Education and Upbringing or Indoctrination and Propaganda? The Ideological Aspects of Education in Institutions of the Union of Polish Patriots on the Example of Southern Kazakhstan (1944–1946)

Abstract

After 1943, the organisation of education for Polish children in the USSR included the incorporation of communist ideology and Stalinist propaganda into the curriculum. The Polish Patriots’ Union in the USSR, which promoted the slogans of “Polish-Soviet friendship” and the post-war alliance between Poland and its eastern neighbour, was responsible for re-establishing and expanding the network of educational institutions. The practice of operating schools, kindergartens, orphanages and boarding schools under the banner of the PPU showed varying degrees of compulsory propaganda. Examining this issue on the example of South Kazakhstan (i.e., the South Kazakhstan Oblast) reveals the scale of indoctrination. It allows for an assessment of whether, in practice, more effort was made to impart knowledge or whether education served merely as a pretext for political and educational work.