What is memory? Is it just simple recording of events which are running through our lives, recorded just as on a film tape? Is memory a purely individual possession or can we talk about collective memory as well? Memory of the past is one of the inherent aspects of humanity. It constitutes the basis, by which human finds fixing in the world and, above all, in the environment in which he or she lives. Societies last thanks to the memory of the past passed down through generations. The problem is the fact that remembered past is not homogeneous. The same event is differently perceived by its participant, and differently by outsiders. Moreover, events are described differently from the perspective of the years. This article presents theoretical recognition of collective memory, according to Barbara Szacka and Andrzej Szpociński. The positions of the above mentioned authors regarding to the relationship between collective memory and history have been presented and research prospects applied in studies on collective memory have been discussed. The attention was drawn to the most important functions of memory about the past and its carriers.