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Wschód–Zachód:Literaturaijęzyknastykukultur*Słupsk2022
19
butabonafdePole(whohadbecomeanAmericancitizenjusttwoyearsbefore
hisvisittoPoland,hisfirstvisitsincethewar),and,evenbeter,onewhowas
open-mindedbutnotseenasopenlyleft-wing.ThismeantthatthePolishémigré
wouldreachareadershipbeyondtheIronCurtainthatwouldhavepreviously
dismissedanythingcomingfromcountriesintheSovietcampascrudepropa-
ganda.19Therefore,itisreasonabletoassumethatMęclewskiunderstoodthat
whileBudar’sbookwouldsatisfythepropagandaneedsofhismastersinthe
communistgovernment,Kruszewski’sworkwouldbeofmorebenefittoPoland
intheendbybeingtakenfarmoreseriouslyataninternationallevel.
Thefinalvisitortopost-warPolandexaminedhereisWilliamWoods,an
AmericanwriterbasedinBritainwhotravelledaround10,000milesthroughout
thecountryinthesummerof1967.Armedwithadoseofhealthyscepticismto-
getherwithadesiretogivePolandthebenefitofthedoubt,Woodshadnegotia-
tedabroadrangeoffreedomswiththePolishauthoritiespriortohisvisit:
Iwaspromisedeverypossiblecooperation,anopportunitytogowhereIpleased,
meetwhomIpleased,andofcourse,intheend,towritewhatIpleased.Therewas
onlyoneproviso,thatI,inmyturn,wouldundertakesofarasIwasabletolook
atthingsintheperspectiveofPolishhistoryandwithanawarenessofPoland’s
particulareconomicandpoliticalproblems.Theywouldpromisenottocensor
whatIwroteinanyway.Iwouldpromisesimplytobeasfairandobjectiveas
Iwasable.20
Theendproductwasindeedobjectiveandhonest,sometimesbrutallysowhen
consideringopeninglinessuchasIthestrongestcohesiveforceinPoland,second
toasenseofnationality,wasaloathingoftheGermans.’21Indiscussinghisvisits
totheRecoveredTerritories,Woodsstartsfromapositionofacceptingtheofcial
Polishcommunistposition,onewehaveearlierseeninitsreactiontoWasser-
man’swork,thattheseregionswerebeterofunderpost-warPolishadministra-
tionthanpre-warGermanneglectandunderdevelopment.Thus,hetellsusthat
RecoveredTerritorieshadbeenunderperformingwhenpartoftheGermanReich,
comprising21.4%ofitsterritorybutonly13.8%ofpopulationand5.9%ofitsin-
dustrialoutput,nottomentionitsdecliningpopulationbeforethewarasworkers
movedwestwardtoworkinfactoriesintheRhineland.22Moreover,heexhibits
someofthePolesowndefensivenesswhenhesays:
ThePolespointoutindignantlythatallGermanmaps(eventheShellguidesin
Germany)showtheseterritoriesasGermanstill.Thiseventhoughthereareno
19
20
Halicka,pp.219–220.
WilliamWoods,Poland:PhoenixintheEast,ASurveyofModernTimes,Penguin,London
21
22
1972,p.ix.
Ibidem,p.xii.
Ibidem,pp.70–71.
