Jakub Szumski
I am a post-doctoral researcher at the Imre Kertész Kolleg at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, where I also teach East-Central European history. I currently work within the Volkswagen Foundation project ‘Towards Illiberal Constitutionalism in East Central Europe: Historical Analysis in Comparative and Transnational Perspectives’. My research deals with conflicting concepts and interpretations of legality in late socialist Eastern Europe and the history of international law during the Cold War.
I received my Ph.D. from the University of Jena in December 2022. Previously, I studied history and philosophy at the University of Warsaw, the University of Konstanz, and Humboldt University in Berlin, and I graduated with an M.A. in history from the University of Warsaw in 2014. My M.A. thesis received the Wladyslaw Pobóg Malinowski award for the best historical debut of 2014 in Poland and won an honorable mention of the Mieczysław Rakowski award, granted by the weekly “Polityka”. It was later published as Rozliczenia z ekipą Gierka 1980-1984 by IPN in 2018.
My research interests revolve around the history of politics and law in state socialist Eastern Europe, focusing on East Germany and Poland. I held fellowships at the ZZF in Potsdam, the Institute of Contemporary History in Prague, and the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe in Marburg. My research was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Open Society Archive in Budapest, and GFPS in Berlin.
Supervisors: Joachim von Puttkamer
I received my Ph.D. from the University of Jena in December 2022. Previously, I studied history and philosophy at the University of Warsaw, the University of Konstanz, and Humboldt University in Berlin, and I graduated with an M.A. in history from the University of Warsaw in 2014. My M.A. thesis received the Wladyslaw Pobóg Malinowski award for the best historical debut of 2014 in Poland and won an honorable mention of the Mieczysław Rakowski award, granted by the weekly “Polityka”. It was later published as Rozliczenia z ekipą Gierka 1980-1984 by IPN in 2018.
My research interests revolve around the history of politics and law in state socialist Eastern Europe, focusing on East Germany and Poland. I held fellowships at the ZZF in Potsdam, the Institute of Contemporary History in Prague, and the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe in Marburg. My research was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Open Society Archive in Budapest, and GFPS in Berlin.
Supervisors: Joachim von Puttkamer
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The article describes Iwanów's political biography until September 1980.
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8-9 December 2017
German Institute of Polish Studies in Darmstadt, Germany
http://www.deutsches-polen-institut.de/
The workshop organized by the German Institute of Polish Studies (Deutsches Polen-Institut) is dedicated to the last two decades of communist rule in Germany and Poland and focuses on the communist parties: the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP). If the early 1970s in the German Democratic Republic and in Poland have been read as a time of stability, the 1980s represent a decade of political and economical decline. However, what do these allocations mean specifically, in a perspective concentrating on the communist parties themselves as well as on their societal context?
Aim of this workshop is to foster a dialogue between researchers from the dynamic and interdisciplinary field of historical party research. We want to discuss the functions of the communist parties in the central power structure of the German Democratic Republic and the People’s Republic of Poland. The workshop is directed at creating a differentiated idea of the inner networks of the party, the relations between party, state and society and the decline of state socialist parties. Thus not only dimensions of political history, but also of social and cultural history are to be considered. With these perspectives the claim of the parties to unlimited power and unity can be related to the many-layered historical realities.
Contributions might address topics such as:
- Historicity, present developments, approaches and perspectives of research on the SED and the PUWP,
- Inner networks, relations and functionalities of the parties since the 1970s (structures, factions, schisms, interest groups);
- Interactions and entanglements in the frame of party-state-society,
- Crises, decline and dissolution phenomena of the SED and the PUWP in the 1980s.
Confirmed commentators / speakers for the workshop:
Prof. Dr. Włodzimierz Borodziej (Warschau)
Prof. Dr. Martin Sabrow (Berlin/Potsdam
Working language:
The working language is German.
Deadlines and Requirements:
Talks on innovative case studies, comparative or overarching topics should not exceed 20 minutes.
Please send an abstract of your paper to roettjer@dpi-da.de by August 7, 2017. Notification of acceptance will be e-mailed as soon as possible thereafter.
Abstracts should be no more than 300 words in length. Please also include a biographical note with current affiliation.
Travel expenses of panelists will be reimbursed within Europe and supported within the limits of project funding in the case of overseas travel.
The workshop is funded by the foundation "Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur".
Organizers:
Julia Röttjer M.A. (German Institute of Polish Studies, Darmstadt)
Jakub Szumski M.A. (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw)
http://www.deutsches-polen-institut.de/assets/Forschungsprojekt-Kommunis...
Contact Info:
Julia Röttjer M.A.
Deutsches Polen-Institut
Residenzschloss / Marktplatz 15
64283 Darmstadt
Germany
Contact Email:
roettjer@dpi-da.de
URL:
http://www.deutsches-polen-institut.de/
Edited volumes
Books
Podczas rewolucji „Solidarności” i w trakcie stanu wojennego trwały zarówno żywiołowe, jak i instytucjonalne rozliczenia z ekipą rządzącą krajem w latach siedemdziesiątych. Władze zostały poddane społecznemu naciskowi, aby ujawnić i osądzić przypadki korupcji i nadużywania stanowisk. W wyjaśnianie tych spraw zaangażowały się instytucje partyjne, państwowe oraz sądy, ale efekty ich działań nie były satysfakcjonujące.
Książka opowiada o korupcji wśród rządzących w sytuacji braku kontroli, o głęboko zakorzenionym społecznym pragnieniu równości i sprawiedliwości oraz o słabości państwa, które bezskutecznie próbowało pociągnąć do odpowiedzialności polityków kierujących krajem w poprzedniej dekadzie.
Książka nagrodzona w konkursie im. Władysława Pobóg-Malinowskiego na Najlepszy Debiut Historyczny Roku.
The article describes Iwanów's political biography until September 1980.
8-9 December 2017
German Institute of Polish Studies in Darmstadt, Germany
http://www.deutsches-polen-institut.de/
The workshop organized by the German Institute of Polish Studies (Deutsches Polen-Institut) is dedicated to the last two decades of communist rule in Germany and Poland and focuses on the communist parties: the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and the Polish United Workers' Party (PUWP). If the early 1970s in the German Democratic Republic and in Poland have been read as a time of stability, the 1980s represent a decade of political and economical decline. However, what do these allocations mean specifically, in a perspective concentrating on the communist parties themselves as well as on their societal context?
Aim of this workshop is to foster a dialogue between researchers from the dynamic and interdisciplinary field of historical party research. We want to discuss the functions of the communist parties in the central power structure of the German Democratic Republic and the People’s Republic of Poland. The workshop is directed at creating a differentiated idea of the inner networks of the party, the relations between party, state and society and the decline of state socialist parties. Thus not only dimensions of political history, but also of social and cultural history are to be considered. With these perspectives the claim of the parties to unlimited power and unity can be related to the many-layered historical realities.
Contributions might address topics such as:
- Historicity, present developments, approaches and perspectives of research on the SED and the PUWP,
- Inner networks, relations and functionalities of the parties since the 1970s (structures, factions, schisms, interest groups);
- Interactions and entanglements in the frame of party-state-society,
- Crises, decline and dissolution phenomena of the SED and the PUWP in the 1980s.
Confirmed commentators / speakers for the workshop:
Prof. Dr. Włodzimierz Borodziej (Warschau)
Prof. Dr. Martin Sabrow (Berlin/Potsdam
Working language:
The working language is German.
Deadlines and Requirements:
Talks on innovative case studies, comparative or overarching topics should not exceed 20 minutes.
Please send an abstract of your paper to roettjer@dpi-da.de by August 7, 2017. Notification of acceptance will be e-mailed as soon as possible thereafter.
Abstracts should be no more than 300 words in length. Please also include a biographical note with current affiliation.
Travel expenses of panelists will be reimbursed within Europe and supported within the limits of project funding in the case of overseas travel.
The workshop is funded by the foundation "Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur".
Organizers:
Julia Röttjer M.A. (German Institute of Polish Studies, Darmstadt)
Jakub Szumski M.A. (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw)
http://www.deutsches-polen-institut.de/assets/Forschungsprojekt-Kommunis...
Contact Info:
Julia Röttjer M.A.
Deutsches Polen-Institut
Residenzschloss / Marktplatz 15
64283 Darmstadt
Germany
Contact Email:
roettjer@dpi-da.de
URL:
http://www.deutsches-polen-institut.de/
Podczas rewolucji „Solidarności” i w trakcie stanu wojennego trwały zarówno żywiołowe, jak i instytucjonalne rozliczenia z ekipą rządzącą krajem w latach siedemdziesiątych. Władze zostały poddane społecznemu naciskowi, aby ujawnić i osądzić przypadki korupcji i nadużywania stanowisk. W wyjaśnianie tych spraw zaangażowały się instytucje partyjne, państwowe oraz sądy, ale efekty ich działań nie były satysfakcjonujące.
Książka opowiada o korupcji wśród rządzących w sytuacji braku kontroli, o głęboko zakorzenionym społecznym pragnieniu równości i sprawiedliwości oraz o słabości państwa, które bezskutecznie próbowało pociągnąć do odpowiedzialności polityków kierujących krajem w poprzedniej dekadzie.
Książka nagrodzona w konkursie im. Władysława Pobóg-Malinowskiego na Najlepszy Debiut Historyczny Roku.
During the 1980s state socialist Poland and East Germany were a scene of coming to terms with the fallen party leaderships of Edward Gierek and Erich Honecker. The fallen leaders and their confidants faced charges, among other things, of political corruption and office abuse. The events, which happened during transformative periods (1980/1981 in Poland and 1989/1990 in the German Democratic Republic) produced anti-corruption mindsets, discourses and activities and influenced the transformative periods’ dynamic and contributed to the demise of the system.
The applicant studies official documents, summaries of popular moods, legal proceedings and personal materials of top political figures. He analyzes the build-up of structures of the elite political corruption and the coming to terms with them during transformative periods in Poland and the German Democratic Republic during the 1980s. He seeks similarities and common patterns of revolutions. The goal of the project is to show unknown aspects of Polish-German and state socialist history.