The search for legitimacy in post- martial law Poland: The case of Claude Lanzmann's Shoah

This article focuses on the motives and aims behind the exploitation of the Polish-Jewish past undertaken by the communist establishment in the context of the lack of legitimacy of General Jaruzelski's government, its rivalry with the Catholic Church and democratic opposition, and the economic crises of the 1980s. Using the communist regime's response to Claude Lanzmann's film Shoah in 1985 as a case study, the article examines the military regime's attempt to employ the Poles' perception of the SecondWorldWar and their heroic and martyrological vision of the past as a means via which to respond to challenges presented by the reality of post-martial law in Poland. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.