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THETRUTHOFSPORT
encethatitisStalinwhousecuresforallmembersofsocietythemultidimen-
sionaldevelopmentoftheirphysicalandintellectualabilitiesinsuchawaythat
allofthemcouldhavesucheducationthatitwouldallowthemtobeactiveagi-
tatorsinsocialdevelopment.”20
Historiography,intheserviceofthissystem,hadaspecialtasktointerpret
factsinfavoroftherulingparty.Itconcerned,ofcourse,inproperpropor-
tions,sportshistoriographybecausefortherulingpartysportseemedtobean
importantpropagandatoolnotonlyineventswhichwereatthetimevisiblein
thestadiumormedia,butalsoinitsuproperly”interpretedpastandphysical
nature.Assuch,thehistoryofsport,regardlessofitsrealimportanceinoverall
historiography,appearedasaprovideroftheinterpretationofuhistoricaltruth”
initspartofthegeneralulayercake.”Itshouldbe,ofcourse,uobjectivetruth”as
understoodbyMarxistideology.However,theMarxistunderstandingofhis-
toricaltruth,canbynomeansberecognizedasuuniversaltruth”
,butatbest,if
weassumethegoodwillofrepresentativesofMarxistideology,areflectionof
allthetypicaltendenciesofCommunistrealityandtheepochofitsdomination,
say,inEasternEuropeandaublindalley”inthedevelopmentofcivilization.
Tehistoryofsportand,inawidersense,thehistoryofphysicalculture,which
alsocontainssportamongitsingredients(usuallycalledufizkultura”aferthe
Russianabbreviationofufizitsheskayakultura”),inSovietdominatedcountries,
appearsasaspecialbranchofgeneralhistoriography,reflectingallitscharac-
teristicsandfailures.Tematerialisticabilitytorenderandusethehumanbody
wasanimportanttoolinprovingthesuperiorityofthematerialisticconceptof
man.Physicalculture(andconsequentlyalsosportasitsimportantpart),was
automaticallyraisedtoahighlevelasasignificantscientificargumentproving
thefundamentalassumptionoftheMarxistconceptofnature-so-calleddia-
lecticalmaterialism,andatthesametimetheareaofasharpconflictagainst
anyotherconceptofhumandevelopmentincluding,ofcourse,itshistorical
past.Teconsequencesforallhumanisticsciences,includingthoseassociated
withphysicalcultureandsportstudieswereverysimple.Forinstance,inPoland
before1989,aswellinothercountriesunderSovietdomination,acceptanceof
Marxistideologyanditsscientificmethodology,oratleastrestrainingfrom
criticizingit,wasabasicconditionforemploymentatanyuniversity,includ-
ingschoolsofsportandphysicaleducation.Marxisthistoriographyintended,
20WłodzimierzMissiuro,Zadanianaukiwsocjalistycznejkulturzefzycznej(TasksofScienceinSocialist
PhysicalCulture),in:KonferencjaNaukowaPoświęconaTeoriiKulturyFizycznej.ReferatyiDyskusja
(meScientifcConferenceonthemeoryofPhysicalCulture,PapersandDiscussion)20-22.12.1954,War-
szawa1955,p.12.
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