Seleted records of the Central Welfare Council. Head Office in Cracow Rada Główna Opiekuńcza. Biuro Centrali w Krakowie (Sygn.125)

Identifier
irn593157
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2017.490.1
  • RG-15.550
Dates
1 Jan 1940 - 31 Dec 1945
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Polish
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

99,414 digital images, PDF

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Rada Główna Opiekuńcza (Central Welfare Council) RGO-Polish social welfare organization, established in February 1940, with the consent of the German occupation authorities, for the assistance of the Polish population residing in the General Gouvernement. RGO's activities included the distribution of food, clothing and cash benefits to the most deprived, running of folk kitchens, shelters, nursing homes and guest houses, parcel shipments for prisoners, and special relief actions for displaced from the territories annexed to the Third Reich, displaced from the Zamość region, and of Warsaw - after the end of the Warsaw Uprising. RGO operated through a network of care councils and their delegations, established in individual districts, counties and cities. It is estimated that the RGO helped an average of 800,000 people every year until 1944. The Council was headed by prince Janusz Radziwiłł (until June 1940), count Adam Ronikier (until October 1943) and Konstanty Tchórznicki (until April 1945). The Council had at least 15 000 volunteers all around Poland. The Council received finances from the German authorities and (clandestinely) from the Polish Government in Exile.

Archival History

Archiwum Akt Nowych

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 Archiwum Akt Nowych, Poland, Sygn. 125. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the filmed collection via the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum International Archival Programs Division in December 2017. Note: This is a cooperative project based on the agreement between USHMM and Yad Vashem, Israel.

Scope and Content

Correspondence, minutes of reports, activity reports, lists of population, statistical information and other records created by the Rada Główna Opiekuńcza (Central Welfare Council), RGO, Polish social welfare organization working during the occupation period in Poland. Some of the material concerns the Jewish population and cooperation with the Żydowska Samopomoc Społeczna, ŻSS (Jüdische Soziale Selbsthilfe).

System of Arrangement

Arranged in three series: 1. General Department (Wydział Ogólny): Correspondence, reports, minutes, etc.; 2. Financial and Commercial Department (Wydział Finansowo-Gospodarczy): Notes, minutes of conversation with German authorities, and correspondence with Jewish Committee of the Żydowska Samopomoc Społeczna (ŻSS), 1941-1942; 3. Department of Helping Population (Wydzial Pomocy Ludności): Statistics, registers and correspondence.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych

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.