The Sources and Documentation of a Century of Deaf Sport in Poland (1922–2022)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the sources and documentation related to a century of the history of Deaf sport in Poland, spanning the years 1922–2022. The study traces the evolution of how Deaf athletic activity has been recorded – from club chronicles and community press to contemporary digital archives. A historical-comparative method, source criticism, and content analysis were employed, integrating historical and cultural perspectives. The research is based on archival materials, anniversary publications, and periodicals of the Polish Association of the Deaf and the Polish Deaf Sports Association, as well as private collections and online repositories. The analysis identified three main stages in the development of Deaf sport documentation in Poland: the interwar period (1922–1939), the postwar period (1945–1991), and the contemporary period (1992–2022). In each of these periods, Deaf sport served not only rehabilitative but also cultural, creative, and integrative purposes. The digitization of sources today opens new opportunities for research, enabling broader access to data and the reconstruction of previously unknown aspects of Deaf sport history. This article contributes to the development of methodologies for studying the history of physical culture within minority communities. The chronologically organized reference works published between 2021 and 2024, together with the primary sources and name indexes included, constitute a foundation for future interdisciplinary research on the sporting activities of the Deaf minority.