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Censorship in Poland

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History of censorship in Poland is a topic that spans the period of late 15th to late 20th centuries.

Kingdom of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The history of censorship in Poland dates to the late 15th or the first half of the 16th century. The first recorded incident of censorship in the Kingdom of Poland dates back to the late 15th century and relates to a complaint by Szwajpolt Fioł (a Franconian from Neustadt living in Kraków) against a Polish bishop who prohibited a printer from publishing liturgical books in Cyrillic script. Fioł lost the case and was sentenced to prison, becoming the first known victim of censorship in Poland. In 1519, parts of the book Chronica Polonorum by Maciej Miechowita, critical of the ruling Jagiellonian dynasty, was cut, making it the first known Polish book to be subject to censorship. A 1523 decree of king Zygmunt I Stary has been described as the first law regarding censorship in Poland. Together with a series of further edicts by Sigmismund August, it prohibited the import and even reading of many books related to the Reformation. A 1579 edict of king Stefan Batory introduced the idea of wartime censorship in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, prohibiting the distribution of information on military actions. In the 17th century, Poland saw the publication and adoption of the first Polish editions of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (1601, 1603, 1617), which among others banned the books of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Copernicus, Stanisław Sarnicki, Jan Łaski, as well as some other satires (pl:Literatura sowizdrzalska). Extensive internal censorship was also used by the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, as well as by other denominations in Poland, including the Protestant and the Orthodox Churches as well as by the Polish Jews. Outside the religious sphere, several Royal decrees from the 17th century explicitly prohibited distribution of several texts, mainly those critical of the royalty. Occasional regulations in this matter were also issued by the local municipal governments.[1][2][3]

The idea of freedom of speech was in general highly respected by the Polish elites and established in the Golden Freedoms of the Polish nobility, and it was one of the key dimensions distinguishing the Commonwealth from he more restrictive absolute monarchies, common in contemporary Europe. Only the banning of books that attacked the Catholic faith was relatively uncontroversial and attempts to ban other types of works often lead to heated debates. In the last century or so of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the issue of censorship was therefore occasionally debated by Polish Sejm and regional sejmiks, usually with regards to individual works or authors, whom some deputies either defended or criticized. There were several lawsuits about individual books, and some books were judged and sometimes ordered to be destroyed by burning. Since there was no overall law regarding the censorship, there were often disputes about jurisdiction in this matter between the bishops, the state officials and the Jagiellonian University.

In the last years of the Commonwealth's existence, some country-wide laws related to censorship would be eventually addressed and passed by Sejm. In particular, the 1791 Constitution of May 3rd, while did not address the topics of freedom of press or censorship directly, it guaranteed the freedom of speech in its Article 11 of the "Cardinal and Inviolate Rights".[4][5]

Partitions

Following the partitions of Poland, which ended the existence of the independent Polish state in 1795, censorship was in force on the annexed Polish lands, as the codes of occupying states generally contained severe censorship laws.[4][6][7][8][9] Out of the three regimes, the Russian censorship is considered to have been the most harsh.[5] During some periods, the censorship was so invasive that even the usage of words Poland or Polish was not allowed.[5]

Main articles: Censorship in the Russian Empire, History of Austria, and Censorship in Germany § German Empire (1871–1918)

Second Polish Republic

Following Poland regaining independence in 1918, the cabinet of Jędrzej Moraczewski who served as the first Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic between November 1918 and January 1919 removed preventive censorship, abolishing a number of laws inherited from the partition period, and replacing them with ones more supportive of the freedom of the press. New press laws were issued in February 7, 1919, introducing press regulation system and giving the government control over printing houses.[4] In 1920 during the Polish-Soviet war, information about the war was required government's approval. [10] The March Constitution of 1921 confirmed the freedom of speech, and explicitly abolished any preventive censorship and concession system. [4]

Following the May Coup of 1926 censorship targeting opposition press and publications intensified.[10] In practice, Second Polish Republic has been described as having "mild censorship". The censorship was carried by the Ministry of Interior. Printing presses had to provide an advance copy to the Ministry, which could order the publication to be stopped. The publishers were allowed to dispute the Ministry decision in the courts. Newspapers were allowed to indicate that they were subject to censorship by publishing blank spaces. It was common for publishers to skirt the law, for example by delaying the sending of the first copy of a book to the Ministry, which meant that many controversial books were sold in the bookstores before the Ministry censors made their decision.[11] The April Constitution of 1935 did not discuss the freedom of press issue, which has been seen as a step backwards in the issues related to censorship, and a 1938 Press Law decree of 1938 introduced a provision which allowed Ministry of Internal Affairs to prevent the distribution of foreign titles.[4][10] 1939 saw controversial arrest of a publisher and journalist Stanisław Mackiewicz.[10]

In the Second Polish Republic, censorship was often employed "in defense of decency" against writers whose works were considered "immoral" or "disturbing the social order.[12] Polish historian Ryszard Nycz [pl] described the censorship of that time as "focused primarily on anarchists, leftists, and Communist sympathizers among the avant-garde writers".[5] Polish writers whose works were censored included Antoni Słonimski, Julian Tuwim, Józef Łobodowski, Bruno Jasieński, Anatol Stern, Aleksander Wat, Tadeusz Peiper and Marian Czuchnowski [pl].[12][5] Film censorship (focused on ensuring decency) has been described as extensive, as the law prohibited not only pornographic films but also films showing content that "generally violates codes of morality and law", a formulation that has been used to justify a number controversial decisions, and according to its critics, made the film censors equal in power to the film directors. The director of the Central Film Bureau within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, colonel Leon Łuskino [pl], has been described as the "terror of the film-makers".[13][14]

People's Republic of Poland

Main article: Censorship in the People's Republic of Poland

Following the communist takeover of Poland, the Main Office of Control of Press, Publications and Shows [pl] (Główny Urząd Kontroli Prasy, Publikacji i Widowisk, GUKPiW) was established in the People's Republic of Poland on July 5, 1946. All publications and spectacles had to receive prior approval and the censors had the power to cancel any media publishing or broadcasting licenses. The press laws were subject to major revisions in 1984 and 1989.[4] Communist era censorship targeted topics associated with Soviet repression against Polish citizens, works critical of communism or labeled as subversive, and much of the contemporary émigré literature.[5]

The controls were particularly severe during the early years of the communist period ("the Stalin era").[5] During that time, censorship meant not only policing content, as even refusal to print government-endorsed texts could have severe consequences, as evidenced by an incident in 1953 when the weekly Tygodnik Powszechny was temporarily closed and lost its printing house after it refused to print the obituary of Joseph Stalin.[15][5]

The censorship law was eliminated after the fall of communism in Poland, by the Polish Sejm on 11 April 1990 and the GUKPiW was closed two months later.[16][17]

Third Polish Republic

The freedom of the press is guaranteed in both the modern Constitution of Poland (1997) and in the revised press law. Another article of the Constitution explicitly prevents preventive censorship, although it does not prohibit post-publishing repressive censorship which in theory might be not incompatible with the modern Polish law.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Urszula Augustyniak (2008). Historia Polski, 1572-1795. Wydawn. Naukowe PWN. p. 413. ISBN 978-83-01-15592-6.
  2. ^ Paulina Buchwald-Pelcowa (1997). Censorship in ancient Poland. Wydawn. SBP. p. 20. ISBN 978-83-85778-80-6.
  3. ^ Głażewski, Jacek (2004). "Paulina Buchwald-Pelcowa: Cenzura w dawnej Polsce. Między prasą drukarską a stosem, Warszawa 1997". Napis.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Jacek Sobczak; Jedrzej Skrzypczak; Ksenia Kakareko (14 February 2017). Media Law in the time of liquid modernity: Hot Topics in the European and Polish Media Law. Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH. pp. 9–11. ISBN 978-3-8325-4428-7.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Nycz, Ryszard (2016). "Polish Literature in the Shadow of Censorship. A Lecture". Teksty Drugie. 2: 84–104.
  6. ^ Ohles, Frederik (2001). "Germany: The French Occupation (1806–14) and the German Confederation (1815–71)". In Jones, Derek (ed.). Censorship: A World Encyclopedia. Vol. 2, E–K. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 920–922. ISBN 978-1-57958-135-0.
  7. ^ Stark, Gary D. (2001). "Germany: The German Empire, (1871–1916)". In Jones, Derek (ed.). Censorship: A World Encyclopedia. Vol. 2, E–K. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 922–924. ISBN 978-1-57958-135-0.
  8. ^ Keyserlingk, Robert H. (1967). "Bismarck and the Press: The Example of the National Liberals". Historical Papers Presented at the Annual Meeting, Canadian Historical Association. 2 (1): 198–215, page 208. doi:10.7202/030678ar.
  9. ^ Przybyła, Zbigniew (1995). "Cenzura w Przywiślańskim Kraju" [Censorship in the Vistula Land]. Teksty Drugie (in Polish). 6: 82–86.
  10. ^ a b c d Łęcicki, Grzegorz; UKSW (2015). "Cenzura w Polsce Ludowej: propaganda, manipulacja, destrukcja". Kwartalnik Nauk o Mediach (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-05-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Strządała, Gaweł (2012). "Cenzura w Polskiej Rzeczpospolitej Ludowe". Ante Portas. Studia nad bezpieczeństwem. 1: 31–46.
  12. ^ a b "Zakazane książki- cenzura w dwudziestoleciu międzywojennym (1918-1939) - Leksykon - Teatr NN". teatrnn.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  13. ^ "Zakazane pocałunki". Newsweek.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  14. ^ "Zakazane pocałunki. Cenzura filmów w przedwojennej Polsce". CiekawostkiHistoryczne.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  15. ^ Frieberg, Annika (May 2008). "II". The Project of Reconciliation: Journalists and religious activists in Polish -German relations, 1956–1972 (PDF) (Disertation). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. p. 54. doi:10.17615/9q1a-pd95. ISBN 978-0-549-53566-9. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  16. ^ Antoni Dudek (7 January 2020). Od Mazowieckiego do Suchockiej. Otwarte. p. 337. ISBN 978-83-240-5659-0.
  17. ^ "Cenzura". dzieje.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-05-28.

Further reading

  • Michał Pietrzak (1963). Reglamentacja wolności prasy w Polsce, 1918-1939. Książka i Wiedza.
  • P. Buchwald-Pelcowa, Cenzura w dawnej Polsce. Między prasą drukowaną a stosem, Warszawa 1997
  • B. Szyndler, Dzieje cenzury w Polsce do 1918 roku, Kraków 1993
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