District Court in Warsaw Sąd Okręgowy w Warszawie (Sygn. SOW)
Extent and Medium
20,346 digital images, JPEG
21 microfilm reels (digitized), 35 mm
Creator(s)
- Beata Waś
Archival History
Instytut Pamięci Narodowej-Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu
Acquisition
Forms part of the Claims Conference International Holocaust Documentation Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This archive consists of documentation whose reproduction and/or acquisition was made possible with funding from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Source of acquisition is the Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (IPN) Warsaw, Poland, Sygn. SOW. Records created by the District Court in Warsaw during the trials conducted from 1945 to 1960. The court proceedings later became a part of the court’s archives. Records were transferred to the IPN and eventually became a part of the Syg. SOW.The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the filmed collection via the United States Holocaust Museum International Archives Project in February 2010.
Scope and Content
Contains selected files of criminal trials conducted at the District Court in Warsaw during the years 1945-1969. These trials pertain to crimes committed against Jews and Poles during the German occupation. Trials were based on the Decree of August 31, 1944 (“Sierpniówka”), issued by the Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego (PKWN), concerning the punishment of war criminals guilty of murders and persecution of civilians and prisoners of war, and the punishment of traitors to the Polish Nation. "Sierpniówka" was one of the world's first legislation on liability for war crimes committed during World War II. This decree also applied to soldiers of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) whom the Communist propaganda in the 40’s and 50’s attempted to portray as German collaborators.
System of Arrangement
Organized in alphabetical order by the last name of defendants and court case numbers. Records are arranged in the original order of their acquisition from the source archive. The museum has acquired only selected records from Institute of National Remembrance (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej-Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, or IPN). More information about this collection and other materials in the possession of the Institute of National Remembrance, including archival finding aids from the Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance, is available at the website: https://ipn.gov.pl
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright Holder: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej-Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu
Corporate Bodies
- Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego
Subjects
- Warsaw (Poland)
- War criminals--Poland.
- World War, 1939-1945--Destruction and pillage--Poland.
- Jews--Crimes against--Poland--History--20th century.
- Poland--History--German occupation, 1941-1944.
- War crime trials
- Poland--Politics and government--1933-1945.
- War victims--Poland.
- War crimes--Poland.
- Holocaust Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--History.
- War crime trials--Poland--Warsaw.
- Courts
- Polish people--Crimes against--Poland--History--20th century.
- Justice, Administration of--Poland--History--20th century.
Genre
- Reports.
- Protocols.
- Document
Copies
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum holds copies of Holocaust-relevant archives from Instytut Pamięci Narodowej-Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu