N. P. Poletika was born in Konotop, Sumy region. He originated from the impoverished Ukrainian branch of a noble family known in Russia. He studied at the Kiev University, the Historical and Philological Faculty, in 1914–1919. He graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Leningrad State University, specialization «The World Economy and World Politics» in 1924. He was the correspondent of «Leningradskaya pravda» in 1923–1928. This period of the journalistic activity is brightly described in his book of memoirs «The Seen and the Experienced» (1982, 1990).
N. P. Poletika had been the Assistant, the Associate Professor, the Head of the Department in the Leningrad Institute of Civil Air Fleet from 1930 to 1936. He became the first Candidate of Economic Sciences in «Economy of Air Transport» in the USSR in 1936. Then he had been working 15 years at the Faculty of History of the Leningrad University (1936–1951). There he presented his Doctoral thesis in historical science in December, 1940, and had worked as the Head of the Department of the International Relations and Foreign Policy of the USSR for some time. He was the Professor at the Department of Modern and Contemporary History in the BSU in 1953–1972. In 1973 he emigrated to Israel and spent 15 years of his life abroad.
Achievements of N. P. Poletika as a scholar, a lecturer and a teacher are indisputable. A testimonial from the BSU runs about him: «Professor N. P. Poletika is the creative scholar who is a master in technique of research; he has a universal erudition and wide scientific experience, able to put and solve complex and serious problems of historical science. Many interesting theses are prepared and presented under advisement of N. P. Poletika. He trained over 20 scholars who have successfully defended their Candidate theses».
N. P. Poletika’s contribution to research of history of diplomatic preparation and reasons of the World War I cannot be overestimated. His book «The Sarajevo Murder» (1930) had aroused a certain echo, and another book «Emergence of the World War» published in 1935 thanks to support of A. M. Gorky, was republished in Moscow in 1964. The destiny of the «knifed» book was decided by these three-four lines:
«To N. P. Poletika
Dear Professor!
I asked L. P. Tomsky to pay attention to your work «Responsibility for the World War». You should send the manuscript to OGIZ.
May 26, 1932.
A. Peshkov».
As the author noted, the purpose of the fundamental research «Emergence of the World War» was to explain the people, «in what secrecy and which exact way the World War was unleashed in July of 1914». N. P. Poletika skillfully, in details on the use of extensive documentary base demonstrated the methods and techniques used by the ruling circles of Germany and Austro-Hungary on the one hand, and England, France and Russia on the other, to cast the world into one of the most bloody wars in the history of mankind, trying to put their guilt to others. In conversations with his pupils N. P. Poletika repeatedly emphasized that he was making research in history of the II International on the eve and during the years of the World War I. But the results of those researches didn’t coincide with the official point of view on the history of the European social democracy of the considered period.
N. P. Poletika died on March 25, 1988 abroad. One of his former Leningrad students, Academician A. B. Davidson, having become the world-renown scholar wrote about him: «He didn’t participate in political life there, didn’t flagellate the Soviet reality. Nevertheless, he became never mentioned nor referred to. Therefore it is necessary to restore his reputation, to pay a deserved tribute to his memory». There are no doubts that life and creative work of the outstanding Soviet historian N. P. Poletika is expecting for a thoughtful and impartial research.
