ABSTRACT
Poland adopted limited transitional justice almost a decade after its neighbors Germany and the Czech Republic, but de-communization has been one of the most divisive issues in the political life of this young democracy. Poles remain divided about the communist past, its effects on nation-building and political culture, and the way in which the post-communist state should deal with it. Some agree with their country’s choice for the Spanish model, where transition to democracy is effected without granting public access to secret archives, prosecuting communist leaders for human rights trespasses and blocking ancien regime officials from accessing positions of power and responsibility. Others believe that Poland’s soft stand toward communist repression provides the wrong moral example for younger generations, and allows former communists to succeed in the market economy and open electoral competition. Curiously enough, in Poland the strongest case against comprehensive transitional justice was made not by former communists, but by former dissidents fearful of what it would reveal about the opposition movement, while the hostility towards the old political elite was caused not by its opposition to market economy and democracy, but by its successful adaptation to these new conditions.
