Conditions Governing Access Note
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation Note
Acquisition Information
Collection Description
Biography
Arrangement
Title:
Andrzej Korbonski Collection of Research Materials on Communist Poland
Identifier/Call Number: 098
Contributing Institution:
Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University
Language of Material:
Polish
English
Physical Description:
3.0 Boxes
Date (inclusive): 1943(of originals)-1991
Abstract: This collection consists of Radio Free Europe reports, photocopies of declassified U. S. Department of State documents and
Polish government documents that Dr. Andrzej Korbonski gathered for research on his homeland of Poland under Communism.
Conditions Governing Access Note
Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections.
Publication Rights
Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise,
Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher
must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility
for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or
executors.
Preferred Citation Note
[Identification of item], Series number, Box and Folder number, Andrzej Korbonski Collection of Research Materials on Communist
Poland, 098, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Bohdan Oppenheim. Accession Number: 2013.33
Collection Description
Containing materials (all textual) in both Polish and English, this small collection (1.25 linear feet) consists principally
of publications of the research arm of Radio Free Europe and photocopies of original documents from a major Polish state archive
and from the United States Department of State (these are declassified). Dr. Andrzej Korbonski collected these sources for
his research on Communist Poland.
The Radio Free Europe materials are in Series 1 and Series 2. These include reports on social, political, and economic conditions
in Poland; noteworthy are the reports on the Polish Roman Catholic Church and John Paul II, and the rise of Solidarity under
Lech Walesa. These reports are in English, although there are a number of press summaries in Polish in Series 2 that "East
(sic) Europe Research" of Radio Free Europe gathered.
Of special interest is Series 3 with its photocopies of documents from the Archiwum Akt Nowych, a major Polish governmental
repository. Samples of these documents include an information bulletin from the Ministry of Internal Affairs concerning meetings
of Polish Roman Catholic bishops. Another concerns a statement from the Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II),
to a member of the Polish Parliament concerning a religious procession. The materials are all in Polish in this series. Dr.
Nibel Raab, of LMU's Department of History, graciously helped in the translation of some of the documents, which provided
insight into the information that they contain.
Series 5 consists of photocopies of memoranda and telegrams sent either to President Franklin D. Roosevelt or to the Secretary
of State from the Department of State, and messages from the Secretary of State to F.D.R. The memoranda and telegrams concern
U.S. views of, and meetings with, the Polish government in exile in the last years of World War II. The materials also cover
the U.S. government's relations with Polish Premier Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, U.S. financing of the Polish underground, the American
Polish Congress, Polish-Soviet Union relations, the Warsaw Uprising, and U.S. and Soviet views on the post-war form of Polish
government and society.
Most of the original material in Series 5 was classified until the 1970s. Names of note in this series include diplomat
Averell Harriman (1891-1986) and U.S. Secretary of State
Cordell Hull (1871-1955).
Biography
Dr. Andrzej Korbonski (1927-2013) was a long-time political science professor at UCLA, whose research interests in Communist
Poland and Eastern Europe stemmed from his Polish birth. Korbonski served in the Polish Free Army in Great Britain during
World War II, and after the war ended, he immigrated to the United States. He earned a doctorate in political science from
Columbia in 1962, upon which he gained a position in the Department of Political Science at UCLA in 1963. He retired from
UCLA in 1994, although remaining active as an emeritus professor.
Dr. Korbonski published numerous books and articles on Communist Poland, a research pursuit that is reflected in the materials
in this collection.
Arrangement
The Andrzej Korbonski Collection of Research Materials on Communist Poland is arranged in the following series:
Series 1: Radio Free Europe Research Department Situation Reports
Series 2: Radio Free Europe Polish Press Summaries
Series 3: Polish Government Documents
Series 4: Publications
Series 5: United States Government Declassified Documents
Series 6: Andrzej Korbonski Conference Papers and Other Research Materials
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Korbonski, Andrzej, 1927-2013
Communism--Europe, Eastern--History--20th century
Communism--Poland--History--20th century
Poland Catholic Church
Polish Government in Exile
Radio Free Europe