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Poland. Konsulat Generalny (Dublin, Ireland) records
59027
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Title: Poland. Konsulat Generalny (Dublin, Ireland) records
Date (inclusive): 1921-1957
Collection Number: 59027
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In Polish and English
Physical Description:
24 manuscript boxes, 3 oversize boxes
(11.2 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, reports, dispatches, memoranda, press releases, financial records, clippings, and other printed matter, relating
to Polish-Irish relations, Polish citizens and consular affairs in Ireland, activities of the Polish Government-in-Exile during
World War II, and postwar Polish émigrés and émigré affairs. A digital copy of this entire collection is available at
https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/zespol/-/zespol/24342 .
Creator:
Poland. Konsulat Generalny (Dublin, Ireland)
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
A digital copy of this entire collection is available at
https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/zespol/-/zespol/24342 . The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1996.
[Identification of item], Poland. Konsulat Generalny (Dublin, Ireland) records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution
Library & Archives.
Alternative Forms of Material Available
Also available on microfilm (27 reels).
Digital copy in Poland's National Digital Archive at
https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/zespol/-/zespol/24342 . It was digitized from microfilm by the Polish State Archives.
Polish consulate general in Dublin.
The Polish Consulate in Dublin opened in 1929 as one of the first foreign representations to the young Irish state. For most
of the time, it was staffed only by Consul Waclaw Tadeusz Dobrzynski (between 1930 and 1942 he was the consulate's sole employee).
Because of stringent economic restrictions imposed by the Polish Foreign Ministry, the post's activities were suspended in
1932 and Dobrzynski, a man of independent means, was appointed Honorary Consul without financial support from Warsaw. After
Ireland became a sovereign state in 1937, the status of the post changed to Consulate General.
Dobrzynski's full reinstatement as Consul General occurred later in 1940, under Foreign Minister August Zaleski, with plans
for upgrading the consulate to embassy. The staff increased in 1942 when Xavier Zaleski was appointed Press Bureau Chief.
The office gradually assumed more diplomatic responsibilities and remained in full operation during World War II. When the
conflict ended, Dobrzynski turned down an offer from the communist government in Warsaw to represent it in Ireland, but continued
to serve as Consul General until 1954 (though he was paid his last salary in 1948). Out of the former network of 148 diplomatic
representations, the Consulate General in Dublin was one of the last three active ones, along with those in Lisbon and at
the Vatican.
Even though it played a significant role during its existence, especially during the war, not much evidence of its importance
is found in these records, which relate mostly to the usual consular activities. There is some material on Polish-Irish relations,
but none on the communication channels Poles were able to maintain with the Axis in matters of mutual interest, thanks to
the fact that the Irish remained strictly neutral for the duration of the conflict. (Traces of those channels can be found
among the correspondence in the records of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mentioned below.)
The documents relating to the post-war years chronicle the further disintegration of the Polish diplomatic system struggling
to stay alive but running out of funds. On July 5, 1945, the British recognized the communists in Warsaw and the Polish government
in London ceased to function legally. Abandoned by the Allies, the Polish administration remaining in the West was faced with
the choice of surrendering to the communists or continuing against all odds. There was talk in the press and moves were made
to test the ground for a possible transfer of the seat of the government-in-exile to Dublin, but nothing came of it.
From then on, what really mattered to the consular staff was not politics but assistance to former soldiers and refugees to
regain their status of normal citizens. The staff issued confirmations of citizenship, birth and marriage certificates, affidavits,
demobilization papers, testimonials, etc. Hundreds of documents were processed every day, above all passports, which were
recognized by most countries (though not by Great Britain) and served as proof that the holder didn't come from a Soviet-controlled
part of Europe.
The Irish, more out of principle than national interest, helped Poles to preserve a sense of dignity, but also advised the
Consul General to avoid unnecessary provocation where his influential counterparts was concerned. When Dobrzynski resigned
in January 1954, at the age of 71, he was replaced by Zofia Zaleska, and shortly afterwards by Pawel Czerwinski. The office
officially closed in March 1958, and provisional diplomatic relations with communist Poland were established by Ireland in
1976.
From 1940 on, the Consulate served as the repository for the archives of the Foreign Ministry. Besides the shortage of space
in London, the heavy bombing constituted a grave threat to the safety of the records. In addition, Poles increasingly distrusted
the British government, which they found much too accommodating to Soviet demands; the neutral state of Ireland provided the
necessary security conditions. Nevertheless, the staff found it increasingly difficult to deal with the size of incoming materials--annual
installments shipped from London across the Irish Sea at the beginning of each new year. It is not surprising, therefore,
that as early as 1943 the idea of shipping them farther across the ocean emerged, with the Hoover Library (as it was then
called) as the final recipient.
The records of the Consulate General in Dublin were eventually acquired by the Hoover Archives in 1959 as part of the Foreign
Ministry collection, and were accessioned in the early 1990s as a separate collection. Its classification system is the same
as that of the Ministry, established in the 1930s and consisting of 900 index numbers, 200 of which were left blank, available
to be used for additional topics, which is in fact what happened during the war. Of course, not all 900 are always used: the
records of the Consulate General in Dublin (which, incidentally, was the last to follow the old pattern) cover only about
hundred of them.
For a complete listing of the numbers in that classification system, please consult the series list of the register to the
"Poland. Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych" records.
A microfilm copy of these materials has been deposited in the State Archives of Poland in Warsaw.
For further study on the affairs of the Consulate General in Dublin, the researcher is advised to contact the Sikorski Institute
in London, which, in 1981, acquired over twelve feet of material entitled "The Polish Consulate-General in Dublin," covering
the period of 1940-1945, and consisting mostly of approximately 2000 personal files.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Poland -- History -- Occupation, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Poland
World War, 1939-1945 -- Governments in exile
Polish people -- Ireland
Ireland -- Foreign relations -- Poland
Poland -- Foreign relations -- Ireland