Introduction

A dog has very quickly become one of the most faithful man’s companies. It has entered the mythology of Indo-European people equally fast in view of its characteristic feature. It played a special role in myths and Celtic beliefs. Celts appreciated dogs’ faithfulness, as well as adored their regenerative abilities and protectiveness. The very features made dogs a company of many Celtic gods and, in certain situations, a sacrificing animal. It appeared as a company of forest and hunting gods, but a more important role played accompanying healer’s gods and goddesses. Because of its features, it became an integral attribute of mother-goddesses connected to death and the beyond. In line with them, it performed the function of a guide and an intermediary with the beyond. The popularity of this animal contributed to the appearance of many dogs with supernatural skills accompanying heroes, and a group of animals announcing misfortune or death in the Celtic saga. The role of a dog in Celtic beliefs is underlined by numerous votive statues representing this animal, and archeological finds from the areas of sanctuaries or necropolis where many dog burials were found.

Caius Annius is a little-known figure in the history of the Roman Republic. He became famous only once withdrawing Sertorius from Spain in 81 BC. The author of the article, using short information included in literary texts and data on coins, makes an attempt at reconstructing both a political career of Annius as well as the course of his Spanish mission. As the author claims, Annius was in favor of L. Cornelius Sulla during the first domestic war. In 81 he became a praetor and a governor of Nearer and Further Spain in the pro-consul range the same year. The task he received from the dictator was to withdraw Q. Sertorius from the Iberian Peninsula, and eliminate the last Marian centre in the Roman Republic. He completed the missions very well, making the enemy escape from the peninsula. His success, however, was short-lasting as the order introduced by him did not consolidate the dictator’s power in Spanish provinces, as a result of which Sertorius returned to the Iberian Peninsula one year later, and was in charge of an anti-Sullan rebellion.

The art of writing letters was becoming more and more popular among the gentry in the 17th and 18th centuries in the Republic of Poland. The letters were also more and more often written by women and children. The article is an attempt to characterize the very phenomenon on the basis of letters of young Maria Zofia Sieniawska to her father Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski, a voivode of Bełsk, and, also a grand crown hetman later on, coming from the first half of the 18th century. The analysis covered both the form and content of letters, above all, in the context of the relationship that Zofia had with her father, a man strongly engaged in the most important political events in the Republic of Poland at that time, and, therefore, often absent at home. Maria Zofia corresponded both with her father and mother Elżbieta Sieniawska from Lubomirski family. The texts investigated show the picture of a well-bred and educated young gentlewoman, good at dealing with a pen, the skill of which she was using in her life later on.

The analysis covers the baptismal certificates of the Evangelical-Augsburg congregation in Cieszyn between 1709 and 1759, that is, from the beginning of its functioning. The very books were carefully handled, and the most specific and complete records come from the period between 1712 and 1721. The certificates included 7 354 baptisms, the village children of which constituted as much as 93,1%, while children from towns (Cieszyn, Skoczów, Bielsko, Pszczyna, Strumień, Frysztat, Jabłonków, Bogumin) 3,7%, and those from the suburbs 3,2%. There were 110 baptisms of boys and 100 baptisms of girls within the scope of the research. The masculinization determiner was 109.5 in the village and 116,5 in the town. The data covering the period from 1712 to 1721 show that children were baptized very early, most of them one day after delivery (42,2% of all the baptized) or two days after their birthday (35,8%). The gentry and people connected with the congregation were not in a hurry to take part in the ceremony. The distribution of the Evangelicals in the area investigated was diversified. The biggest number of children to be baptized came from the villages to the south of Cieszyn (among others Goleszów, Guty, Tyra, Ligotka, Śmiłowice). When it comes to towns, on the other hand, Cieszyn and the suburbs took a lead. The number of godparents depended on children’s social status. Most often, it was two or three godparents who were present. Their choice was influenced more by neighborhood and professional relations than family ones. One name was given to 90,3% of the baptized, and two names to 7,3% of children in the Cieszyn parish in the first half of the 18th century. The Protestants, on the other hand, chose popular names for their children (Jan, Adam, Anna, Ewa), the Apostle’s names, the Bible characters and saint names in the period under investigation. Inheriting a name from a parent was a frequent practice. In view of various forms of name records, one cannot investigate the national affiliation of the baptized in the Cieszyn parish.

Wojnowice is a small village near Racibórz where Józef Rostek, a Polish activist, was born. The very place saved a few interesting monuments, among whom one should mention the 19th century palace. The farm gave employment (in the form of servants) to many young people from Wojnowice and other villages in the 19th century. The document, it being the book of banns from the parish in Wojnowice, discussed in the article was written in beautiful Upper-Silesian Polish (with some German terms). Several people made records in it to be dated on the periods 1872—1893/1894. On their basis one can draw interesting conclusions concerning socio-economic changes to be observed in this and other villages near Racibórz. Significant changes in the social structure happened in Wojnowice in the second half of the 19th century, which was connected, among others, with the industrial development in Upper Silesia, thanks to which a large part of peasants became workers. However, they also went further to find a job, even to Westfall. Other interesting conclusions can be made when examining usually significant age differences between a bride and groom, which might prove a “property” basis of marriages. One should also remember that Wojnowice lies in the area where different cultural influences (Polish, Czech and German) intercrossed. It was reflected in banns under investigation; in the vocabulary referring to, above all, the profession performed by a groom or his father and witnesses, as well as in female and male first names.

The aim of the General National Exhibition organized in Poznań in 1929 was to present the output of the Polish country from the period of the first ten years since the restoration of independence. The very exhibition became an ideal chance for entering into trade contacts and finding new receivers on the Polish market. The occasion itself determined motivation on the part of the representatives of the Upper-Silesian industry and self-government. In the light of the crisis of the export of products to the German market, caused by a duty war, mining-steel concerns planned to integrate with the so-far underestimated national market. The self-government authorities at the voivodship and local level, on the other hand, took part in the exhibition, taking into account the support of the government actions and representation of their economic possibilities allowing for further development. During the exhibition the economic potential built on the wave of the economic breakdown directed at further expansion was presented. The success of the event, however, overlapped with the beginnings of the economic recession at the end of 1929, which was to change into a big economic crisis in a few months.

A different historical past of the areas that constituted the Silesian voivodship and Dąbrowa Basin made the vocational schooling almost non-existent in this very area. The attempts made in the Republic of Poland to reform the high and grammar secondary schooling put the issue of unifying the vocational schooling away. This type of education that was reopened after 1918, was characterised by a different level and time of teaching, as well as variety, and, at the same time, the lack of educational qualification regulations, and the acceptance of a different curriculum when it comes to starting education therein. The teaching plans for 20 vocational groups were prepared as late as in 1928, but the process of shaping the vocational education started after the act dated on 11 March 1932 had been accepted by the Sejm. The training schooling was well-developed in the Silesian voivodship. The actions connected with the vocational training of teenagers and adults in this area were in charge of the Silesian Craft-Industry Institute in Dąbrowa Basin, on the other hand, the training schools did not exist. The activity was conducted by several vocational schools of different type (mainly private ones). They also organized courses for teenagers and adults at different teaching hours. It was Śląskie Techniczne Zakłady Naukowe in Katowice and Szkoła Górnicza i Hutnicza im. S. Staszica that was the pride in the Silesian voivodship and Dąbrowa Basin respectively.

The article was based on the source materials to be found in the Archive of the Auschwitz-Birkenau National Museum in Oświęcim. The main basis constitutes the acts of the teams entit „Höss’ Trial” and „Declarations”. The former consists of the witnesses’ testimony collected during the trial against a commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The latter, on the other hand, constitutes prisoners’ reports and memories written down after the war by the workers of the museum in question. The article is an attempt to characterize Rudolf Höss as a private person. Thus, it does not describe him as a professional commandant. It does not deal with the issue connected with professional duties he realized with regards to his position. The aim of the article is to show readers an informal image of Rudolf Höss that was pictured by the prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp having something to do with him directly. The every image portrays the commandant not as a ruthless executor of the mass extermination of many thousand people, but as „an average man”. It presents relations with his wife, the way he brought his children up, forms of spending leisure time, and his private interests.

Bielsko and Biała became one town for the first time during Hitler’s occupation. Both towns were occupied by the troops constituting the composition of the fourth Ukrainian Front led by general Iwan Pietrow during the attack of the Red Army. At the same time, two separate operational groups were sent to Bielsko and Biała from Katowice and Kraków to create the new authorities. The arrival of two groups proved that the towns were to constitute two separate administrative organisms like it was before the war. Both the authorities of Bielsko and Biała were trying to change this decisions in vain until 1950. The article describes the most important political and social events that took place in the area of both towns and nearby villages in 1945. These included the formation and activity of the government administration, self-government bodies, political parties, and independence underground, as well as opening shops, and industrial or craft companies. The article also raises the issue of inhabitants’ life conditions in 1945 that was largely influenced by the stationing of the Red Army forces, food availability and its prices, as well as the agricultural policy of new authorities. Another important problem was the issue of the rehabilitation of people that signed the German People’s List, and the displacement of Germans who stayed there. The very action was coordinated by a local department of the National Repatriation Office, the aim of which was also to take care of the repatriated and displaced passing by this area, and the organization of the settlement of people that came from other regions of Poland. As the final dividing line is considered the end of 1945 and 1946.

Yet another Polish-Czechoslovak borderline conflict, finished when signing a bilateral agreement on friendship and mutual support on 10 March 1947, meant the obligation to realize the so called protocol-attachment to this agreement by both countries. Its content obliged the Polish party to accept the existence of the Slovak minority in North Spis and Upper Orava, and provide it the conditions of the cultural development. It was mainly the consulate of the Czechoslovak Republic in Katowice with Matej Andráš, an active consul who was in charge of this agreement starting from autumn 1947. The actions of the Czechoslovak authorities clearly aimed at making Slovaks in Poland independent of the influences of local organs in the borderline until 1950. In so doing, the issue of the Polish minority in the Czechoslovakia was used in the form of a diplomatic blackmail incomparable in many respects. Thus, Slovak schools and cultural organizations, as well as the Slovak junior high school in Jabłonka in 1951 were founded in the Polish part of Spis and Orava. Because of a growing Stalinization the attention the Czechoslovak authorities paid to Slovaks in Poland was declining. Both countries avoided a discussion on minority issues, which suited above all the authorities in Prague being unwilling to discuss Poles’ concerns in the Zaolzie area.

Urbaries constitute a valuable source material for the studies on the structure of the village population, as well as peasants’ tasks and duties. The urbary from 1723 illustrates a property situation to be observed in Łaskarzówka. This 18th century document was prepared in German, and constitutes a supplement to the information included in the Czech document of this type from the beginning of the 18th century. Like the remaining groups of urbaries of the so called Życin state, it differs as to the concrete dates. According to this document (as well as the urbary from 1710), one can assume that Łaskarzówka played a fairly important economic role. Two farms, a blacksmith’s and a tavern functioned in the village. An important element of the village economy was forestry and fish breeding. The document precisely locates the fields belonging to the farm. Basing on the data, one can find out about numerous settlement deserts there. Some of them belonged to the parish in Łabędy despite the fact that the village was formally subject to the parish in Rudna starting from the 15th century. If one compares the peasants’ names mentioned in the urbary with the data included in the document several years older written by Kozłowski, a village owner at the beginning of the 18th century, one can conclude that the villagers’ migration was big. Also the village owners changed frequently. These were: Gierałtowski and Pelka family, as well as Schweinoch, Jaroschin, and Kozłowski. As early as in the first half of the 18th century Łaskarzówka belonged to Bycin lands owned by Paczewski family. The subsequent Łaskarzówka owners (with all Bycin lands) were the representatives of Seherr-Thoß family. Finally, the very lands were transformed in the fideicommisum, namely Ujazd-Bycina, owned by Hohenlohe family of Sławęcice in 1829.

The settlement of the areas that were granted to Poland at the conference in Potsdam, was one of the most important tasks to be realized by the people’s authorities. Its realization was to consist in displacing the majority of German population to the areas east of the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and transporting there the displaced from Poland in favor of the Soviet Union as early as in 1945. The coordination of the displacement of people to the West was commanded by the National Repatriation Office, but many other organizations and institutions such as the National Information and Propaganda Office, Polish Western Union or Polish Red Cross joined the very action, too. As the issue of the activity of the National Repatriation Office field units was fairly often dealt with in the scientific literature, the analysis of the work of these and other places in the area of the Kraków voivodship is still hardly examined. The documents presented show difficulties the population of Biała Krakowska district that volunteered for a voluntary displacement to the West faced. Initial enthusiasm of volunteers, evoked by the activity of propaganda, decreased when it was made clear that the whole action was disorganized and the hardships of a few-day trip often went beyond the possibilities of the displaced. The reports from the transports prove chaos existing in the postwar reality and problems the Polish societies faced at that time.

The publication consists of two parts: an introduction and source materials. The introduction shows the origins and circumstances of the formation of the Silesian Academic Institute, and outlines a structural-personal situation of the institute until the martial law, as well as the context of the so called carnival of Solidarity. The selection of sources comes from the collection stored in the National Archive in Katowice, a rich legacy of The Silesian Academic Institute. The sources cover selected protocols of the sessions between August 1980 and 13 December 1981. The materials presented allow for tracing the way the institution appointed as an ideological centre acting to a large extent for the purposes of party authorities, could include the actions or mechanisms against the intentions of the decision-makers from the Voivodship Committee of Polish United Workers imposing the rightfulness of actions, or at least stigmatizing improper behaviours. The very sources allow for discerning the signals of awaiting changes (e.g. the limitation of the omnipotence of nomenclature) on the one hand, and show the attempts to stop the process of liberalization and democratization of life made by a part of environments concentrated around the so called Katowice Forum Party on the other. The work includes the fragments that, according to the author, prove the unique nature of the very period and draw attention to unusual situations having no equivalent either before the events from August 1980 or after 13 December 1981. The sources selected show difficulties the Polish society dealt with In the period In question, them among others being particularly housing problems or decisions on forced emigration. They also prove that 30 years ago there was the period in the history of the Polish People’s Republic in which one could blame a voivode for breaking the law in public, when the authorities were deprived of the freedom to distribute flats and the party activists had to account for their steps made during working hours.