The Eastern European Scientific-Research Institute in Vilno (1930-1939) and its contribution to Soviet studies in Poland

Afiliacja aut. na pub.: Instytut Historii UJ

The beginnings of Soviet studies in Poland (1918-1939) constitute a problem which up to now has not been the object of detailed investigation. The accomplishments of Polish Sovietologists during the inter-war period, albeit significant and representing assorted themes, remain for all practical reasons unknown. A particular role in the development of Soviet studies was played by the creators and staff of the Eastern European Scientific-Research Institute in Vilno. The origin and growth of this institution as well as a survey of the research stands of its employees comprise the topic of the discussed article. The Institute was established at the Stefan Batory University in 1930 and survived until 1939, when, due to the Soviet invasion of 17 September 1939, an ensuing Soviet-Lithuanian agreement incorporated the region of Vilno into the Republic of Lithuania, whose authorities closed the Polish university in December 1939. The Institute reflected the conceptions of its author, Stefan Ehrenkreutz, historian of the political system and rector of the Stefan Batory University, who anticipated that the centre would become not only a research institution, but also a specific forum of individual influence upon the eastern policy of renascent Poland. In practice, the work pursued by the Institute was dominated by studies on the systemic doctrine, legislation and economy of the Soviet Union. Particular attention is due to works by Wiktor Sukiennicki ( 1904-1983), lawyer and author of a synthesis entitled Ewolucja systemu ZSRR (1917-1936) (The Evolution oj the Soviet System 11917-1936]), Stanisław Swianiewicz (1899-1997), an economist who examined the economic views of Vladimir Lenin against an expansive background of the Russian traditions of collectivism, and the author Lenin jako ekonomista (Lenin as an Economist), and Bogumił Jasinowski (1885- 969), historian of ideas and the author of, i.a. Wschodnie chrześcijaństwo a Rosja na tle rozbioru pierwiastków cywilizacyjnych Wschodu i Zachodu (Eastern Christianity and Russia Against the Background of an Analysis of Civilizational Elements of the Eastand the West). The Institute also conducted research which exceeded the domain of Soviet studies. Mention is due predominantly to works on the national problems of the Baltic states, carried out by W. Wielhorski, Seweryn Wyslouch’s studies on Soviet Belorussia, and publications by Witold Staniewicz about Stalinist collectivisation. The conceptions launched by those researchers were integrated by a conviction that each phenomenon should be examined and understood, and not condemned upon the basis of moral criteria. The first director of the centre was Janusz Jędrzejewlcz, in 1933 succeeded by Władysław Wielhorski. In the Board, which coordinated the programme of the work performed by the Institute, a dominating rank was enjoyed by S. Ehrenkreutz. The Institute worked according to a seminar method, and the graduates included students of both S. Swianiewicz and W. Sukiennicki. At the same time, the centre was adjoined by a School for Political Sciences, which trained future workers of the administration and the diplomacy. The Institute produced a large number of publications, and together with the Society for Research on Eastern Europe and the Near East, established two years earlier, issued a total of 18 books and two copious volumes of “Rocznik”. The Vilno-based Institute had at its disposal a mere fraction of the financial means spent in Germany for the development of the "Ostforschung". Poland witnessed the emergence of an intellectual milieu and a certain group of thinkers who deserve to be described as members of a "school of Soviet studies" at a time when neither Germany nor the rest of Western Europe yielded a similar intellectual formation. The significance of this phenomenon should be emphasised while assessing the conceptions expanded by Polish Sovietologists against a comparative background and from the perspective of time.