In their spring issue (April, 2014), Polish American Studies,
which is issued by the Polish American Historical Association, published an
article by a doctoral candidate at the Jagellonian University, Paweł
Markiewicz, which is entitled
Previously Unknown Soviet Documents
and Polish Americans During World War II
A most striking title and since Reverend Orlemanski has been
a subtopic of my research (worked in archives in Washington, DC; Boston, MA and
Rome, IT) and its quasi-abstract reads most attractively (vide below), I raced
to read the material
This article presents two previously
unknown Soviet archival documents. The first deals with the visit of Fr.
Stanislaw Orlemanski, a pro-Soviet Polish-American Catholic priest to Moscow
and his meeting with Stalin. This article presents two previously unknown
Soviet archival documents. The first deals with the visit of Fr. Stanislaw
Orlemanski, a pro-Soviet Polish-American Catholic priest to Moscow and his meeting
with Stalin.
If only the author had fulfilled his sales pitch, if only
this had been unknown material, there would not be a need to write this note.
There have been previous comments in this blog, on material
which has appeared under the imprimatur of a university, and which is available
on the internet and contains errors or misstatements of fact. In each case the institution has been
approached and asked to amend/ correct/ remove the material from their webpage.
In an age where materials appear throughout the world, it is imperative that
scholars be peer reviewed. It is for
that reason that this author is grateful for the criticism, advice, comments
and suggestions - primarily of Professor Anna Cienciala as well as Professor Wojciech
Materski, and to numerous others, some scholars, some not – many of whom have
simply asked a question be it about a document or about a conclusion… even in
writing a blog, one needs to be conscientiously precise.
In this case, the material appeared in print in a small press
run, however, the damage is that it has also appeared on a website called
academia.edu (join 12,000,000) and thus enters into ‘facto-mythology’ as real
history. Seemingly well written, with a
number of footnotes, of course referring to work by various members of PAHA, it
omits discussion of a major work, published in 2003, which completely counters
the title. In this case, as opposed to the Vanderbilt University case, I
publish the author’s name since he is a doctoral candidate and thus expected to
be “held to a higher standard”.
The premise of a scholarly publication is that it presents
research and allows for an open discussion between researchers and scholars. I
therefore approached the editor of Polish American Studies, Dr. James Pula and
submitted a letter to the editor in which misstatements were noted and corrections
including appropriate references were included.
Dr. Pula responded that the “article” would not be published.
This refusal means that an entire generation of readers who
find this material on the web will be misled.
In light of that it is necessary, as it has been earlier, to
publish a commentary on this article which is flawed and not properly
documented – specifically in one of its main assertions. The study of the
Stalinist period is complex enough, and when documentation appears, it must be
meticulous, not sloppy. Declarations of
fact must be precise and footnoted, not simply put in print.
The letter follows – and if there is documentation for the
main assertion – the author is asked - please present it!
