The article concerns German occupation legislation: it does not, however, discuss the subject of the administrative and judicial structures of the Polish Underground State and its activities in this field. The discussed issues are divided into three areas: the political system and law, judiciary and administration. Due to the differences in the legal system, the article discusses those three areas separately in respect to the General Governorate and the lands incorporated into the Third Reich. Within each of the areas, the state of research and research postulates were presented separately. The lack of research, the little-advanced state of knowledge and limited scope of the article caused the description relating to the Polish lands occupied by the USSR in September 1939 and in 1941 incorporated to the Reich Commissariats East and Ukraine to be omitted in this study. The authors presented research postulates, proposing to undertake research based not only on the analysis of legal acts (normative-theoretical sphere), but primarily on the study of practice recorded in court files. The authors also formulated a general postulate, based on the presentation of detailed research, elaboration and development of a critical overview generalizing the problems of law and administration (also in the context of the other occupied countries), which would indicate the role of law and courts in the implementation of Nazi policy goals.
Umwandererzentrale-Lager (UWZ-Lager) Zamosc was the central transit camp set up for Polish civilians forcibly deported from the Zamosc region between 1942 and 1943, during the implementation of "Generalplan Ost" in the General Governorate. Upon entering the camp, the unimaginable tragedy for those imprisoned there began. After registration and a selection process assessing their potential for Germanisation, and suitability for slave labour in the Reich, the prisoners awaited the formation of transports for their further deportation. The duration of stay "behind the barbed wire" in Zamosc typically ranged from several days to several weeks. During this time, prisoners endured inhumane living and sanitary conditions, characterised by hunger, cold, overcrowded barracks, the spread of diseases (particularly infectious ones), and a lack of medical care. As a result, many perished, especially children and the elderly. The most severe fate befell those children who did not meet the Nordic race criteria and were forcibly separated from their parents during the selection process, and often placed under the care of the elderly. These children were left with relatives during the racial selection-most commonly mothers (very rarely fathers), grandmothers, or occasionally grandfathers-who attempted to provide them with assistance. The aim of this article is to outline selected examples of survival strategies employed by prisoners of UWZ-Lager Zamosc in the camp conditions through the prism of individual experiences (excluding the spiritual aspect and internal experiences), as recorded in their post-war accounts. These sources show how prisoners tried to adapt to life in the camp in the first months of its operation.
The article presents the activities of Sergiusz Piasecki, a later writer, as an intelligence agent of Branch No. 6 of the Second Division of the General Staff of the Polish Army (military intelligence), located in Brest on Bug. The aim of the article is primarily to show the institutional background of this activity-the formation of the field structure with which the author of the novel Equal to Night Gods (Bogom nocy r & oacute;wni) cooperated, which was established after Polish independence in 1918, as a part of Polish military intelligence. The formal conditions for participating in intelligence service at that time were also indicated. This contribution to the history of Polish intelligence in the Eastern Borderlands of the Second Polish Republic gives a picture of the involvement of the Polish secret services in the discussed activities from the perspective of the analysis of documents kept by the agents of Branch No.
The aim of this analysis is to present the Czechoslovak educational system under communist totalitarianism, i.e. from 1948-1989. The most important turning points and milestones of that system in the described period are presented, both the ideological changes, and the gradual reform efforts. The shape of the school system was modified repeatedly in Czechoslovakia under the communist regime. The length of mandatory education was changed several times, the system of schools and their names were changed. Throughout the period under review, nationally valid curricula and syllabuses were binding, and these were altered in response to changes in the education laws. A number of expert discussions were held on the shape of Czechoslovak education, however, these did not cross the "boundaries of the times" during this period. Moreover, many of the interventions were carried out primarily for ideological reasons and without regard for pedagogical considerations. The period of the 1950s can be seen as particularly problematic in this respect. The 1960s brought hope, culminating in the so-called Prague Spring of 1968. However, these hopes were violently ended in August 1968 with the Warsaw Pact invasion. The subsequent period of 'normalization' brought a return to a distinctly rigid communism. The influence of the Soviet Union and its pedagogy and the strong ideologization of education (influenced by the scientific worldview of Marxism-Leninism) were evident throughout this period.
The article concerns the abovementioned novel about the adventures of the devil Marek in post-war Poland. The publishing history of the work and the conflict between the author and the publisher are discussed on the basis of the archival records. The status of genre fiction was considered - from the initial idea of reportage to a hybrid of a reportage novel, satire and political grotesque. A lot of attention has been paid to documentarian and authentic (or close to authentic) elements in the text. The status of the fantastic hero and the author's conviction about the devilish nature of communism, expressed in the novel, were also considered. The views on the character of Piasecki's work, established in the literature in the field, are presented and critically addressed. An analysis of the work was carried out, enabling to judge which of the events depicted by the writer were reported from his own experience. The existence of the novel's main line was emphasized-conviction about the Polish nation's aversion to communism, and fidelity to the idea of independence and sovereignty of Poland.
