The aim of the article is to discuss the significance of historical anniversaries in the period of People’s Poland by comparing the celebrations of the Year of Copernicus in 1953 and 1973. First, the focus is placed on the institutional analysis of the celebrations and the characteristics of their main participants. Then, the discursive mechanisms of attributing significance to the figure of Nicolaus Copernicus are presented, with a particular emphasis on the value of progressiveness, revolution, anticlericalism. Finally, the author makes an attempt to evaluate the effects of commemoration policy in the Polish society.