Register of the Andrzej Pomian papers
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2009, 2014
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
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Title: Andrzej Pomian papers
Date (inclusive): 1937-1973
Collection Number: 2009C45
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In Polish and English
Physical Description:
21 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 oversize folder, 7 motion picture film reels
(8.8 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The collection includes materials related to Poland, the Polish Underground, the Warsaw Uprising, Polish politics and government
during and after World War II and Polish émigré affairs, in the form of correspondence, writings, reports, publications, notes,
and clippings. Also available on microfilm (36 reels).
Creator:
Pomian, Andrzej
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
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.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2009.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Andrzej Pomian papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Alternate Forms Available
Also available on microfilm (36 reels).
Biographical Note
Andrzej Pomian, who died in Washington, D.C., in 2008 at the age of ninety-seven, was a Polish émigré journalist and author
who worked for many years for Radio Free Europe. During World War II, he was a ranking officer in the Information and Propaganda
Bureau of Poland's clandestine Home Army, the largest underground organization in Nazi-occupied Europe. Extracted from Poland
in April 1944 in one of the most spectacular air operations of the war, Pomian spent the next ten years with the Polish government
in exile in London before moving to the United States.
Andrzej Pomian, the name he assumed during the war, was born Bohdan Salacinski in 1911 in a Polish village in Podolia, the
part of western Ukraine absorbed by the Soviet Union in 1920. Escaping the Soviets, the family moved to Warsaw, where Bohdan
was educated, receiving his law degree from the University of Warsaw in 1932 and remaining at the university as an assistant
professor. From the beginning of the German occupation, Pomian was involved in underground work. He taught law in an underground
university and worked in various units of the resistance, eventually becoming a director of the Information and Propaganda
Bureau, which coordinated the underground intelligence and publication work of the Home Army and controlled underground radio
programming, as well as photographic and film documentation units. The Bureau's "Action N" section published documents in
German aimed at weakening the morale of the German army and colonists in Poland. In general, the Home Army was involved in
sabotage, self-defense, and retaliation activities against the Germans. It also provided key service to the Allies in the
area of intelligence, monitoring troop movements in the east, and the development of German secret V-1 and V-2 rockets. The
primary purpose of the Home Army, however, was to prepare for the anticipated German military collapse and the liberation
of the country. After the Allied landing in Italy and the westward advance of the Red Army, a great national uprising, focused
in Warsaw, was planned for the second half of 1944.
In connection with this plan, the Home Army and underground civilian authorities delegated several officers, including Pomian,
to report to the Polish and British authorities in London on the progress of the preparations. Such contacts were usually
carried out by coded radio transmissions or solitary couriers or emissaries. There were regular night flights from England
or southern Italy to drop supplies and people into occupied Poland. A new joint Polish-Special Operations Executive operation,
Wildhorn I, including actual landing and return flight, was undertaken in the evening of April 15, 1944. A Douglas Dakota,
unarmed but equipped with eight additional fuel tanks, left its base near Brindisi in southern Italy. It flew over the Balkans
and the Carpathian Mountains into Poland, to a stubble field near the city of Lublin, southeast of Warsaw. The field was marked
out by bonfires and secured by several forest companies of the Home Army. Agents and bags of U.S. dollars were unloaded, and
Pomian and his colleagues boarded the Dakota, barely avoiding the intense and bloody firefight that erupted between the Home
Army units and the pursuing Wehrmacht columns. The return flight via Brindisi and Gibraltar brought Pomian to England twenty-four
hours later.
Pomian followed the tragic epilogue of the war in Poland from distant London. During his ten years there, Pomian continued
working for the Polish government in exile, coordinating contacts and organizing financial support for the anticommunist underground
and Home Army veterans. He moved to the U.S. in 1955.
Biographical Chronology
1911 January 2 |
Born, Bohdan Sałacinski in Czarny Ostrów, in present-day Ukraine |
1920 |
Evacuates to Poland with his family after the Polish-Russian War |
1930s |
Studies law at Warsaw University and works in the municipal solicitor general's office |
1940s |
Practices law and lectures in an underground university after the German occupation of Poland. He also works in the Central
Command of the Polish Home Army in the Information and Propaganda Bureau
|
1944 April |
Evacuates from Poland by airplane during Operation Wildhorn I as an emissary to the Polish government-in-exile in London |
1944-1954 |
Works on the staff of the commander-in-chief of the Polish government-in-exile as leading liaison operations with the Polish
underground
|
1946 |
Author,
Warsaw Rising
|
1949 |
Author,
Stalin and the Poles
|
1950 |
Author,
Polish Armed Forces in World War Two: The Home Army
|
1955 |
Emigrates to the United States |
1956-1977 |
Works as the Washington correspondent for the Polish section of Radio Free Europe |
1974-1977 |
Completes a three-year assignment in Munich |
1977 |
Returns to Washington and retires |
1977-2000s |
Freelances for radio and publishes articles on history, politics, and literature in the
Polish Daily (London) and
Polish Daily News (New York)
|
1990 |
Author,
Poland Defends Her Independence 1918-1945
|
1991 |
Receives the Warsaw University Medal |
2000 |
Awarded the Commander's Cross with Star by the president of Poland and receives the Joseph Conrad Literary Award from the
Jozef Piłsudski Institute of New York
|
2008 April 20 |
Dies, Washington D.C. |
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection includes materials related to the Polish underground during and after World War II, with particular emphasis
on the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 and the Soviet occupation of Poland, and Polish émigré affairs, in the form of reports, publications,
correspondence, clippings, writings, and notes. The collection encompasses the years 1937-1973, with the bulk of the materials
covering 1944-1954.
The bulk of the material relates generally to Andrzej Pomian's work as the assistant director of the Information and Propaganda
Bureau of the Home Army in occupied Poland (1941-1944) and his role as the chief liaison between the Polish underground and
the government-in-exile (1944-1954).
Some correspondence, and some Home Army and government-in-exile material can be found interspersed with post-war notes, clippings,
and publications in the subject file.
Related Materials
Poland. Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych records, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Poland. Ministerstwo Informacji i Dokumentacji records, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Wolność i Niezawisłość miscellaneous records, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Poland -- History -- Occupation, 1939-1945
Motion pictures
Polish people -- United States
World War, 1939-1945 -- Poland
Warsaw (Poland) -- History -- Uprising, 1944
Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów
Biographical file
1944-1954
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence, personal documents, and receipts. Arranged by physical form.
box 1, folder 1
Family correspondence
1944-1954
box 1, folder 2
Personal documents, correspondence
1944-1952
box 1, folder 3
Receipts, notes, correspondence
1949-1954
Correspondence
1944-1954.
Scope and Contents note
Arranged alphabetically.
box 1, folder 5
Gierat, Ewa and Stanisław
1951
box 1, folder 6
Grubiński, Wacław
1948-1951
box 1, folder 8
Sujkowski, Zbigniew
1951-1952
box 1, folder 9
Talarek-Gronowski, Roman
1951
box 1, folder 11
Tyszkiewicz, Samuel and Wiktoria
1950
box 1, folder 12
Węgorek, Zygmunt
1952-1953
box 1, folder 14
Wyczałkowski, Marian
1950
box 1, folder 16
Żenczykowski, Tadeusz "Kania," 1944-1946
Home Army and government-in-exile file
1941-1954.
Scope and Contents note
Reports, notes, correspondence, publications and financial records related to the Home Army and Andrzej Pomian's role as liaison
between the government-in-exile and the postwar Polish underground. Arranged chronologically.
box 1, folder 17
"Akcja N," 1941-1945. Anti-Nazi German-language propaganda
os_folder 1
"Akcja N," 1941-1945. Anti-Nazi German-language propaganda (oversize)
1943-1944
box 1, folder 18
Biuro Informacji I Propagandy Krajowych Sił Zbrojnych, BIPKSZ, circa 1943
box 1, folder 19-20
Publications
1943-1944.
Scope and Contents note
Contains photos, leaflets,
Insurekcja, Biuletyn Informacyjny, Polska Ilustrowana, Sprawy Polskie, Kobieta w Walce, Przeglad Polityczny, Nowe Drogi, Wiadomosci
Polskie
box 2, folder 1
Home Army and "Akcja N,"
1943-1948.
Scope and Contents note
Reports, correspondence, notes
box 2, folder 2
Polish underground and postwar publications
1943-1952.
Scope and Contents note
Includes photostat copies,
box 2, folder 3-4
Warsaw Uprising
1944
Scope and Contents note
Photographs of underground publications
box 3, folder 1
Warsaw Uprising
1944
Scope and Contents note
News digests, anecdotes
box 3, folder 2-3
Warsaw Uprising
August 1944.
Scope and Contents note
Press digests and orders
box 3, folder 4
Poland, Ministry of the Interior, Social Division
1944
Scope and Contents note
Reports from the Warsaw Uprising
box 3, folder 5-10
Poland, Ministry of the Interior, Social Division
1945
Scope and Contents note
Review of the national press during the Warsaw Uprising, parts 1-6
box 3, folder 11
Photos, reports on the situation in Poland and the Yalta Conference
1944-1945
box 4, folder 1
Situational reports on Soviet-occupied Poland from the Ministry of Information and Documentation and the Ministry of the Interior
1944-1945
box 4, folder 2
Warsaw Uprising
1944-1946.
Scope and Contents note
Reports, press digests, correspondence
box 4, folder 3
Digests of messages received from Poland, in English; correspondence/publications relating to Polish government-in-exile propaganda
and information distribution
1944-1947
box 4, folder 4
Home Army
1944-1950.
Scope and Contents note
Reports, pamphlets
box 4, folder 5
Typescript chronology of the Warsaw Uprising, circa 1945
box 5, folder 1
Narodowe Siły Zbrojne N.S.Z.
1945-1946.
Scope and Contents note
Reports, underground publications
box 5, folder 2
Polish Government budget documents
1945-1947
box 5, folder 3
Correspondence, party platforms, meeting minutes
1945-1947
box 5, folder 4
Notes, receipts, pamphlets, correspondence
1945-1948
box 5, folder 5
"WIN"
1946-1947.
Scope and Contents note
Plan of operations, correspondence, receipts, brochures relating to émigré affairs
box 5, folder 6
Polish underground
1946
Scope and Contents note
Publications, photos
box 6, folder 1
Polish government-in-exile
1946-1950.
Scope and Contents note
Financial records and film
box 6, folder 2
Polish underground
1946-1954.
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence, instructions, reports, receipts, leaflets
box 6, folder 3
Financial records, receipts
1949-1952
box 6, folder 4
Polish underground group "Farys" and its cooperation with British intelligence
1951-1954.
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence, reports
Writings
1945-1960.
Scope and Contents note
Typescripts, manuscripts of books and other writings, and transcripts of Pomian's Radio Free Europe broadcasts. Arranged chronologically.
box 6, folder 5
Operation Tempest "Burza" and the Warsaw Uprising
undated.
Scope and Contents note
Manuscript, notes
box 7, folder 1
"Niepodległość I Demokracja," freedom movement
undated.
Scope and Contents note
Typescript, manuscript and notes
box 7, folder 2
The Soviet Union and the Home Army
undated.
Scope and Contents note
Typescript and manuscript
box 7, folder 3-4
Typescripts, reports, clippings
undated
box 7, folder 5-7
Powstanie Warszawskie
1946
Scope and Contents note
Typescript
box 7, folder 8
Polish underground
1947
Scope and Contents note
Manuscripts and typescripts
box 8, folder 1-2
Anthology of the Warsaw Uprising
1954
Scope and Contents note
Sheet music, lyrics, poetry
box 8, folder 3
Radio Free Europe
1954
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence, transcripts, notes
box 8, folder 4
Tradycje Demokracji Polskiej
1954
Scope and Contents note
Manuscripts, typescript
box 8, folder 5
Z Dziejow Polski Podziemnej
1955-1956.
Scope and Contents note
Transcripts
box 9, folder 1
Z Dziejow Polski Podziemnej
1959
Scope and Contents note
Transcripts
box 9, folder 2-3
Radio Free Europe
1960
Scope and Contents note
Transcripts
Subject file
1939, 1944-1958.
Scope and Contents note
Clippings, publications and notes. Arranged alphabetically.
box 9, folder 4
Booklet/letter
1946, 1955
box 9, folder 5
Clippings, notes, reports
1944-1948
box 10, folder 3-6
Clippings, periodicals, typescripts, notes
1944-1955
box 11, folder 1
Clippings, newspapers
1955
box 11, folder 2
Clippings, photos, letters, notes
1947-1948
box 11, folder 3-6
Clippings, notes, scripts, correspondence, pamphlets
1944-1958
box 12, folder 3
Notes, orders, clippings
1947-1950
box 12, folder 4
Notes, clippings
1944-1947
box 12, folder 5
Notes, songs, poems, reminiscences
1954
box 12, folder 6
Notes, clippings, pamphlets
1944-1952, 1955, 1957-1958
box 13, folder 1-5
Notes, clippings, pamphlets, periodicals
1944-1954
box 14, folder 1-2
Notes, publications, and periodicals
1941-1950
box 14, folder 4
Party platforms, bulletins, photos of Stanisław Mikołajczyk
1947
box 14, folder 5
Publications
1944-1955.
Scope and Contents note
Includes
Robotnik, Robotnik Polski, Tygodnik Warszawski, Gazeta Ludowa, Polska Zbrojna, Dzis I Jutro, Polska Walczaca, Jutro Polski,
Biuletyn Informacyjny, Zycie, Dziennik Polski I Dziennik Zolnierza, Glos, Tygodnik Powszechny
box 14, folder 6
Reports, pamphlets, periodicals
1943-1947
box 14, folder 7
Reports, periodicals, prayer cards, notes
1945-1954
box 15, folder 1
Typescript screenplay, undated
box 15, folder 2
Typescript personal narratives, undated
box 15, folder 3
Typescripts
1945, 1947
Scope and Contents note
Includes
Powstanie Warszawskie by Antoni Chrusciel "Monter"
box 15, folder 4
Typescripts, notes, publications, correspondence
1946
box 16, folder 1
émigré affairs
1945-1953.
Scope and Contents note
Serials, clippings, report
box 16, folder 2
Home Army
undated.
Scope and Contents note
Bibliography of underground publications, notes and typescript
box 16, folder 3
Home Army and political organizations
undated.
Scope and Contents note
Notes, typescripts, clippings
box 16, folder 4-5
Polish underground
undated.
Scope and Contents note
Songs, poems
box 16, folder 6
Polish underground
1943, 1946, 1948-1949.
Scope and Contents note
Typescript, correspondence
box 16, folder 7
Soviet occupation of Poland during and after World War II
1946-1948.
Scope and Contents note
Typescripts
box 17, folder 1-2
Warsaw Uprising
undated.
Scope and Contents note
Typescript, poetry
box 17, folder 3
Warsaw Uprising
1954
Scope and Contents note
Notes, clippings
box 17, folder 4-5
Warsaw Uprising
1944
Scope and Contents note
Typescript, notes, digest of messages
box 18, folder 1
Warsaw Uprising
1944, 1954.
Scope and Contents note
Notes, clippings, typescripts, reports
box 18, folder 2
Warsaw Uprising
1944
Scope and Contents note
Clippings, photographs,
box 18, folder 3
Warsaw Uprising 10th anniversary
1954
Scope and Contents note
Clippings, articles, correspondence
box 19, folder 1
Warsaw Uprising
1947
Scope and Contents note
Clippings, notes, poems
box 19, folder 2
Warsaw Uprising and Polish émigré affairs
1947
Scope and Contents note
Clippings, publications, newsletters, bibliography
box 19, folder 3-5
Warsaw Uprising
1944-1951.
Scope and Contents note
Clippings, photos, correspondence, bibliographies
box 19, folder 6
"WIN,"
1952-1953.
Scope and Contents note
Pamphlets, clippings
box 19, folder 7
Wodewil Warszawski, by Edward Chudzyński
1954
Scope and Contents note
Script for a play
box 19, folder 8
World War II
1939-1947.
Scope and Contents note
Clippings, correspondence, September 1, 1939 newspaper
Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów file
1969-1973.
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence, financial records, and printed matter, relating to activities of the Polish-American veterans' organization
Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów and Polish émigré affairs. Arranged chronologically.
box 20, folder 4
Cives Leopolienses
1971-1973
box 20, folder 8
Katyń
1972
Scope and Contents note
Printed matter
box 20, folder 12
Polish-American Congress
1971-1972
box 20, folder 14
SPK combatants
1972-1973.
Scope and Contents note
General
box 20, folder 15-17
SPK correspondence
1971-1973
box 21, folder 1
SPK combatants printed matter
1972-1973
box 21, folder 2
SPK combatants printed matter "Kombatant..."
1971-1972
box 21, folder 7
Warsaw Ghetto Anniversary
1973
Sound Recordings
1956-1964.
Scope and Contents note
Contains 4 reels and 1 phonorecord, relating to Jan Paderewski, the Warsaw Uprising, Communism in Poland, and the U.S. presidential
election of 1956.
box 21
T. Machrowicz New Year's Address, undated, Warsaw Uprising Tribute broadcast on Belgian Radio (French), 1/4 inch reel
August, 1964
box 21
"Poland Under Communism," Interview with Andrzej Pomian, 1/4 inch reel
June 21, 1963
box 21
Flannery on Paderewski, 1/4 inch reel
undated
box 21
"Ballads for Ballots" sung by Joe Glazer, phonorecord
1956
os_folder 1
Maps
1937-1948.
Scope and Contents note
Poland, Germany, and progress of the Warsaw Uprising
box 22
Maps
1937-1948
Scope and Contents
Poland, Germany, and progress of the Warsaw Uprising
Motion Picture Films
Scope and Contents
Titles taken directly from the film reels.
film Shelf
"Polish Bombers Holiday", 35mm film print
circa 1943
Physical Description: 35mm print, black & white, sound, 1000ft.
Access
Use copy available on-site for immediate use. Use copy reference number: 2009C45_f_0010675.
Scope and Contents
Opening credits read: Polish Air Force Film Unit Presents, Polish Bombers Holiday.
film Shelf
"WWII Polish Army en route from USSR via Africa-Italy-France to Germany - Polish Version", 35mm film print
Physical Description: 35mm print, black & white, sound, 1000ft.
Access
Use copy available on-site for immediate use. Use copy reference number: 2009C45_0011243_r01
film Shelf
"Polish Bombers Holiday", duplicate 35mm film print
film Shelf
"Sport Kajakowy w Polsce", 35mm film print
film Shelf
"WWII Polish Paratroopers Porizade 2nd Part Polish Version", 35mm film print
film Shelf
"Najkrotsza Droga", 35mm film print
film Shelf
"A Vol D'oiseau", 35mm film print