Millennial celebrations of Poland’s Christianization in Poznań – a page in the visual war history of Poland

Abstract

In 1966 the authorities of communist Poland celebrated the Millennium of the Polish State. The celebrations commenced at the beginning of the decade. Their purpose was to oppose the “ideological offence” of the Catholic Church that was, during the same time, celebrating the Millennium of Christianity in Poland. The conflict between the two parties, in which the communists did not refrain from physical repressions, also took on the character of a visual war. The way this war looked was heavily influenced by the accusations of the communists against the Polish clergy concerning pro-German and pro-revisionist sympathies evoked by The Pastoral Letter of the Polish Bishops to their German Brothers and their call for mutual forgiveness. This study focuses on the visual war in Poznań, with special attention paid to the decoration prepared for the main state-organised celebrations in Mickiewicz Square, Church celebrations near the Cathedral, and exhibitions devoted to the subject in the National Museum in Poznań. The conflict between the communists and the Polish episcopate was interpreted as another manifestation of the many centuries of struggle, including via visual representations, between the Catholic Church and its adversaries.