Published: 2023-12-31

The historical value of Bishop Czesław Kaczmarek’s prison letters to Primate Stefan Wyszyński (1951-1953)

Ryszard Gryz
Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings
Section: Rozprawy i Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/sc.2023.30.2.20

Abstract

The article attempts to assess the substantive value of nineteen prison letters from Bishop Czesław Kaczmarek to Primate Stefan Wyszyński. They did not reach their addressee but rather fell into the hands of investigators of the communist security apparatus between his arrest in January 1951 and the show trial of the hierarch in September 1953. The documents seized are authentic and the autobiographical information is reliable. The content includes a description of prison conditions, a list of charges, methods of investigation and fabrication of evidence, and the presentation of the bishop's defence strategy, as well as the evolution of his psycho-physical state. The bishop's correspondence with the primate will enable the analysis of archival sources from the protracted pseudo-evidence.

Keywords:

epistolography, prison letters, Stalinism, Bishop Czesław Kaczmarek, Primate Stefan Wyszyński

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Citation rules

Gryz, R. (2023). The historical value of Bishop Czesław Kaczmarek’s prison letters to Primate Stefan Wyszyński (1951-1953). Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings, 30(2), 285–298. https://doi.org/10.21697/sc.2023.30.2.20

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