O fałszerzach historii [On the falsifiers of history]

Warsaw: Wydawnictwo "Prasa Wojskowa," 1948. Octavo (21 × 13 cm). Original blind wrappers with photomontage wrappers; 75, [1] pp. Six photographic plates. Light wear to the fragile dust wrapper edges; else about very good. First and only edition of this pamphlet, a translation of the Russian original, a text partly authored by Stalin that sought to rebut anti-communist accounts of the course of Polish defense during World War II. Specifically, it was a reaction to a pamphlet published by the US State Department, entitled Nazi-Soviet Relations, 1939-1941. Wrappers illustrated with a striking photomontage by Mieczysław Berman, who also selected the six photographs reproduced within and was responsible for the overall graphic design. One of the most influential Polish designers of the twentieth century, Berman's early work was largely inspired by Dada and Constructivism. Under the influence of John Heartfield and the Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung (AIZ), he gradually turned to overtly political photomontage and created his famous anti-Nazi photomontage works. After the end of WWII, the country was increasingly under Soviet rule by proxy. Even though the Polish People's Republic was not created until 1952, the 1947 election marked the undisputed dominance of the communists. As of December 2019, KVK and OCLC show the copies at the National Library of Poland, UCL, National Library of Israel, Hirsch Library, and Stanford.