Special Penalty Court in Kraków Sąd Specjalny Karny w Krakowie (SSKr) (Sygn. GK 203)

Contains selected files of criminal trials conducted in the Special Penalty Court in Kraków during the years 1947-1949. These trials pertain to crimes committed against Jews and Poles in Poland during the German occupation. Most of investigation were discontinued. Trials were based on the Decree of August 31, 1944 (“Sierpniówka”), issued by the Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego (PKWN), concerning the punishment of German 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.

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