Col. Wincenty Bąkiewicz collection Płk. Wincentego Bąkiewicza (Kol.138)

Identifier
irn42124
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2010.311
  • RG-59.051
Dates
1 Jan 1940 - 31 Dec 1959
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Polish
  • English
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

9,438 digital images, JPEG

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie (Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile) was established after Germany and the Soviet Union occupied Poland in September 1939. The Polish government-in-exile was first based in Paris, but moved to London after the French army surrendered to the Germans in the mid-1940s. The Allied powers accepted the government-in-exile as the legitimate representative of the Polish people soon after it was created. The Polish government allied itself with the Allied powers, as its members believed that only a total military victory over Germany would restore Poland's independence and freedom. The government-in-exile led the Polish war effort throughout World War II, and amassed its own land, air, and naval forces. In addition, it commanded the largest underground army of the war, the Armia Krajowa (the Polish Home Army). In 1942, reports about the mass murder of Jews in Poland reached London. At that point, the Polish government-in-exile made several public declarations on the subject, and officially demanded that the Allied powers stop the Germans from continuing their campaign to murder Jews, and other individuals they deemed undesirable. From December 1942 onward, the government-in-exile backed the rescue work of Zegota, which offered aid to Jews throughout occupied Poland.

Archival History

Instytut Polski i Muzeum im. Gen. Sikorskiego w Londynie

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 Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London, England, created by the Polish Government in Exile, records of the Kol. 138. Col. Wincenty Bąkiewicz collection. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the digitized collection via the United States Holocaust Museum International Archives Programs in Nov. 2010.

Scope and Content

Contains records of the Polish intelligence services, decoded dispatches from and to the Polish intelligence base in Teheran June 1942-June 1945, decoded dispatches from and to the Polish Army in Russia and the Polish intelligence services in Russia. Includes testimonies of the Polish civilians in Russia-refugees, POWs from Soviet camps, testimonies of the ex prisoners and „³agiernik” written mostly in 1944, various reports, testimonies on Katyń-Starobielsk-Ostaszków, evacuation of refugees from USSR (The Anders Army), Jewish issues in Palestine, the Jewish Agency in Palestine, Jewish property in Poland, the Polish Army on the Middle East, antisemitism in the army, POW camps in USSR, the internees, the letter of Jewish soldier „Why I left the Polish Army”, and other matters, report of Capt. Wierzbicki on evacuation of Jewish children from Russia, Erlich and Alter issue” including copies of their letters to Stalin, records on Soviet camps of POWs and others including communistic propaganda in the camps. Contains name lists: lists of Jews Polish citizens applying to the Polish Army in Teheran, and name list of people who died in Kozielsk.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Instytut Polski i Muzeum im. Gen. Sikorskiego w Londynie

People

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.