Greater Poland Uprising 1918/1919 Remembrance Society

Continuation of the memory of history of the Greater Poland Uprising, its tradition and meaning.

Stefan Barłóg

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The original statuette was made by the then Odlewnia Żeliw Śrem S.A. and this Honorary Award –“the Drummer of the Greater Poland Uprising” - is granted once a year before the ceremonious celebrations of the anniversary of the Greater Poland Uprising 1918-1919.

The “Drummer …..” statuettes are presented in the Działyński Palace in Poznań as a summary of the yearly activities aimed at commemoration of the Greater Poland Uprising 1918-1919.

The “Drummer...” is awarded to persons and institutions that made particular contributions to the popularisation of the memory, knowledge and traditions of the independence effort of the Greater Poland residents through:

- popular-scientific activities regarding the history of the Greater Poland Uprising, research and publication initiatives, published books, journalism, etc.

- presentation of the subject of the Greater Poland Uprising 1918-1919 in their creative work (literature, film, music, art etc.).

- broad popularisation activities including

 scientific and popular-scientific conferences, museology and any other forms of a lasting nature which have national and regional significance.

The first winners of the “Drummer of the Greater Poland Uprising” were as follows:  

Prof. Antonii Czubiński – a historian, Gerard Górnicki – a literary man, and the International Poznań Fair.

The prestigious title of the “Drummer of the Greater Poland Uprising”, including the statuette, has so far been awarded to 71 people and 27 institutions.

These include historians, literary people, regional activists, museum workers and educational institutions.

Furthermore, since the year 2009, the Main Board has awarded distinguished activists of the Society for the Memory of the Greater Poland Uprising, and supporters and friends who are proponents of the idea and programme of the activities Society for the Memory of the Greater Poland Uprising, with the Honorary Badge “Faithful to Tradition”.

Much importance in the activity of the Main Board and the provincial branches of the Society for the Memory of the Greater Poland Uprising is given to scientific and popular-scientific conferences which are aimed not only at deepening the knowledge about the Greater Poland Uprising, but also the current state of research and historiography related to the uprising and historical awareness of its significance in the society.

The following subjects may be mentioned as examples: The Greater Poland Uprising – an unappreciated success (Zielona Góra), The state and prospects of historiography regarding the Greater Poland Uprising (Gniezno), The inhabitants of rural areas in the Greater Poland Uprising (Museum of Agriculutre and Agri-food Industry in Szreniawa), Scouts in the Greater Poland Uprising 1918-1919 (Poznań), The Greater Poland Uprising 1918-1919 in the Kuyavia, Pałuki and Pomerania regions (Inowrocław), and The participation of pharmacists in the Greater Poland Uprising (Polish Society of Friends of Learning in Poznań). A conference regarding historiography and school education, organised by the Main Board of the Society for the Memory of the Greater Poland Uprising and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, was of particular significance as the subject of evaluation at the conference covered contents related to Greater Poland in the history teaching curricula and history books. Also, the contents of some history books were evaluated critically.

Analysis carried out by scientists and practitioners – teachers, was not too optimistic. It was found that the educational contents and achievements of students related to the Greater Poland Uprising were progressively reduced and the importance of the Greater Poland Uprising was narrowed down to a regional dimension. Thus, it was pointed out that there was a real threat that a student, especially at primary school level - in another region of the country, would not know anything about the Greater Poland Uprising.

The conference got a lot of publicity in the press and on the internet. Conclusions reached during the conference, in the form of a resolution, were sent to the Ministry of National Education. This was the year 2010.

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