Editing Jakub Berman (section)

== Notes ==
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''a.''{{Note label|a|a|none}} Speaking during a plenum of the [[Polish Workers' Party|PPR]] in October 1947, Berman strongly expressed his agreement with Gomułka's views: "It is our tremendous achievement, as communists, that we are able to create a national party, which has become deeply rooted in Polish society. ... It is our greatest treasure, which we have to defend, and will not ever allow anybody to push us back to the enchanted ring of the [[Communist Party of Poland|KPP]]. It had been our greatest disaster. ... We are not a communist party, we are the PPR". Already in August–September 1948, Berman found it necessary to alter his views in order to comply with Stalin's current directives. They required the "building of the foundations of socialism" according to the Soviet example.<ref name="PPR to nie KPP">Lech Mażewski, ''PPR to nie KPP'' [The PPR is not the KPP], ''[[Przegląd]]'' 14-20.06.2021, p. 36.</ref>

''b.''{{Note label|b|b|none}} Berman told a story to [[Teresa Torańska]], by whom he was interviewed in the early 1980s. Afterwards, he requested that Torańska refrains from printing it, because he was concerned that his revelations may reflect badly on Bierut, "a noble man". Torańska published the account anyway.

In November 1949, at [[Belweder]] Palace, Bierut wanted to give Berman investigation files concerning cases of officers accused of political crimes, because he wanted Berman's opinion on the matter. Berman declined to take the files, because he considered them contrived and worthless. He asked Bierut to make sure that no death sentences are issued based on such evidence. Berman soon regretted not having taken the files and cooperated with Bierut's procedure. Bierut, who normally followed his advice, this time did not and twenty death sentences were eventually carried out. "Unfortunately", lamented Berman, "he believed in those papers too much".<ref name="Jestem córką Jakuba 115–116">Lucyna Tychowa and Andrzej Romanowski, ''Tak, jestem córką Jakuba Bermana'' [Yes, I'm the Daughter of Jakub Berman], pp. 115–116.</ref>
 
''c.''{{Note label|c|c|none}} The degree and nature of Berman's involvement with the state security apparatus are matters of controversy. It is not known whether he was kept informed by Minister [[Stanisław Radkiewicz]] and his people, or whether they saw him, an idealistic communist, as an impediment to their operation. According to the testimony of people familiar with Berman in this role, he often alleviated the cruelties of the system. He had no formal decision-making capacity, which rested with Gomułka and Bierut, or with Radkiewicz at the operational level. On the other hand, as the communist regime struggled to contain the armed underground in the mid-1040s, Berman lobbied for an expansion of state security. Berman is also believed to be responsible for the lessening of political repression, which began in the later 1940s.<ref name="Jestem córką Jakuba 117–121">Lucyna Tychowa and Andrzej Romanowski, ''Tak, jestem córką Jakuba Bermana'' [Yes, I'm the Daughter of Jakub Berman], pp. 117–121.</ref>

Berman, responsible for culture, was despised by the literary circles and others, on whom he had imposed harsh censorship and other restrictions. After the death of Bierut, Berman's adversaries produced highly negative written evaluations of him in printed media and he quickly became a scapegoat for all the misdeeds of the Stalinist period. A "good Bierut and bad Berman" stereotype was created.<ref name="Jestem córką Jakuba 117–121"/>

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