945 contributed to the cultural offer addressed to displaced persons arriving in the region and to Soviet citizens stationed there. A reconstruction of this participation in cultural life makes it possible to study many interesting facts from the post-war period in the history of the Wrocław region, e.g. specialised areas of culture which were most willingly or most often used to popularise Russian culture. Such an analysis reveals areas chosen by the authorities to spread the Stalinist propaganda. The analysis also shows the contribution of Polish cultural institutions, which for various reasons and on various occasions added the Russians’ activities, including charity events, to their offer.