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SHORT NOTES

with Lech Wałęsa and other ‘Solidarity' activists, held in the courtyard of the Lublin Catholic University, Miłosz said openly that ‘the State had monopolized the power over words' and that it was ‘necessary to restore the ordinary human sense to words'. Let us add that Miłosz did not revisit Poland until 1989. The book consists of three parts. The first, written by Bogusław Kopka and Grzegorz Majchrzak, discusses the most important evcnts connected with the poet's visit. The second part contains a smali glossary of terms used by the Security Service; the third part presents an extensive selection of documents produced by the Security Scrvice within the framework of operations against the poet. The book is an interesting attempt to present, on the one hand, the operational techniąues applied by the security apparatus and, on the other, a new approach to an important event of the ‘Solidarity' epoch: a meeting with a Nobel prize holder. The study is supplemcnted with photocopies of documents with the cryptonym ‘Poet', produced by the Security Service. (KK)

Adam F. Baran, Walka o kształt harcerstwa w Polsce, 1980-1990. Niepokorni i niezależni [The Struggle for the Shape of the Scouting Movement in Poland, 1980-1990: The Defiant and Independent], Warszawa 2007, ISP PAN, ‘Rytm’, Fundacja 'Historia i Kultura’, 560 pp., index of persons, tables

The book portrays the history of the Polish scouting movement in the Polish People's Republic from a less known perspective, from the view of ‘defiant' circles. These were groups of boy scouts and girl guides who tried to create an alternative to the communist model in the Polish Scouting Association (ZHP). The author concentrates on the 1980s, which witnessed many initiatives of this kind. He portrays the leaders of independent groups, and discusses their organizational activities. A great deal of attention is paid to the ideological programmes of the independent groups. Baran shows how the programme of independent scouting was formcd, its links with ‘Solidarity' (in 1980-1) and with the Catholic Church. He also discusses the strategy of the authorities towards illegal scouting or-ganizations under martial law and later, up to the beginning of the Third Polish Republic and the amendment to the law on associations, adopted in March 1990, which madę it possible to set up scouting groups not belonging to ZHP. In the last chapter the author presents the renewal of formal contacts with the world scouting movemcnt. He has madę use of still unknown source materials, e.g. materials from the National Remembrance Institute and the Polish Primate's Archives. An important role in the book is played by the accounts and private archivcs of 29 persons. The author has drawn much information from the illegal press. It is worth stressing that the book has been written under the direction of Tomasz Strzembosz, a prominent researcher who specialized in the history of the occupation in Poland and was one of the leaders of independent scouting groups during the times of the Polish Pcople's Republic. (KK)