Stanislaw Mikolajczyk papers, 1899-1966

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Summary

Creators:
Mikołajczyk, Stanisław, 1901-1966
Abstract:
Correspondence, speeches and writings, reports, notes, newsletters, clippings, photographs, tape recordings, motion picture film, and printed matter, relating to communism in Eastern Europe and Poland, agriculture in Poland, Polish politics, especially during World War II, Polish-Soviet relations, the International Peasant Union, the Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, and Polish emigre politics. A digital copy of this entire collection is available here.
Extent:
209 manuscript boxes, 9 oversize boxes, 5 phonodiscs (94.4 Linear Feet)
Language:
In Polish and English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Stanislaw Mikolajczyk Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The Stanislaw Mikolajczyk papers were acquired in 1979 from his son Marian. Shortly thereafter, the late Helena Sworakowska prepared a preliminary inventory, which remained in use for nearly two decades. Detailed processing and preservation microfilming have now been made possible by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and by matching funds from the Taube Family Foundation. In addition, the grant provides depositing a microfilm copy of these materials in the State Archives of Poland in Warsaw.

The papers cover mostly the second part of Mikolajczyk's life, beginning in 1939 when, as a soldier, he made his way to France to join the Polish government-in-exile (which later established itself in London). He served successively as vice-president of the Polish parliament, president of the Polish National Council, minister of the interior, deputy prime minister, and prime minister after the death of Wladyslaw Sikorski in 1943. (As a close associate of the general throughout those years and his successor, Mikolajczyk's archives contain part of Sikorski's working files.)

The government service series covers Mikolajczyk's activities in those capacities, as well as his interactions with other offices of the Polish government-in-exile. Particularly significant are the papers relating to his tenure as prime minister, as they reflect a dramatic period of Poland's wartime history; that is especially evident in light of numerous intelligence reports.

While the London years are well documented, the period from 1945 to 1947, during which Mikolajczyk served in the provisional governement in Warsaw, is not. Indeed, when he left Poland in October of 1947, forced once again into exile, Mikolajczyk took with him only a small dossier of materials on political persecussions. Complementing the secret police records surviving in Poland, this part of the collection (found in the Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe series) fills important gaps in the country's history after 1945.

After 1948, like many other of the Central and East European exiles, Mikolajczyk was very active in unifying émigré circles from Poland as well as from other East European countries. He remained a prominent émigré figure until his death in 1966, and was the leading personality, representing the entire region, in the stuggle against Soviet plans to communize Eastern and Central Europe. His closeness to political circles in Washington allowed him to form the first East European lobby and to put the issue of Soviet occupation on the political agenda of consecutive United States administrations.

Mikolajczyk founded and/or presided over many organizations such as the Assembly of Captive European Nations, the International Peasant Union, the Polish Peasant Party in exile, and the Polish National Democratic Committee. He was also very active on behalf of Radio Free Europe. All those efforts are widely represented in the collection, with each of the major organizations he was involved in constituting a separate series.

An avid collector of documents, Mikolajczyk was very aware of their significance for history. He also amassed clippings from numerous sources, now gathered into a printed matter series.

Finally, researchers will find an extensive audio-visual series containing a very large number of photographs and of audio tapes.

Zbigniew Stanczyk
August 1999

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1901 July 18
Born, Holsterhausen, Westphalia, Germany
1918
Member and active participant of Sokoly, Polish insurrection against the Germans
1920
Graduated from Agricultural High School, People's University
Private, Polish Army, Polish-Russo War
1924
Editor, Wloscianin Wielkopolski
Secretary, Polish Peasant Party, Poznan district
1930-1935
Parliament member, Polish Peasant Party
1935
Chairman, Poznan Association of Agricultural Circles
1937
Leader, peasant strikes
1939
Vice-President, Polish Parliament in exile
Interned in Hungary; escaped to France
Private, September campaign
1939-1941
Acting President, Polish National Council
1941-1942
Minister of Interior
1941-1943
Deputy Prime Minister, Sikorski government
1943 July-1944 November
Prime Minister
1944
Went to Moscow and Washington
1945
President, Polish Peasant Party
Minister of Agriculture
Deputy Prime Minister, Warsaw, Provisional Polish Government of National Unity
1947 June
Leader of parliamentary opposition
Resigned from government posts
1947 October 20
Left Poland
1947 November 26
Arrived in New York
1948
Founder, Polish Peasant Party in exile
1948-1964
President, International Peasant Union
1950
President, Polish National Democratic Committee
1950-1966
President, Assembly of Captive European Nations
1951
Member, Central and Eastern European Committee
1955
Went to Japan
1956
Presided over International Peasant Union Congress, Paris
1966 December 13
Died
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

A digital copy of this entire collection is available here. Box OCM6 and original phonodiscs may not be used without permission of the Archivist; there is digitized content from this collection available. The remainder of 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.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Stanislaw Mikolajczyk Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
Website