• Introduction

  Mariusz Żuławnik

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 11-14

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Archiwum

• „…So That Every Scrap of History Could Be Saved!” – The Implementation of the Archive Full of Remembrance Project in the Institute of National Remembrance Branch Office in Cracow

  Radosław Kurek

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 15-44

  Abstract

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  In May 2017, Dr Jarosław Szarek, [then] president of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), inaugurated the Archive Full of Remembrance (Archiwum Pełne Pamięci, APP) project. Its main objective was – and has been until now – the collection of historical materials (documents, photographs, memorabilia, etc.) donated by private individuals and institutions, both from Poland and abroad, in the Institute’s archive. After they are properly secured and processed, they are made available, primarily for research and educational purposes. The article discusses the results of the first five years (2017–2021) of the project’s operation at the Institute of National Remembrance branch office in Krakow. The most interesting historical materials acquired for the IPN archival repository in Krakow under the auspices of the APP project are presented. Their extraordinary richness and diversity is shown and the collected documents, photographs, audio-visual materials, memoirs and diaries, correspondence, memorabilia and exhibits, as well as so-called “second-circulation publications” (wydawnictwa drugiego obiegu) [illegal underground publishing – the Polish version of samizdat] from the 1980s are presented. The author also discusses the educational value of the Archive Full of Remembrance project and assesses the effects of its implementation, as well as prospects for its further development.

• Recounted: The Oral History Archive of the Institute of National Remembrance

  Julia Krajewska

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 45-58

  Abstract

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  Since 2006, the Institute of National Remembrance has been implementing a recording program (program notacyjny) to collect, compile and make available oral accounts of the losses of Polish people. For a long time, these recordings were not made available to a wider audience. In 2017, works began on the publicly accessible IPN Oral History Archive, which opened in June 2021 at the website: opowiedziane.ipn.gov.pl. The collection of accounts posted on the portal is provided with subtitles and transcriptions that make it easier and faster to find information. The site also includes encyclopaedic biographies of all those who made the decision to tell their story to the staff of the IPN Department of Recording and Multimedia Productions (Wydziału Notacji i Opracowań Multimedialnych). In the future, the site will be developed with new capabilities, such as a “Record your own account” subpage. This IPN collection is an important source of knowledge about the past. Thanks to the interdisciplinary nature of oral history, the accounts can be used by researchers in various fields. The recordings also play an important role for the witnesses of history themselves, as well as for their immediate surroundings.

Zasób archiwalny

• The 1939 Polish Campaign in the Memoirs of Brigadier General Zygmunt Piasecki

  Bartosz Janczak

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 59-76

  Abstract

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  One of the most tragic moments in the history of Poland is the Polish campaign of 1939. In the autumn of that year, Polish soldiers, with the help of civilians, tried to repel the German and Soviet armies from the territory of the Second Republic. Despite tremendous efforts, many heroic actions, and huge losses suffered, it was not possible to defend the independence of the Polish state. One of the soldiers who

   

  fought in defence of the homeland during those days of September 1939 was Brig. Gen. Zygmunt Piasecki. As commander of the Krakow Cavalry Brigade from September 1–20, he led the soldiers under him against the Wehrmacht. The general, after twenty days of hostilities, announced a surrender due to their own losses and the superiority of the enemy. In exile, after the end of World War II, Gen. Piasecki wrote his memoirs of the 1939 campaign, which belong to the important testimonies of the heroism of the Polish soldier in defence of his country’s independence.

• Archival Materials of the Citizens’ Militia Poviat Headquarters in Bielsk Podlaski from 1944–1946 in the Repository of the Institute of National Remembrance Branch Archive in Bialystok

  Jakub Grodzki

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 77–116

  Abstract

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  Archival materials relating to the Citizens’ Militia Poviat Headquarters (Komenda Powiatowa Milicji Obywatelskiej, KP MO) in Bielsk Podlaski, which are stored at the IPN Branch Archive in Bialystok, are for the most part reporting or briefing materials of the Investigative Services Department (Referat Służby Śledczej) and the organizational unit dealing with political-educational [ideological] work. Predominant among the documents are various types of reports and telephonograms [telephone dispatches]. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the structure and content of the KP MO file remnant in the Bielsk Podlaski poviat from the early period of its functioning (1944–1946). The main areas of activity at the police headquarters are also presented against this background. A detailed analysis of the documents has made it possible to present the entire spectrum of its activities, including those related to the protection of public order and the detection of crimes and offenses, as well as the fight against the independence underground. Also shown are those units of public administration, the public security apparatus and military formations with which the militia cooperated or under whose influence it remained.

• Archival Materials for the History of the Formation of the Communist System of Power (1945–1948) in the North-eastern Poviats of the Warsaw Voivodeship in the State Archive Collection in Warsaw

  Janusz Szczepański

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 117–138

  Abstract

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  In 1945–1948, Mazovia was within the administrative borders of the Warsaw voivodeship. The files of the offices functioning on its territory are deposited in the State Archives in Warsaw (Archiwum Państwowe w Warszawie, APW). In accordance with the principle of provenance, the documentation of the north-eastern districts of the voivodeship is stored in two APW branches – in Pułtusk (files of the Maków, Ostrołęka, Ostrów, Przasnysz and Pułtusk districts) and in Mława (files of the Ciechanów and Mława districts). Particularly valuable sources from the APW repository, illustrating the political situation in the north-eastern districts of the Warsaw voivodeship, are found in, among others, the “Office of Information and Propaganda of the Warsaw Voivodeship” or “Warsaw Voivodeship Office” fonds, among others. When reconstructing the process of the formation of the communist apparatus of power, the files of the Voivodeship Committee of the Polish Workers’ Party in Warsaw (Komitetu Wojewódzkiego Polskiej Partii Robotniczej, KW PPR) and the district PPR committees are helpful. Also of great importance for research into the contemporary history of the Warsaw voivodeship of 1944– 1948 are the materials kept at the APW branches in Mława and Pułtusk. These should primarily include the documentation of district administrative offices in the north-eastern part of the Warsaw voivodeship.

• The Worth of the Archive of the Institute of National Remembrance Repository in the Study of Middle Eastern Conflicts on the Example of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War

  Przemysław Benken

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 139–166

  Abstract

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  In this article is an analysis regarding the extent to which the documents deposited in the Archive of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) can be helpful in the study of the Israeli-Arab conflicts, with particular emphasis on the 1967 war. The archival units discussed include, among others, a study prepared as early as 1967, a study of the Directorate of the II General Staff of the Polish Army (Zarząd II Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego, SG WP) devoted to the issues of air combat, the paraphrasing of Directorate II of the SG WP regarding the course of the conflict prepared for the political leadership of the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL) (on the basis of more detailed reports sent by military attachés operating at PRL embassies in particular countries of the world), as well as information collected by Departments I and III of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych, MSW), MSW Bureau ‘W’ and the MSW Autonomous Radio Counterintelligence Department (Samodzielny Wydział Radiokontrwywiadu). A great deal of the data presented was obtained from official sources (the press, listening to radio stations), however, some of it did come from informants. These materials, in addition to providing an overview of the war effort, contain interesting information on the internal situation of the countries involved in the conflict, as well as the attitudes of their allies and neutral countries. They also show the level of knowledge at the time in the People’s Republic of Poland about the 1967 Israeli-Arab conflict. A review of the IPN archival materials demonstrates that they could play a helpful role in describing selected aspects of the conflicts in the Middle East.

Archiwa na świecie

• From the Monument Made of Records to the Digital Commemoration. History of International Tracing Service Archives in Bad Arolsen 1945-2020

  Henning Borggräfe, Christian Höschler

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 167–182

  Abstract

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  The Arolsen Archives holds the world’s largest collection of documents relating to victims and survivors of Nazi persecution. This article deals with the history of this unique organization, known until 2019 as the International Tracing Service (ITS). The article focuses on four aspects. First, it provides a historical description of the search for and documentation of victims of German Nazism up to the early 1950s. At the foundation of this increasingly centralized process was the creation of the ITS by the Allied forces. The second part focuses on various search methods and how the needs of survivors and relatives have changed over time in terms of information. The third part is devoted to how a unique archival collection was created and shaped in the process of searching for and documenting Nazi victims. Finally, the topic of the formation of the relationship between ITS and society is presented in relation to the fundamental question of the archive’s accessibility for scientific research and initiatives connected with remembrance. This discusses how a tracking service that was originally closed became an open and digital centre of information about Nazi persecution.

Historia

• Major of the Polish Army, Colonel of the Ukrainian People’s Republic Army Serhiy Nahnybida (1898-1987): Pages from Biography

  Maryna Palijenko, Andrij Rukkas, Ihor Sribniak

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 183–202

  Abstract

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  The article discusses the main periods of the life and activities of Sergiusz Nahnybida, a major in the Polish Army and colonel in the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR). At the beginning of World War I, he volunteered for service in the Imperial Russian Army. The years 1919–1920 were crucial for him, as during this period, he joined the fight against the Bolsheviks, initially in the partisans and then in the Kherson Rifle Division of the UPR Army. In the interwar period, he ended up in an internment camp for Ukrainian soldiers in Poland, before embarking on a career in the Polish Army. After the outbreak of World War II, Nahnybida managed to get to Romania and then to Great Britain, where he continued his military service in the Polish Army. After the dissolution of the Polish forces in Europe, he remained in the British Isles. Throughout his stay in England, he maintained contact with leading representatives of the State Centre of the UPR in exile and was honoured with many Polish and Ukrainian decorations. The circumstances of Serhij Nahnybida’s life and military service make us aware that some Ukrainian émigrés managed to adapt to life in Poland in a relatively short period of time, and furthermore, to become part of Polish society. At the same time, they retained their national identity and were aware of the tasks set before them by the UPR State Centre in exile.

   

• Poles – „Minusnyky” („Minuses”) in Soviet Ukraine (from 1920s up to Beginnings of 1930s).

  Tamara Wronśka, Ołena Stiażkina

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 203–228

  Abstract

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  This article is devoted to the so-called ‘minusowcy’ (‘minuses’) – a practically unknown category of victims of political terror, who were punished by expulsion from their permanent place of residence and banned from settling in designated areas of the USSR, whose list (‘geographical minus’) was included in special decrees. In the judgments of non-judicial bodies against such citizens, we usually find the following terms: ‘minus 6’, ‘minus 12’, and ‘minus 15’ [e.g. ‘minus 6’, is six cities – Moscow, Kharkov, Odessa, Rostov-on-Don, Kiev, Leningrad – from which these citizens were banned from living in.] This is where the name ‘minusowcy’ originated, as well as the stigma connected to it. This category included, among others, those who were forbidden to live in areas subject to ‘passportization,’ i.e. the issuing of internal passports (identity cards) to their inhabitants. This type of discrimination was also extended to all those convicted under the ‘political’ articles of the USSR’s criminal codes, as banning settlement in prohibited locations prolonged the repression. The Stalinist regime deliberately placed Poles in one of the leading positions from amongst the other ‘space-punished’ populations in Soviet Ukraine, singling them out from the ‘minuses,’ as they considered the representatives of this nation to be among the most dangerous opponents of the authorities. Based on a wide range of sources, the article presents the logic behind the Bolshevik creation of settlement bans and restrictions, analyses the process of formulating the legal basis for such repressions and discusses examples of socio-political portraits of Poles who found themselves in the cogs of the Bolshevik social engineering machine.

• The Question of Settling the Polish-Ukrainian Relations in the Policy of the State Centre of Ukrainian People’s Republic in Exile in 1948–1990

  Wasyl Jabłonśkyj

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 229–244

  Abstract

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  After 1945, the situation of the Polish and Ukrainian authorities in exile underwent a fundamental change. The Polish government in London lost the support of yesterday’s allies, who had agreed to Stalin’s proposals regarding spheres of influence in Europe. In contrast, the UPR government in exile succeeded in convincing Ukrainian political forces of the need to unite on the foundation of the UPR State Centre in exile. The main problem of bilateral relations between these governments was the issue of the border between Poland and the Ukrainian SSR, which was established after World War II by the victorious countries. This issue prevented the establishment of official and friendly relations for a long time. The situation changed after the signing of a bilateral agreement between the governments in exile in the 1970s. The compromise reached was one of the factors in building good neighbourly relations between the two countries after the restoration of Ukraine’s independence in 1991.

• They Chose Freedom. The Histories of Two Tragically Ended Defections of the Border Protection Troops Soldiers to Sweden and German Federal Republic in 1950.

  Grzegorz Goryński

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 245–282

  Abstract

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  The article discusses two attempts at unsuccessful escapes from Poland by WOP [Wojska Ochrony Pograniczna – Border Protection Troops] active duty soldiers that took place in 1950. The first was made in mid-January from Gdynia on the fishing cutter Ksawery. Two riflemen, Henryk Mirzyński and Henryk Kazimierczak, who were on watch duty on the cutter, threatened its crew and ordered the fishermen to sail to Sweden. In the second, four riflemen: Jan Cichocki, Stanislaw Pilch, Jan Plóciennik and Stefan Jamróz, from the WOP watchtower in Namyślin (Chojna district), planned to get to the Federal Republic of Germany. In both cases, the young soldiers were detained and handed over to the communist justice system. The prosecutors and military courts used these two cases for political purposes (the ongoing ideological struggle). For this reason, they handed down very harsh sentences, including death sentences, completely disproportionate to the crimes committed. For some, the highest penalty was replaced with life imprisonment through the granting of clemency, and later – as a result of an amnesty – by many years in prison. Only in 1956, as a result of the political thaw, were they allowed to leave prison. However, for three of them, returning to their families proved impossible.

Dokumenty

• The Exercise of the Judiciary and Administration in the Incorporated Eastern Lands as Seen by the German Judge

  Konrad Graczyk

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 283–306

  Abstract

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  Dr Erich Reichenbach’s lecture entitled “The Exercise of the Judiciary and Administration in the Incorporated Eastern Lands” was found in his personnel files held at the Secret State Archives of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin-Dahlem. The title of the document indicates that it was prepared for a speech in Reichsburg Kochem, indicating that it was written in 1944. The address deserves attention, as the judicial work in that part of the territory of the Second Polish Republic incorporated into the Third Reich is presented in a synthetic way, from the perspective of several years of experience. The various theses in the lecture were related to the latest findings of researchers, and the author’s silences or misleading claims were highlighted and commented on.

• Konstanty Zygfryd Hanff and his Pamphlet „Mały zdrajca”

  Norbert Wójtowicz

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 307–352

  Abstract

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  Disseminated in the 1980s among PRL officials in the USA, the pamphlet “Mały zdrajca. Podręcznik dla funkcjonariuszy” (Little Traitor: A Handbook for Officials) was written on the initiative of émigré Konstanty Zygfryd Hanff and the anti-communist “Wolna Polska” (Free Poland) organization, which he led. He initially tried to tie his activities to the Konfederacją Polski Niepodległej (Confederation of Independent Poland), and later supported Solidarność Walczącą (Fighting Solidarity). Hanff placed great emphasis on journalistic activity, but at the same time he relished provocations and attempts to carry out diversionary actions among diplomatic officials of the People’s Republic of Poland and pro-regime émigrés. The “Little Traitor” study published here was an example of one such action.

• The Last Such Task. The Activities of the Armed Forces of the Polish People’s Republic in Stalowa Wola Steelworks in August and September 1988 in the Military Records.

  Piotr Hac

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 353–380

  Abstract

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  In August 1988, a wave of strikes began in Poland due to the political and economic situation in the country at the time. Protests also erupted at the Stalowa Wola Steelworks (Huta Stalowa Wola), a plant producing military armaments. Due to the prolongation of this strike, the authorities decided to engage selected military units to support the forces of the Citizens’ Militia. To this end, the Operational Group of the Warsaw Military District was formed, and soldiers conducted demonstration activities around the Huta site and in the city of Stalowa Wola. The article takes a closer look at the contents of the group commander’s order as well as its combat operations log, listing in detail the actions undertaken by the military sub-units. It also discusses the political context of the events depicted and selected issues related to the use of the PRL Armed Forces to ensure public security.

• Designing the Structure of the Office of State Protection (UOP) by the Officers of the Security Service in the First Months of 1990.

  Witold Bagieński

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 381–428

  Abstract

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  In recent years, three monographs have been published on the reconstruction of the state security organs during the political transformation of 1989–1990. Their authors have presented, among other things, the sequence of events that led to the abolition of the Security Service (SB) and the creation of the Office of State Protection (Urząd Ochrony Państwa, UOP). Thanks to this, much is now known about how the related legislative process in parliament and the accompanying political debate unfolded. Relatively little space however, in the aforementioned publications, has been devoted to describing how the work on the direction and internal organization of the UOP proceeded. This issue is interesting in that the first such detailed drafts of changes in this regard were prepared by senior SB officers under the supervision of minister Czesław Kiszczak. The published documents show how they saw the shape of future services, as well as their role in the new reality. Their proposals were not adopted in their entirety, but became the starting point for discussions on the UOP organizational structure.

Recenzje i omówienia

• Yves Frey, Histoire des Polonais en France, Paris 2019, pp. 218

  Aneta Nisiobęcka

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 429-439

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• Patryk Tomaszewski, Od przełomu narodowego do ruchu młodonarodowego. Związek Młodej Polski w latach 1937–1939. Studium z dziejów myśli narodowo-państwowej, Kalisz 2021, pp. 287

  Maciej Motas

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 440-445

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• Jolanta Adamska, Las Katyński w latach 1940–1943, Warszawa 2021, 471 pp.

  Witold Wasilewski

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 446-460

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• Nieznane instrukcje, wytyczne, okólniki Departamentu V Ministerstwa Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego dotyczące ruchu ludowego i niezależnych działaczy ludowych w latach 1945–1954, wstęp, wybór i oprac. Filip Musiał, Mateusz Szpytma, Kraków 2020, 238 pp.

  Mariusz Żuławnik

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 461-465

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Kronika

• 8th General Assembly of Polish Archivists, Łódź, 7th-9th September 2022

  Bożena Witowicz

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 467-480

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• Opening Event of the Exhibition „«Ramię krzep – Ojczyźnie służ». 135. rocznica powstania Sokolstwa Polskiego w Ameryce” [„«Strenghten Your Arm – Serve Your Homeland ». 135 Anniversary of the Polish Falcons of America”], Warka, 16th September 2022.

  Anna Lasek

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 481-486

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• Symposium „Naukowy charakter pracy archiwisty” [„Academic Character of Archivist’s Work”], Olsztyn, 17th–18th October 2022

  Michał Kopczyński

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 487-494

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• Academic Conference „Okres przydatności. Fotografia jako surowiec i narzędzie w działalności instytucji” [„Period of Usefulness. Photography as a Raw Material and Tool in the Institutions’ Activities”], Warsaw, 27th October 2022

  Jacek Słoma

  Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 15 (2022), pages: 495-504

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