Overview
- Description
- Selected records of the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN), including: A list of the members of the PKWN, and others, who left Moscow for Chełm in 1944, reports of the PKWN delegates of the Department for Jewish Affairs regarding the security of the so-called liberated areas and the organization of Jewish communities, correspondence with the Central Jewish Committee, newsletters of the Jewish Press Agency, 1944, records of the Department of Justice discussing matters of the restitution of property to Jewish survivors, records on the war crime trials, articles written by staff of the Judiciary, letters from Jews living in the USSR searching for their families left in Poland, minutes of the sessions of meetings of the PKWN relating to Jews and the former concentration camp at Majdanek, registration of war damages and doctor's reports about persons suffering from chronic ailments caused by mistreatment during the German occupation, propaganda posters and leaflets, and correspondence relating to establishment of the National Museum in Majdanek, 1944.
- Alternate Title
- Selected records of the Polish Committee of National Liberation
- Date
-
creation:
1944
- Credit Line
- 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.
- Collection Creator
- Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego
- Biography
-
The Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN) was formed on July 21, 1944. The PKWN was established in Moscow and led by Polish communists who had been living there in exile, and it functioned under the political control of Joseph Stalin. The Central Office of Polish Communists and the National Council of the Polish Communist Party were influenced by the Communist Party, but the final decision on its creation, name, status and staffing was made by Stalin. From August 1, 1944, the headquarters of the Polish Committee of the Army was based in Lublin. The PKWN was chaired by Edward Osóbka-Morawski and became the Temporary Government of the Polish Republic on December 31, 1944. PKWN's press office was known as "Rzeczpospolita." The establishment of the PKWN created a political structure that, with only minor modifications, was retained until 1989. The political foundations were the monopoly of the Communist Party in the sphere of power and the subordination of Poland to the Soviet Union.
Physical Details
- Language
- Polish
- Genre/Form
- Correspondence. Leaflets. Minutes. Posters. Registers. Reports.
- Extent
-
6,067 digital images : PDF ; 2.46 GB .
- System of Arrangement
- Arranged in seven series: 1. Bureau; 2. Department of Public Administration; 3. Department of Justice; 4. Department of Labor, Social Welfare and Health; 5. Department of War Damages; 6. Department of Culture and Art; 7. Department of Information and Propaganda.
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- This material can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing stations. No other access restrictions apply to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- Reproduction of more than 100 pages of copies of documents for researchers or other institutions requires a written permission of the General Director of the State Archives of the Republic of Poland. Publication of more than 10 complete documents in an individual work requires the written authorization of the General Director. The Museum may not publish any archival material obtained from the General Director, including specific archives under his control, on the Internet, the World Wide Web, or any other publicly accessible on-line network without the written permission of the General Director. Citation of the materials in any publication must refer to the Museum and the Polish State Archives and must include the name of the archival group and catalogue number of the originals.
- Copyright Holder
- Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- World War, 1939-1945--Destruction and pillage--Poland. World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities--Investigations. Jews--Poland--Politics and government. Jewish communists--Poland--History. Polish people--Poland--History--20th century. Communism--Poland--History. Holocaust Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland. Social service.
- Geographic Name
- Poland--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century. Poland--Politics and government--History--20th century. Poland
- Personal Name
- Osóbka-Morawski, Edward, 1909-1997.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
Archiwum Akt Nowych
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Source of acquisition is the Archiwum Akt Nowych w Warszawie, Poland, Sygn. 185. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the filmed collection via the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum International Archival Programs Division in March 2017. This is a cooperative project based on the agreement between USHMM and Yad Vashem, Israel.
- Special Collection
-
Claims Conference International Holocaust Documentation Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-25 12:52:24
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn557918
Additional Resources
Download & Licensing
- See Rights and Restrictions
- Terms of Use
- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Requires Research Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
Bowie, MD
