Źródła do odbudowy państwa polskiego w archiwach polonijnych w USA

The article discusses the role of Polish and Polish diaspora organizations in the USA, and the role of their archives, libraries, and museum deposits in the study of the first years of the independent Polish state. The most important ones, created in the USA in the 19th and the 20th century by Polish immigrants, are the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America (located in New York), the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (located in New York), the Polish Army Veterans’ Association in America (located in New York), the Polish Museum of America (located in Chicago), the Polish Archive in the Polish Catholic Mission in Orchard Lake near Detroit, and the Polish Music Center in Los Angeles. The key role in the study of the restoration of the Polish state in 1918-1923 plays the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America, established on 4 July 1943 as a descendant of the Institute for Research into the Modern Polish History functioning in Warsaw between 1923 and 1939. The institute holds the so-called Belvedere Archives, saved in 1939 from Warsaw and taken from Europe to New York. It contains the documents of the Adjutancy Commander in Chief from the years 1918-1922, illustrating the struggle for the borders of the restored Polish state; documents of the Ukrainian Military Mission, showing Polish-Ukrainian cooperation in the face of the threat from Bolshevik Russia; documents from three Silesian uprisings, and archives of well-known supporters of Piłsudski, e.g. General Julian Stachiewicz and Marshal Rydz-Śmigły. Other additional sources from the years 1918-1923 are stored by Polish diaspora institutions, including priceless and understudied documents concerning the prominent composer, diplomat, and politician Ignacy Jan Paderewski, as well as unique materials concerning Polish volunteers from the USA fighting along with General Józef Haller’s so-called Blue Army.

Kapucyni prowincji polskiej wobec wydarzeń lat 1914-1921

The article presents political and domestic situation of the Polish province of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin between 1914 and 1921. The province witnessed a generational change of guard: friars remembering the secularization of monasteries conducted by Czar authorities in 1864 passed on and were replaced by friars accepted to the order after the tolerance decree of 1905. The number of monasteries increased to four: two old ones in Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą and Łomża, and two newly recovered in Warsaw (in 1918) and Lublin (in 1919). A breakthrough event was the visit by Eligiusz Jensen, the general definitor. Since the definitor ordered the return to old monastery practices, which were neglected after the secularization of 1864, for many friars this was equivalent to regaining independence by Poland. The definitor, in accordance with the requirements of the contemporary law of the order, reduced the Polish province to the rank of a commissariat, since it did not have the required number of friars, and changed its name from “Polish” to “Warsaw”, because another department of the order, the Kraków commissariat, was also within the borders of independent Poland. The only Capuchin who actively participated in the efforts for regaining Polish independence was Wiator Rytel (1883-1942). Other friars, focused on recovering old monasteries, could not take part in these actions.

1918-1920 Procesos divergentes en dos naciones europeas

Poland and Spain are two countries with scarce relations at historical level. When in 1918 the end of the First World War and the coming of the Second Polish Republic take place, it is a fact. The image of Poland in Spain will be perceived through the problems of the Spaniards themselves. The peripheral nationalisms with secessionist cravings that see Poland as an example, or the strength of libertarian communism (anarchist) that sees in the Bolshevik revolution a solution for the Iberian country. Meanwhile, Polish nationalism, based on Catholicism, attracts a Spanish conservatism, also Catholic, that seeks to structure Spain with a new illusion. The chronicles of Sofia Casanova, the only Spaniard with the capacity to understand the Polish situation, will be an important source of information for the average Spanish citizen.

Kościół katolicki na Kresach południowo-wschodnich wobec odzyskiwania przez Polskę niepodległości

The article by Mieczysław Ryba describes the process of escalation of national conflicts in Eastern Galicia and a deepening religious conflict in this region. The author concludes that during the struggle for Polish independence throughout World War I, the Roman Catholic church had a clearly pro-Polish stance. The Uniate church, in turn, became a foundation for Ukrainian national movement with its explicitly anti-Polish sympathies. The rise of the Polish-Ukrainian conflict increased anti-Polish phobias and disagreements among Galician Uniates. The Armenian church, led by archbishop Józef Teodorowicz, a widely recognized Polish patriot, was one of the eastern churches with an unequivocally pro-Polish attitude.

Sodalicje Mariańskie na ziemiach polskich wobec wojny i odzyskania niepodległości w 1918 r.

The Sodality of Our Lady is a Catholic society for lay persons, initiated by Jan Leunis SJ in Rome in the 2nd half of the 16th century. Originally, the Sodality comprised students and later all classes and professional groups. The aim of this elite society was the formation of lay Catholics aware of their vocation in the Church, and propagation of the rite and the cult of Virgin Mary. The supreme goal of the Sodality was obeying the rule “Per Mariam ad Jesum”. The rules of the Sodality concerned visiting prisoners, working in hospitals, helping the poor and the ill, teaching faith, and Christian upbringing of youth. Sodalities deteriorated after the secularization of the Jesuit order, which was their basis in 1773. Towards the end of the 19th century they were being revived on the Polish lands. Sodalities of Our Lady combined religious devotion with the love of the homeland and efforts for the country’s benefit. During World War I the society engaged in charity helping in hospitals, welfare institutions, taking care of the disabled and orphans. Sodalities contributed particularly to the upbringing of the new patriotic generation of Poles. Regaining independence helped sodalities to develop their activities and contributed significantly to the rebirth of religious life of the society in the Second Polish Republic.

Obchody Święta Odzyskania Niepodległości przez Polskę w listopadzie1944 r.

In November 1944 on the lands occupied by the Red Army, an anniversary of the creation of Ignacy Daszyński’s government was celebrated along with an anniversary of the October Revolution (for the first time in Polish lands) and preparations for the Polish National Independence Day were under way. This was an interim period starting the formation of a new political system of Poland. The prewar shape of political and social life was slowly giving way to that of PKWN (Polish Committee of National Liberation). This was evident in the preparation for celebrations of national holidays and anniversaries. Both prewar holidays, with anti-soviet overtones, and holidays taken over from USSR were celebrated.

Ludność Podhala wobec niepodległości Polski. Wybrane problemy

In 1918 Poland regained independence after 123 years of partitions. The article discusses the contribution of the Podhale population to the struggle for independence. Even before World War I, the Podhale people were establishing militia organizations, developed education and their own newspapers in order to raise highlanders’ awareness of the need for engaging in the efforts for independence. In 1918 they supported Polish patriots in Galicia and took part in the process of regaining independence by Poland.

Ustanowienie stosunków dyplomatycznych między odrodzoną Rzeczpospolitą Polską a Stolicą Apostolską

The process of establishing diplomatic contacts between the Second Polish Republic and the See of Rome is a testimony to the efforts of the metropolitan bishop and the member of the Regency Council archbishop Aleksander Kakowski concerning the arrival of the See’s diplomatic representative to the Kingdom of Poland. The representative was hoped to help the Polish bishops in rebuilding shattered church organization and religious life of the congregation. In reply to the Polish bishops’ plea of 25 May 1918, Pope Benedict XV nominated the prefect of the Vatican Library prelate Achilles Ratti as an inspector in the Warsaw metropolis, whose jurisdiction was soon expanded to former Russian territories. Despite the fact that the inspector’s visit was of religious character, after Poland’s regaining of independence Ratti was in contact with Polish state authorities. He facilitated the See of Rome’s recognition of Poland and on 6 June 1919 Benedict XV nominated him a papal nuncio in Poland. Józef Piłsudski, the marshal of Poland, was handed the nomination letters on 19 July 1919.