Ludwik Hass (1918–2008) was a Polish historian who specialised in the history of

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

in Poland.

Biography

Early life

Hass was born to

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

parents in

Stanyslaviv Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...

. He was brought up in a middle-class family which had been assimilated to

Polish nationalism Polish nationalism () is a nationalism which asserts that the Polish people are a nation and which affirms the cultural unity of Poles. British historian of Poland Norman Davies defines nationalism as "a doctrine ... to create a nation by arous ...

. Hass first came into contact with communist ideas at the Humanities Gymnasium he attended in Stanisławowo, through his association with the left wing of the '' Związek Polskiej Młodzieży Demokratycznej''. Whilst studying at the '' Uniwersytet Jana Kazimierza'', he became a member of the

Union of Independent Socialist Youth Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Union ...

, a Marxist, anti-nationalist group that opposed antisemitism. By this stage Hass had become critical of

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

and gained a reputation within the Union as a

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

, without having any knowledge of what that meant. The exaggerated tirades against Trotskyism performed by Union leader

Adam Schaff Adam Schaff (10 March 1913 – 12 November 2006) was a Polish Marxist philosopher. Life Of Jewish origin, Schaff was born in Lemberg (Lwow, Lviv) into a lawyer's family. Schaff studied economics at the ''Ecole des Sciences Politiques et Eco ...

merely served to pique Hass’s interest. He then joined an anti-Stalinist group, becoming exposed to critical ideas through

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

's dissident publication '' Byulletin’ Oppozitsii'' and the Belgian paper ''

Lutte Ouvrière Lutte Ouvrière (, ) is a Trotskyist communist party in France, named after its weekly paper. Arlette Laguiller was the party's spokeswoman from 1973 to 2008 and ran in each presidential election until 2012, when Nathalie Arthaud was the candi ...

''.

Arrest

Following the German-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 he found himself in the territory of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He was arrested and sent to

Vorkutlag The Vorkuta Corrective Labor Camp (), commonly known as Vorkutlag (Воркутлаг), was a major Gulag labor camp in the Soviet Union located in Vorkuta, Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. ...

. He attributed his survival due to being assigned office work thanks to his education. He was released in 1948 and remained in the

until he returned to Poland in 1957. On his arrival in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

he astounded a welcoming delegation of students, by announcing that he was a revolutionary who wanted to overthrow the bureaucracy. He then sang ''

The Internationale "The Internationale" is an international anthem that has been adopted as the anthem of various anarchist, communist, socialist, democratic socialist, and social democratic movements. It has been a standard of the socialist movement since ...

'' and gave a clenched fist salute.

References

Texts by Hass

"The Russian Masonic Movement in the Years 1906 - 1918"
(1983) ''Acta Poloniae Historica'' 48,

External links

at marxists.org
Youtube video of his funeral
1918 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Polish deportees to Soviet Union Polish Trotskyists Writers from Ivano-Frankivsk University of Lviv alumni {{Poland-historian-stub