@misc{Cieślik_Agnieszka_(1964–_)_Czerwona_2018,
 author={Cieślik, Agnieszka (1964– )},
 editor={Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla},
 copyright={Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license},
 address={Warszawa},
 howpublished={online},
 year={2018},
 publisher={Instytut Historii PAN},
 language={pol},
 abstract={The International Organization for Aid to Revolutionaries (known by its Russian-language acronym MOPR, from Russian МОПР: Международная организация помощи борцам революции), colloquially called the Red Aid, was established at the Fourth Congress of the Comintern in 1922. Originally, the organization was to be a mass movement to provide humanitarian aid to political prisoners all around the world. At the same time it was to conduct propaganda campaigns and political activities. National sections of the Red Aid were founded in various countries; some of them were operating legally.The Polish division of the Red Aid was formed soon after its emergence. Already in 1924 the Polish Red Aid took over from the Communist Party of Poland the publication of an illegal periodical Więzień Polityczny (Political Prisoner). Throughout the whole period of its activity, the Polish Red Aid was illegal. It operated in close cooperation with the Communist Party of Poland, despite its slogans of the non-party character of the MOPR. There were also autonomous sections of the Red Aid of Western Belarus and the Red Aid of Western Ukraine. The study entitled The Red Aid in Poland (1924–1938). An Extension –Cover-Up – Outpost outlines the history and functioning of the International Organization for Aid to Revolutionaries (Red Aid) in Poland, mainly on the basis of archival material kept in the Russian State Archives of the Socio-Political History (Российский государственный архив социально-политической истории) in Moscow, fond 539. The text is also based on the published works on the Red Aid in Poland, including an attempt at monograph of the MOPR in Poland by Aleksander Zatorski, and on memories of people involved in the activities of the Red Aid. Chapter One: “Circumstances”, provides a background of the functioning of the Red Aid in Poland, including traditions of assistance to political prisoners, the prison system in the Second Polish Republic, legal organisation for relief and assistance. Chapter Two: “Organization”, describes the emergence of the MOPR and its Polish section, its leaders, the number of its members, and basis for its operation. Chapter Three: “Activity”, presents the types of activity of the Red Aid in Poland, starting from the fundamental one, i.e. assistance to political prisoners, through the care of families of revolutionists, defence in court during political trials, propaganda and political campaigns, and a uniform front action in the latter part of the 1930s. Chapter Four: “Confrontation”, focuses generally on the fight against ac- tivities of the Red Aid in Poland conducted by the security forces of the state, and on the informational and propagandistic level. The closing of the book, “Conclusions”, plays a double part: it presents both the end of the operation of the Red Aid in Poland, and a general summary of the study. The Red Aid in Poland during the peak of its activity had ca. nine thousand of members. It provided material assistance to political prisoners, but also took care to maintain its ideological influence on them within so-called prison communes. Material aid was important for the families of political prisoners, often in a difficult financial situation. The Red Aid in Poland could have had a great impact on the pro-communist attitudes, especially on the organisation of a uniform front. But it never was a mass organization, contrary to the plans of the Comintern, or a significant non-party force. In actual fact, it was an extension of the Communist Party of Poland, and this fact limited greatly its possibilities to develop. Arrests of communist functionaries of the organization, problems with its structure and organizational communications led to crises in its functioning. Also factional conflicts within the Communist Party had an impact on activities of the Red Aid in Poland. The final dissolution of the Communist Party of Poland by the Comintern brought about the dissolution of the Red Aid in Poland.},
 title={Czerwona Pomoc w Polsce 1924-1938 : przybudówka - przykrywka - przyczółek},
 type={Text},
 URL={http://www.rcin.org.pl/ihpan/Content/139998/PDF/WA303_173345_I10920_Cieslikowa.pdf},
 keywords={Międzynarodowa Organizacja Pomocy Rewolucjonistom. Czerwona Pomoc w Polsce, International Organization for Aid to Revolutionaries, International Red Aid, Communist International (Comintern), communism - Poland - history - 20th c.},
}