Komunistyczny aparat represji wobec ezoteryków i ugrupowań ezoterycznych – zagadnienia metodo-logiczno-źródłoznawcze

Abstrakt

The article analyzes the methodological and source-related issues related to the research on the surveillance of esoteric circles by the communist apparatus of repression. The first part is focused on explaining the broad concept of the repressive apparatus, as well as the presentation of the chronology of the institutions that created it. Next, the article explains the use of the term esotericism in the context of academic research and the range of meanings of the term in the study of esoteric groups in the period under study in Poland. It also presents a review of previous studies focused on the subject of the invigilation of esoteric circles. The main part of the article focuses on the arrangement of existing sources for such a large-scale research project, as well as on various methodological problems related to the specificity of the researched archival documents.