Yakub Koriba: Cleaning the century

While the Polish-Russian scandal is gaining momentum and as a punishment for the dismantling of Soviet monuments, deputies propose to withdraw from Warsaw the ambassador or to rename Klimashkin Street , on which the Polish embassy is located in Moscow, to the Muravyev Sweeter Street, on both sides of the Brzezinsky line, a complete misunderstanding of each other's behavior reigns.

I can’t explain Russia to the Poles, let more competent translators of the cultural code do this (although, we must admit that people who understand the Poles and sympathizing with Poland meet in Moscow less and less). I will take the courage in several paragraphs to explain to Russian friends, where did my compatriots suddenly have a vandal rage and why right now they rushed to blame the Chernyakhovskiye and Konevy with shovels.

The paradox of the situation is that, destroying these monuments, the Poles do not really think about the Russians. The story that raised a wave of indignation in Moscow under the slogans of the Polish Russophobia and “Insults of Russia”, in Poland, in general, is not much associated with the eastern neighbor, since it is part of the process of testing its own national conscience and summing up historical results in a turning point for social development.

Since historians are presented in the Polish political class in abundance, it seems that the Poles are deeply immersed in the past. But in fact, most of my citizens think primarily not about yesterday, but about today and tomorrow. The national idea is to survive until the moment when Poland becomes a normal, European state with good roads and decent per capita income. Everything that helps to approach this goal is perceived "with a bang"; Everything that pulls the country into a wretched gray past is denied.

Right now, the last generation brought up under the old regime is retired. This is evidenced not only by the results of the elections (in 2015, for the first time in the history of modern Poland, the post -communists did not get to the parliament and, judging by the surveys of public opinion, will not return there), but also numerous conversations with ordinary, especially young people, for whom, unlike their Russian peers, the events of 1945 are so far in the development of Poland is so unambiguously negative that there is no one It makes no sense to talk about the fate of all these boards and statues. Rudely, but sincerely speaking, there is almost no one Pole left, who believes that he has something to say for the Soviet soldier thank you. In the life of these new generations, neither the USSR nor Russia (unlike, for example, from Germany, which for so many Poles in many respects has become a symbol of something good) did nothing, well, nothing that could cause at least some sympathy for Moscow. That is, in the sense of attitude to Russians, these monuments do not mean anything at all. But if we talk about their own complexes, the occupying squares and squares of the Soviet soldiers became a symbol of the imperfection of Polish modernization, the state of Nem-Europe.

If you dig a analytical shovel a little deeper, then it can be stated that several key factors influence the attitude to Soviet monuments:

Aesthetic. Since the collapse of communism and the exit of Poland from the eastern bloc by the national idea of the vast majority of the residents of the country, the modernization under the slogan of "returning to Europe" has become. The goal (unlike the politically blurry and economically shaky, oversaturated with the metaphysics of Russian projects) is very simple and understandable: during the life of the current generations, to achieve the average European standard of living. This task is carried out by a faster pace: Poland, especially from the moment of joining the EU, quickly changes its appearance. Even the most forgotten town on the deaf outskirts of the country managed to build a water park with Philharmonic, then at least lay a granite paving stones on the main square and highlight the flower beds in front of the city hall. Against the backdrop of the beauty of the popular renovation, the dilapidated serial concrete figures look (and in fact they are) symbols of the era, which I want to forget about it quickly, - symbols of the dark under someone else's boot.

In all Russian, we, Poles, are most annoyed by what we see and feel in ourselves

Political. At least the last three centuries Poland, losing its international subjectivity, was forced to play the role of a pawn. By the will of historical fate, the grandmasters behind the chessboard of Central Europe were Germany and Russia. It so happened that it was Russia that represented a country with a lower civilizational level. Pulling Poland into its orbit, Russia automatically pulled the Poles from Europe and threw back in development in relation to what is a standard for us. Hence the main goal of the Polish foreign policy: to get rid of this Russian-German curse, to forever consolidate the independent presence in the family of free peoples of Europe. And if Germany behaves emphasized political correctly, then in relations between Crimea and Donbass there were serious suspicions of revengeism that generate the thought: to quickly remove all the hints of the former role of Moscow in Warsaw's affairs.

Psychological. Perhaps the Russians who have problems with “internal sovereignty”, but who never lost state independence, do not catch the moment that for the Poles the last quarter century became the first after the cascade of dramatic events (sections of the country, world wars, occupation and communism) of a historical moment when they really felt like the hosts of their own country. At least for my generation, all these conquests do not seem strong and forever guaranteed: most Poles live in a state of chronic geopolitical anxiety under the slogan "will come and take away", sometimes with the addition "and the West will betray."

In addition to the usual desire for self -affirmation at the expense of the former metropolis, there are another deeper aspect in the current public mood of the Poles. The Lenin experiment on the creation of a new person turned out to be in many ways successful, in many of us, Homo Soveticus, grown over three generations of red captivity, still lives. The very vile character, who so often - both in personal life and in political - forces us not to behave according to the laws, but according to concepts. This eastern practice of behavior does not comply with formally established Western norms, hence the need to direct somewhere remorse and rationalize your own behavior. The displacement mechanism is triggered: we are not because we are, but because for one and a half centuries we were occupied by the Russians, and then for another half a century - Soviet ones. Let's remove the Russian concrete from the squares so that it disappears from our hearts and goals.

In all Russian, we, Poles, are most annoyed by what we see and feel in ourselves - dirt, mess, “maybe”, corruption and the eternal desire of freshly blessed serfs, bypassing all of generally accepted norms and rules. I really want not only to be in Europe, but also to turn yourself into Europe, my house, my country, that when you once again catching up, I behaved again in a Soviet way! - There is a strong desire to start with a clean sheet. Cleansing is simple: you need to make an object of hatred not of oneself, but the defenders of the socialist system cast in concrete. And then the metaphorical slogan “Kill Moskal”, about which Anton Mukhara sang in a very successful Rome of Soviet classics, is converted into the patriotic gesture of the physical destruction of Soviet totems.

I do not urge the Russians to share the enthusiasm of the Poles about the demolition of Soviet monuments. I do not even urge to accept and divide Polish views on history. On the contrary: I firmly believe that according to several key points, disagreements are so deep and fundamental that we will never find a common point of view. Why then this text? Then, to try to understand. If we intend to someday start building a normal relationship, then it is better for us to be beautifully silent than to talk ugly. The beginning of a constructive dialogue is a distant prospect, due to the fault of the current course of governments of both countries, but such a day will come when we will need know-how not only in the field of dialogue, but also in the field of silence.

Yakub Korabe - Polish journalist and political scientist

Opinions expressed under the section may not reflect the point of view of the editorial office