[Słowo wstępne]

The current volume of “Przegląd Historyczny” is devoted to Karol Modzelewski, one of the most prominent Polish medievalists and at the same time one of the chief representatives of the anticommunist opposition in Poland prior to 1989, and a leading parliamentarian during the early period of our political system transformation 1989–1991. This dichotomy in Professor Modzelewski’s biography — on the one hand in his books and articles he discussed remote issues of the Middle Ages, while on the other his political activities placed him among the most important architects of Polish contemporary history — is strongly emphasized in the opening remarks by the editors of the volume. And, due to that same fact, many of the texts to be found below, based on private recollections of the authors, attain the character of source materials for studies on the history of communist Poland.The current volume of “Przegląd Historyczny” is devoted to Karol Modzelewski, one of the most prominent Polish medievalists and at the same time one of the chief representatives of the anticommunist opposition in Poland prior to 1989, and a leading parliamentarian during the early period of our political system transformation 1989–1991. This dichotomy in Professor Modzelewski’s biography — on the one hand in his books and articles he discussed remote issues of the Middle Ages, while on the other his political activities placed him among the most important architects of Polish contemporary history — is strongly emphasized in the opening remarks by the editors of the volume. And, due to that same fact, many of the texts to be found below, based on private recollections of the authors, attain the character of source materials for studies on the history of communist Poland