Endokomuna

Background and one of the main representatives of Endokomuna.The nationalist Endecja movement, founded by Roman Dmowski in the interwar era, had undergone a radical transformation in the 1940s; during World War II, it was a part of the Polish resistance. At the end of the war, the movement's prominent leaders such as Bolesław Piasecki were captured by the Red Army. While in detention, Piasecki caught the attention of Soviet general Ivan Serov, who praised Piasecki as "genius boy" and held long conversations with him. While in captivity, Piasecki changed his political views, vowing to cooperate with the Polish Committee of National Liberation, endorsing the social and economic reforms of the Polish communists, and declaring his support for their struggle against the "reactionary current in Polish society". A pre-war Catholic activist, Piasecki proposed that Endecja could assist the communist regime by securing the support of Catholics for the government. After his release in 1945, Piasecki was received by Władysław Gomułka, and put forward his thesis of rapprochement between Polish Marxists and Catholics, which was to benefit both sides and stabilize the communist government. Piasecki discussed his idea of Catholic communism that would consider "God, mankind, nation, and family" its main values while at the same time supporting socialist economic reforms and loyalty towards the Soviet Union. Gomułka was pleased with the proposal, and gave Piasecki green light to founding a Dziś i jutro (Today and Tomorrow) newspaper, organized by numerous Endecja and Catholic writers. 1940s Piasecki's defection prompted other important Endecja figures to approach the communist government. Stanisław Grabski, considered the "nestor of Endecja", became a member of the communist-controlled State National Council, and his enthusiastic appeals for "all patriots to enter the state apparatus and sociocultural organizations" mobilized other endeks (members of Endecja) to join the communist state structures and push for the legalization of the National Party. Despite this, the government never sanctioned legalization of the Endecja party; the fact that Endecja did not found its own party but rather infiltrated state structures directly made them avoid persecution as they were not seen to be contesting the communists in power, unlike the Polish People's Party led by Stanisław Mikołajczyk. According to Jan C. Behrends, the nationalist turn of Polish communism is rooted in Stalin's reconsiderations of nationalism from 1941; this was reflected in the diary of Georgi Dimitrov, the leader of the Communist International: Behrends writes that the Polish Workers' Party (PPR) laid the foundations for Endo-Communism in 1940s by using "the neo-Dmowskian nationalism" in order to both appeal to the Polish population and to justify the alliance with the Soviet Union. Behrends argues that Polish communists introduced the traditional terms of Polish nationalism into communist vocabulary, and "the internationalists of the past had been remade into Polish patriots". PPR claimed to be the sole respresentative of Polish national liberation and tried to link other political factions in Polish politics, such as the peasant party and anti-Soviet socialist, to the occupier. Polish national communism was based on the idea that there was an extensive collaboration between German fascists and Polish reactionaries, and pan-Slavism was used to overcome anti-Russian sentiments in Poland. An important part of Polish national communist traditional was Władysław Gomułka who "had long fostered his image as a national communist", he advocated "a national road to socialism", ruled out forced collectivization of agriculture, and internally criticized the conduct of the Red Army in Poland. After the 1946 Polish people's referendum, Piasecki proposed in August 1946 "the replacement of the existing conditions by a new political configuration" to Gomułka which would include a Catholic party capable of "improving church-state relations, moderating the bishops’ anticommunist stance, securing Catholic support for the communists, and serving as coalition partner". This proposal was rejected, but the Polish president Bolesław Bierut tweaked the communist rhetoric on Catholicism, stating that he "acknowledged that the Catholic Church occupied a vital position in Polish history and argued that the government had no intention of altering this standing". In 1948 Poland had undergone "Stalinization" - Gomułka was accused of "right-wing nationalist deviation" and removed from the post of secretary-general in favor of Bierut, socialist parties were consolidated into the Polish United Workers' Party, and the opposition was clamped down on. Despite this, Endecja collaborationists endorsed the course and focused on promoting Catholic-Marxist dialogue. In July 1946, Kielce pogrom took place, which was an outbreak of anti-Jewish violence targeting Jewish Holocaust survivors. The official culprit for the pogrom was the anti-communist underground, although Jozef Banáš argues that there was also "complicity of the security organs, interested in creating diversion and in compromising the political opposition". He argues that the communist authorities intentionally refrained from combatting antisemitism in order to attract Polish nationalists into the communist party. In this, Banáš identifies one of the starting points of Endo-Communism. 1950s With Piasecki's help, the government signed an accord with the Church in 1950 - the Church had to support the regime's economic policies, condemn anti-government activities and limit Vatican's authority to doctrinal and canonical domains in exchange for guaranteed freedom of religion, religious instruction in public schools, and allowed existence of Catholic institutions. In 1952, Piasecki registered the PAX Association, which would become the centre of Endecja-affiliated and Catholic supporters of the communist regime. In 1956, Poland was thrown into disarray by Nikita Khrushchev's denouncement of Stalinism, which divided the Polish communists into two camps - the Puławska group which favored rapid de-Stalinization, and the Natolin faction that urged caution. This event gave PAX a lot of influence, as both camps were willing to grant it concessions in exchange for support. Nevertheless, PAX found the de-Stalinization "traumatizing" and warned against "excessive democratization" which would undermine state authority and test Moscow's patience, thus siding with the Natolin faction. Piasecki's support for the Natolin faction, which was considered to consist of Stalinists and neo-Stalinists, helped entrench Endecja influence in the communist ranks. The Natolins embraced antisemitism and Polish nationalism, and rallied against the anti-Stalin reformists not only by branding them revisionists, but also pointed out the Jewish and intelligentsia background of many reformers. While the Natolin faction was unsuccessful in halting De-Stalinization, many Natolins would later join the Moczarite "police faction" that emerged in the early 1960s. Banáš stated that the Moczarites were "in fact a rejuvenated offshoot of the disintegrated Natolin faction". As the result of the Polish October, Władysław Gomułka was reinstated as the general-secretary and immediately announced his vision of the "Polish road to socialism", considered "a mishmash of ethnonationalism, populism, and communist orthodoxy". Gomułka's rule marked a "renaissance" for Endecja and gave rise to Endo-Communism - PAX was rapidly expanding its membership, and the government also dissolved the "Patriotic Priests" association and put it directly under PAX's tutelage. Endokomuna as an organized movement then emerged in 1956 after Polish October, which put Władysław Gomułka in power. Gomułka's beliefs contributed to the emergence of Endo-Communism - he was accused of "right-nationalist deviation" in 1948 and spent over 3 years in prison, and after coming to power in 1956, he became a champion of a “Polish road to socialism”. Gomułka promised "a truly national communism" in Poland - his reforms included restoring the autonomy and granting concessions to the Catholic Church as well as dismissing Soviet advisers and military officers from Poland in favor of an exclusively Polish administration. His rhetoric stressed the importance of Polish national autonomy, and he sought to legitimatize the communist rule in Poland through Polish nationalism. Gomułka's policies Gomułka's direction of rehabilitating communist system of Poland by infusing it with nationalism was supported by a new generation of party functionaries, the so-called “new class”, that was primarily of peasant background and joined the Polish United Workers' Party after World War II. This direction included appropriating the rhetoric and ideological elements of the Polish pre-war National Democracy movement, referred to as Endecja, whose main ideologue was Roman Dmowski. National communism became increasingly important to Polish communists as they came to rely on it to maintain popular support and national legitimacy. Moczar and his Partisans were the main representatives of Endo-Communism - Robert S. Wistrich wrote that it was Gomułka's national communism that "would beget the phenomenon of General Mieczysław Moczar's "Endo-Communism". Endo-Communism is considered to have become the dominant ideology in the Polish United Workers' Party by the end of the 1950s. Luboš Veselý notes that the emerging dominance of Endo-Communism could be observed by the shift of the ruling authorities' towards nationalities such as Ukrainians - following a brief period of relaxation in the first years after 1956, Polish communists revived the tradition of Operation Vistula, glorifying it as "retribution" for the murder of Karol Świerczewski and an expression of "justified anger of the Polish nation". Polish historian Tadeusz Olszański wrote that this was the result of "the rise of a chauvinistic faction and ideology in the leadership of the PZPR, which over time earned the apt name 'endokomuna'". Similarly, Włodzimierz Mokry wrote that by the end of the 1950s 'endokomuna' had become prominent amongst communist cadres, influencing towards Polish chauvinism. Endo-Communists abandoned the trend of pre-1956 Polish communists to avoid the topic of Operation Vistula, and instead celebrated it as a revenge on Ukrainians, portrayed as ethnic enemies of Poland. This was accompanied by antisemitic rhetoric and rolling back the gender equality policies that Polish communists implemented in the 1940s. 1960s at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. The 1960s are considered to be a decade during which Endo-Communism became the de facto ruling ideology of the Polish People's Republic. Michael Steinlauf wrote that since "endokomuna" was no longer a faction but rather defined the character of the Polish communist rule, it can be used in reference to a specific period in the history of socialist Poland. The phenomenon of Endokomuna was also discussed in Polish émigré media, such as the French-based newspaper Paryska Kultura; its 1964 issue included a letter from a reader from New York City, Ludwik Słomiński, who argued that "claims that Poland is ruled by Endokomuna are, unfortunately, premature" and that "most Poles would return to their country tomorrow if that were the case". Słomiński lamented that Poland continues to be dominated by "Żydokomuna" instead. Already in 1960, the dominance of the Partisans became palpable and reported even by international media. In his memoirs, Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, the director of Radio Free Europe, wrote that in a conversation from 1960, Oskar R. Lange told him: Moczar was seen as the second most important person in People's Poland after Gomułka. The statements by Moczar and his Partisans appeared daily in the press and television, and their nationalist rhetoric was broadly discussed and analyzed. During state events such as army marches, anniversaries and celebrations, cameras often focused on Moczar. Polish historian Zygmunt Mańkowski wrote: "Moczar was a man of the people, i.e. he had excellent contact with his subordinates, the Partisans, whom he impressed with his enormous courage. He was extremely persuasive in his actions, tall, dark, decisive in his commands and in his entire manner of directing the partisan movements." Gomułka approved of Moczar's plan to carry out an "anti-Zionist" campaign where Jews suspected of Zionist sympathies were to be purged from public institutions. Initially, the purge was selective and affected mostly army structure and local party organizations. However, Mikołaj Stanisław Kunicki notes that the limited purge escalated tensions across the country: "The removal of Jews from public institutions, a state of ferment among liberal intellectuals and students, an aggressive mood in the party and security apparatus, and the impact of democratization in Czechoslovakia: all these factors produced a situation in which a little spark could set off a major political crisis. As often happens in history, the final eruption was caused by a seemingly marginal event." This marginal event were student protests organized against the government's decision to ban Dziady by Adam Mickiewicz, a 19th-century Polish national epic which the authorities accused of inspiring "behavior hostile to Poland's 'eastern ally'". The protests soon became full-fledged political movement for political and cultural reform. However, Marcin Zaremba argues that both Moczar and Gomułka "both knew each other from the Communist resistance, which was not insignificant, because it created a bond of a specific character, extremely strong, based upon boundless trust, which is indispensable in a situation of constant threat". He added that both men faced accusations of "right-wing nationalist deviation" before, and the Gomułka's national communism was quite similar to Endo-Communism promoted by Moczar. On the other hand, Gierek also pursued partial liberalization, opening Poland to trade with the West and Western influences - Poles would start travelling to other countries en masse, and products of Western mass culture became available in general circulation, along with Western movies and popular music. Karol Wojtyła, the Archbishop of Kraków who later became Pope John Paul II, praised Gierek as a wise leader, stating that Gierek would have received the help of the Polish episcopate, had he ever needed it. Wojtyła also argued that Gierek should be remembered as the communist leader of Poland "who started to pursue a reasonable policy towards the Church". Archbishop of Wrocław Bolesław Kominek expressed a similar view, stating that Gierek "spoke very reasonably" and that he was much more connected to the people than previous authorities of the Polish People's Republic. In the 1970s, Kominek described Gierek as follows: "He is surrounded by the people and the workers. He is more practical than Gomułka, he is more educated, he knows foreign languages, he spent years in France and Belgium; he has a broader horizon of thought; he was able to establish relations with the Church in Silesia." Rhetorically, Gierek turned away from communism and towards nationalism - in one of his speeches, he remarked: "Our steps stemmed from the concept of widening the social base of power, therefore in moving away from the dictatorship of the proletariat in the direction of a general national-state." Proletarian rhetoric was largely replaced by calls for national solidarity, but this did not mean abandonment of Marxism–Leninism; Gierek stated: "The historical process of identifying the new socialist Polish nation, a nation of working people, with the people's state was led by, inspired, and directed by our Marxist–Leninist party of the working class." He presented socialism as patriotic, arguing that "socialism ensured Poland's return to its ancient Piast lands on the Oder and the Baltic, once severed by violence, and made possible the rebuilding of a single, compact, Polish nation-state". Particular for Gierek was his usage of Polish pre-WWI history - he renovated the Warsaw Royal Castle and praised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Polish kings. Marcin Zaremba remarks that "from the very start of the communist rule in Poland national history was never spoken of in this way". Historian Jan Kubik writes of Gierek period: 1980s Gierek's administration became embroiled in an economic crisis in late 1970s, as Western markets shrank after the 1973 Oil Crisis, which made Gierek's policy of liberalized trade backfire. After food prices rose rapidly, beginning in 1976, his rule was marked by demonstrations, strikes and riots. Unable to contain the growing dissent, Gierek was ousted by his party in 1980. A year before, on 1 January 1979, Piasecki died. Polish communists of the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth "relied extensively on the rhetoric of nationalism, including old Piłsudskiite and Endek slogans". Kunicki argues that "Jaruzelski walked in Piasecki's footsteps", noting his patriotic and authoritarian-militarist, where to maintain the communist rule was regarded as a matter of "national interest" and "patriotic responsibility". Zaremba notes that in the 1980s, Polish communists even went as far as directly referencing Roman Dmowski, the founder of Endecja. In 1981 the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stefan Olszowski, stated: The communist party approved of the formation of the () which came to be led by the director . Numbering over 250,000 members by October 1981, it was described as a nationalist-communist formation that took a hardline approach towards reformism and anti-communist opposition and referenced nostalgia towards the 1944-1956 period. Its main programmatic line was resistance against "further decay of the state" and opposition "toward activities that threaten Polish national existence". Eventually, many Grunwald activists became high-ranking members of the neo-endecja party League of Polish Families, which adopted some Endo-Communist elements such as far-left economic policies and taking a harshly critical stance of the anti-communist Solidarity and Workers' Defence Committee, denouncing them as "the representatives of Western agencies". Jarosław Tomasiewicz wrote that after 1989, the nationalist camp in Poland was amorphous and included socialist overtones, adding that ironically, the post-1989 nationalist tradition in Poland is "not genetically linked to the traditions of the Polish national right", but rather with the national communist tradition of the Polish People's Republic. He noted that many parties, especially the League of Polish Families and the National Party, adopted "Grunwald lines" economically, while Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland adopted a kind of populism that "could be called ‘diluted national Bolshevism’, especially since many activists of this movement come from the Patriotic Union ‘Grunwald’." Modern Endocommunism is also associated with support for the Russian Federation in the Russo-Ukrainian War. == Ideology ==

Michael C. Steinlauf defined endokomuna as a "peculiar marriage of authoritarian Communism and chauvinist nationalist tendencies", Jennifer Stark-Blumenthal described it as a "particular Polish path to socialism" that was "marked by ethno-nationalism, authoritarian and anti-elitist ideals, and tinged by antisemitism". Przemysław Gasztold-Seń wrote that Endo-Communists were "neither typical communists nor true nationalists, but combined elements of both attitudes", but that "its base formed not pre-war Endecja activists, but people close to the communist regime". Drozda described Endo-Communists as "Marxist–Leninist dogmatists sometimes associated with radical right-wing circles of a neo-Endecja orientation or Christian fundamentalism". Włodzimierz Mokry saw it as Polish chauvinist and socially conservative communism. Endocommunism is considered to be synonymous to national communism; in a translation of Drozda's academic paper for Kultura Popularna, Central and Eastern European Online Library translated "komunoendek" as "national communist". Within the context of the Polish People's Republic, Endocommunism was represented by "Gomułkites" and "Moczarites", the supporters of Władysław Gomułka and Mieczysław Moczar, respectively. The Natolinians, a 1950s faction opposed to De-Stalinization, was also considered a precursor of it. Endocommunist movements were considered to represent the political left, and terms such as "the party left", "patriotic left", or "national left" were used. Within the context of the Polish United Workers' Party, Endocommunism was regarded as the "conservative" or "dogmatist" wing. This was to differentiate it from the "liberals", which was the term used for reformists and supporters of compromise with the anti-communist opposition. This label was inherited by post-1989 movements that had Endocommunist influences and members from this wing of the communist party, such as Samoobrona. Marcin Zaremba, writing on the main representatives of Endo-Communism in communist Poland, the Partisans, Jarosław Tomasiewicz described Endo-Communism as an extreme form of national communism, while Jacek Kuroń wrote of the Partisants' Endo-Communism: Bartosz Korzeniewski described Endo-Communism as "military patriotism", stating that it was a combination of the official, state Marxist–Leninism with national ideology and military ethos, together with a strong anti-German and pro-Soviet attitudes. He wrote that this military patriotism served to "nationalise communist ideology", and that the state media actively participated in promoting this ideology, making it enter the national cinematography and popular culture. Kunicki notes that Moczar and his Partisans particularly cultivated this myth, writing that Moczar glorified the communist partisans and projected an image of patriotic “boys from the forest." This was also joined with the doctrine of PAX Association and Piasecki, who argued that "the whole history of People's Poland has demonstrated that the terms ‘people's’ and ‘national’ are fully compatible" and wrote that "patriotism was socialist and that socialism was patriotic". For Piasecki, anyone who opposed the incorporation of nationalism into communism was "guilty of antisocialist aberration". Nationalism , PRON, and ZBoWiD. Endo-Communists actively promoted the concept of national communism. Considering the classic Marxist–Leninist doctrine too alien to the Polish society, Endo-Communists instead cultivated a "national-plebeian" tradition that portrayed Polish socialism as a continuity of pre-war and WW2-era Polish struggles for national liberation and a more egalitarian economic system. At the same time, Endo-Communism is credited with "nationalizing" Polish communism, In a 2014 interview with Myśl Polska, Józef Kossecki, a prominent member of the Grunwald Patriotic Union who was often identified as an Endocommunist, stated his belief on the socialist and post-socialist Poland: Anti-revisionism Endo-Communists were highly critical of anti-Stalinist forms of communism and socialism, including Trotskyism, Khrushchevism and other socialist movements supportive of De-Stalinization. Endo-Communists argued that these movements are "isolated from the working class, as well as from the vast majority of the Polish nation, unable even to empathise with its needs". Social conservatism Endo-Communism justified Marxism–Leninism in socially conservative terms, arguing that the Soviet domination protected Eastern Europe from the cultural revolutions and departure from traditional values and family values in the Western capitalist camp. Endo-Communists believed that "the Russian people are not our enemies, and Russian interests are not contrary to Polish interests", and noted that even non-communists should see that the Soviet Union, with its morally conservative values, is a better partner for Poland than the West, which would seek to erode Polish nationalism, Catholicism and moralism in favor of cosmopolitanism, atheism and hedonism. Given that the Endo-Communists controlled the security service of People's Poland, they played a decisive role in shaping the attitude of the state apparatus towards cultural issues. While People's Poland is credited with legalizing abortion and it never officially criminalised homosexuality, social conservatism prevailed. Officially, homosexuality was treated as a 'social pathology', and homosexual circles were invigilated and subjected to blackmail through Operation Hyacinth. There was no feminist wave in Poland, and until its very dissolution, the communist authorities treated youth movements with disdain and extreme suspicion, contrasting them with nationalist youth unions cultivated by circles such as Endo-Communism. In an interview with Polityka, Drozda described the social views of Endocommunists and the rhetoric they used: International matters , ZBOWiD, PZPR, PRON and Samoobrona. In regards to foreign policy, Endo-Communism called for acceptance of Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, which it found both necessary and the only guarantee of establish Polish independence and sovereignty in the long-term. Endo-Communists warned against the threat posed by capitalist West Germany and its "Nazi revanchists", and strongly emphasized the Polish People's Republic founding myth of Polish anti-Hitler resistance. They noted that it was only thanks to the Soviet Union and Polish resistance that Poland was liberated from Nazi occupation, while the West often took a passive stance towards Nazi Germany and ultimately betrayed Poland (Western Betrayal). The circles of Endo-Communism wrote a particularly scathing critique of Solidarity, stating: "Apparently Solidarity is blind to the victory at Stalingrad, which was a turning point in the war in favour of the anti-Hitler coalition. However, this is hardly surprising. You will not find a single word in their speeches and articles, including those published in the Western press, about the retaliatory forces in West Germany or about the danger posed by those groups that have not renounced the idea of Drang nach Osten. As the saying goes, ‘Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are’." Another prominent foreign policy view of Endo-Communists was Anti-Zionism. Moczar frequently spoke of the suffering of the Arab population 'under the yoke of Israel' and described Israel as a country "on whose territory, even before last June, there existed ghettos for Arabs, ghettos organized by the same people who once worked as policemen in the Hitlerite ghettos of our cities." Government-affiliated media presented cases of Jewish cooperation with Nazi Germany during World War II, including Jewish police forces, the Judenräte and the Jewish informers of Gestapo. One of the most controversial claims was that Jews who had collaborated with the Nazis during the war were now responsible for the persecution of Arabs under Israel. Economic issues Endo-Communists rarely commented on economic matters, but nevertheless presented a unique vision on the direction of Polish socialism. Their economic proposals for reform were variously described as "primitive populist" and "anti-elitist", As part of national communism, Endo-Communists proposed replacing Jewish and foreign-born workers and functionaries with ethnic Poles, arguing that Polish socialism had hitherto unfairly favoured ethnic minorities and prevented social advance of the Polish workers; after the 1968 purges, vacant position were decentralized into lower-level positions, which helped "thousands of ethnic Poles rise in the bureaucracy". There was also a redistributive factor in regards to housing, as the luxurious apartments of officials purged by Endo-Communists were then distributed to Polish families, which in effect "allowed many families to improve their living situation". They also defended central planning of the economy and opposed policies that served to increase economic competition or introduce various elements of capitalism. Similarly, Endo-Communists denounced anti-inflation policies as well as the concept of workers' self-government, which they saw as corruptible and easily exploited by political opposition. Instead, they encouraged increasing the role of computers in the economy, especially in terms of optimizing state planning. Endo-Communism also opposed the reforms of Edward Gierek, arguing that the loans taken from the West would make Poland economically dependent on the West, eventually turning it into a semi-colony of USA and Western Europe in the process. Endo-Communists denounced what they called "parametric-market reformism", which they defined as increases of market dynamics and economic interactions with the capitalist West; in their view, these policies only served to enslave Poland and undermine Polish socialism. They also strongly opposed any presence of "non-Polish capital" in Poland, and opposed the presence of Polish companies abroad. According to Endo-Communists, establishing economic presence in other countries was "the gradual sell-off of our country" in that Polish companies benefited foreign capital rather than the Polish one, and undermined the need to establish economic self-reliance of Poland. Endo-Communists frequently warned that the West did not wish well to Poland, but instead had plans to turn it into a "neocolony". Given its emphasis on national conditions and the need for self-reliance, the economic proposals of Endo-Communism were compared to the 'national road to socialism' of Peronism as well as Juche. Views on religion One of the unique characteristics of Endo-Communism was its reconsideration of religion - Endo-Communists believed that both Marxism and Catholicism worked 'for the good of humanity', with Catholicism being a 'spiritual plane' for materialist Marxism. While recognizing nationalism as revolutionary, Endo-Communists connected Catholicism to it, recognizing the Catholic faith as the cornerstone of Polish national identity. Bolesław Piasecki, the leader of PAX, went as far as promoting a "Marxist-Catholic-nationalist trinity" - Polish communists were to legitimatize their rule and gain popular appeal by allowing Catholicism to "enrich Marxism spiritually", while embracing nationalism was to deny the opposition the claim to represent national interests of Poland. The Endo-Communist circles included the "priest-patriot" movement, composed of left-wing nationalist Catholic priests who were supportive of the communist regime. The ideas of PAX Association gained respect of some Catholic theologians, most notably French personalist philosopher Emmanuel Mounier, who considered the movement "genuine Christian revolutionaries". Mounier argued that Polish Catholics should establish a modus vivendi with the Soviet Union, adopt socialism "which in its Polish version was not anticlerical" and reconcile Catholicism with Marxism. This stance was shared by the Endo-Communists, who believed that Catholics should prove to communists that they are not "defenders of the bourgeoisie". Some Catholic priests who were critical of the anti-communist opposition were allied with the Endo-Communist movement. Endo-Communists regarded Catholicism very positively, and argued that that the Church must not allow itself to be instrumentalized by the pro-Western opposition; they dismissed accusations of communist persecution of religion as often fabricated, arguing the West was the true enemy of Christianity given its anti-clericalism, secularism, and disregard for Christian morality. Abortion was frequently cited as an example of the Western disregard for Christianity. Endo-Communism also stressed that the logical conclusion of the Catholic social teaching is to "fight capitalism and install socialism compatible with the principles of Catholic morality", and that Catholics must struggle against a system that is "socialist in name only, in reality being devoid of any socialism in its content". Comparison with other states Michael Shafir describes endokomuna as a form of national communism with "the assimilation of ideas with direct linkage to the prewar Endecja". He argues that endokomuna was a part of a wider trend towards national communism that started in the Soviet Union and then spread to the rest of the Warsaw Pact under Joseph Stalin. According to Shafir, there emerged national communist interpretations of Stalin's socialism in one country doctrine, and chauvinist tendencies were further inflamed by the "highly anti-Semitic campaign against cosmopolitanism in the late 1940s and early 1950s" in the Soviet Union; afterwards, in Soviet countries "nationalism took the form of National Bolshevism". Shafir wrote that endokomuna was "hardly peculiar", as with the exception of Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, all Warsaw Pact countries embraced similar forms of national communism. He points to Nicolae Ceaușescu in Romania, whose communist ideology adapted "the world outlook of the interwar Fascist Iron Guard encoded in all but official acknowledgment in party documents", as well as Enver Hoxha in Albania and Todor Zhivkov's "xenophobic communism" in Bulgaria. Shafir concludes that "national communism, though it may seem to be a political oxymoron, became increasingly the norm by the 1970s and certainly by the 1980s as the Marxist–Leninist regimes sought to hold on to power in face of collapsing political legitimacy", and that a "large part of the post-Communist East Central European political spectrum is occupied by parties of 'radical continuity' and – to a lesser, but not inconsiderable – extent by parties of 'radical return' to the values embraced by the interwar radical right". Jozef Banáš makes a similar argument, writing that while Polish Endo-Communism developed unique characteristics on its own, it was a part of the larger trend in Warsaw Pact where communism had gradually become "brown" and transitioned into national communism. He also stated his belief that Endo-Communism represented a Polish form of Stalinism: ==Chamokomuna==

A term parallel to endokomuna is chamokomuna, or chamokomunizm, translated as "boorish communism". Jedlicki identified the Natolinians as chamokomuna, or the "Boors", while the Puławians were seen as żydokomuna — the Jews. The former were seen "as honest people, albeit agents of Moscow", while the latter were "striving to secure influential positions for years" and "embarked on a decisive struggle against Gomułka". Chamokomuna was described as synonymous with Endocommunism, and Mieczysław Moczar; Moczar's faction, the Partisans, are also considered to represent chamokomuna. Chamocommunism was therefore also described as "Moczarism". In contrast, Piasecki-aligned journal is called both Endocommunist and Chamocommunist. Furthermore, Chamocommunism was identified with the , including the so-called "ex-grunwald" groups that continued activity in modern Poland. Within modern context, Chamocommunism is seen as a part of the Polish nationalist movement, and its followers are seen as "neo-Moczarists", , former member of the Grunwald Patriotic Union that became a prominent national communist and film director after 1989, is considered an "ardent Chamocommunist". He strongly opposed the dissolution of the PZPR in 1990. Chamokomuna also has a class character in its meaning, as it referred to the social origins of its members and followers. Polish journalist states that Chamocommunists were often poor, uneducated, came from the social fringes, and were considered the lumpenproletariat. This was contrasted with żydokomuna, associated with Jews, who in turn were seen as an affluent group in Poland. This also gave chamokomuna an ethnonationalist component, as its poor members were seen as connected to the Polish people; Żebrowski argues that prior to 1956, 40% of socialist officials were of Jewish descent and were not connected to Poland as they "did not fully feel that they were co-stewards sharing responsibility for the country". This was also emphasized by Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, who notes that Chamocommunists came from the lower strata of society, and while initially their identity was limited to their local communities, the German occupation of WW2 had radicalized them into a strong expression of Polish identity. Faction Although primarily linked to Natolinians, Chamocommunism was also described as "Gomułkist" and connected to Władysław Gomułka. From the perspective of 1956, the "żydokomuna" was identified with former loyalists of Bolesław Bierut, while chamokomuna was identified with Gomułka. Thus, Chamocommunism is considered to have won the power struggle against the former in the party. Chamocommunists were considered to have advocated for, and carried out, Polish intervention in the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, as well as the 1968 Polish political crisis, during which purges and arrests against Polish Jews were carried out. The 1968 crisis is considered the event which ultimately concluded the conflict between "żydokomuna" and "chamokomuna" in favor of the latter. According to Chodakiewicz, Chamocommunism was supported by the KGB, specifically by Alexander Shelepin, Vladimir Semichastny, and Yuri Andropov. The KGB trusted Mieczysław Moczar in particular, given his Orthodox Christian background as well as his long history of collaboration with the Soviets - he was a member of the interwar Communist Party of Poland, then after its dissolution was an agent of the Soviet GRU, and during WW2 he joined the Polish Workers' Party, People's Guard, and then worked in the Security Service after WW2. Moczar declared his loyalty to the Soviet Union, stating in 1948: "The Soviet Union is not just our ally; that is a saying for the people. For us, for party members, the Soviet Union is our homeland, and I am unable to define our borders today — today they are beyond Berlin, and tomorrow they will be at Gibraltar." In 2016, Polish conservative weekly newspaper Do Rzeczy published an article by Piotr Zychowicz titled "Żydokomuna or chamokomuna?" In the article, Zychowicz identified żydokomuna with Jews and international communism, while chamokomuna was seen as a representative of national communism, being in an open struggle against the former. Zychowicz goes on to suggest that this struggle continues to take place in modern Poland, considering the right-wing populist party Law and Justice to correspond to the role of chamokomuna. The article was criticized for "legitimatizing open anti-Semitism" and repeating the stereotype of Judeo-Bolshevism. Ideology , a modern movement that has been described as a representative of chamokomuna. Chamocommunism has been described as a faction of the far-left. Gomułka was also considered an Endocommunists by scholars such as Jozef Banáš. He contrasted Chamocommunism with żydokomuna, arguing that unlike the latter, Chamocommunism had a nationalist character: Chodakiewicz described Chamocommunists as neo-Moczarists, arguing that they "rely on reflexes, habits, and clichés from 50 years of Soviet occupation", and dating their origins back to the embrace of Polish patriotism by Polish communists in 1956. He states that this movement "had immersed itself in the classics of conservatism, monarchism, and nationalism", and draws heavily from the legacy of Western right-wing philosophers of the 19th and 20th centuries. According to Chodakiewicz, Chamocommunists "camouflage the main messages of national Bolshevism within pseudo-conservative phrases and clichés". Conversely, modern movements that are considered Chamocommunists are neo-pagan. It has also been associated with antisemitism, loyalty to the Soviet Union, and Stalinism. The victory of Chamocommunists in the PZPR power struggle had resulted in antisemitic persecution, including purges and arrests, Modern movement Main beliefs of modern Chamocommunism include the idea that Wojciech Jaruzelski saved Poland, demonizing the anti-communist insurgents (żołnierze wyklęci) and their legacy, postulating an alliance with Russia, and supporting the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Chodakiewicz described it as "pseudo-conservatism", stating that modern representatives of Chamocommunism are active in right-wing spaces and spread communist sympathies amongst the conservative and nationalist movement. Tomasz Sommer argued that Chamocommunism "is still communism", and listed anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian positions amongst its core elements. Wojciech Olszański and his movement, Rodacy Kamraci, are seen as an example of modern Chamocommunism. They declared their admiration for the Polish People's Republic, Ivan Serov, Władysław Gomułka, Joseph Stalin, Wojciech Jaruzelski, Bolesław Piasecki, as well as the leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un. They also expressed their support for Belarus, Russian Federation, abortion, and communist agrarian reform. The movement has made anti-Catholic declarations, with Olszański stating that he "shits on the Bible". Because of this, Rodacy Kamraci are identified with Chamocommunism, and described as "a splinter group of the far-left". ==See also==