Abstract

Although the Olympic organization, namely the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOL) is the youngest one of Central European countries there has been promoted the Olympic idea by many enthusiasts since the time of the restoration of the modern Olympic Games. Despite the initial distrust of intellectuals and of the public after the First World War Olympism was being quickly developing. After the Second World War, it was used by the Communist power only as a weapon for a rivalry with the imperialist powers and with the Communist rivals. The Olympic Committee was entirely subordinated to the state organization and since fifties they had a common chairman as well. The subordinate position had its advantage – the income of the state money was not very limited. After the fall of the communist regime and the threat of splitting PKOL gained independence, but also had to start looking for other financial resources than the state treasury. Verf.-Referat