Andrzej Korbonski Collection of Research Materials on Communist Poland
098
Finding aid prepared by Clay Stalls
Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University
1 LMU Drive
Los Angeles, CA, 90045-2659
(310) 338-5710
Special.Collections@lmu.edu
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
Series 1: Radio Free Europe Research Department Situation Reports.
1988-1999
Physical Description:
3.0 Folders
Series Description
Series 1 holds reports that the research department of
Radio Free Europe issued on Poland. The reports cover all aspects of Polish life: politics; the economy and foreign trade; religion, especially
the role of the Roman Catholic Church and John Paul II in opposing the Communist government; living standards; and dissent,
including the rise of Solidarity under Lech Walesa.
The dates of the reports run from 1988 through 1999.
Box-folder 1:1
Research Departments of Radio Free Europe: Situation Reports. Re: Polish Roman Catholic Church, including election of
Karol Wojtyla as
John Paul II; Polish foreign and economic relations with Communist and non-Communist nations; Polish economy; Polish press survey.
1965-1978
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box-folder 1:2
Radio Free Europe Research: Situation Report. Re: Polish dissidence, including
Lech Walesa and
Solidarity; visit of John Paul II; Polish economy,including Polish-Soviet economic relations.
1979-1984
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box-folder 1:3
Radio Free Europe Research: Situation Report. Re: Polish Roman Catholic Church; agricultural economy; shortage of medicines;
Solidarity. Includes newspaper articles.
1984-1993
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Box-folder 2: 1-2
Series 2: Radio Free Europe Polish Press Summaries.
1989-1991
Language of Material:
Polish
Physical Description:
2.0 Folders
Series Description
Series 2 provides press summaries of Polish print media that Radio Free Europe gathered. Each summary consists of photocopies
of excerpts of articles, preceeded by a table of contents providing the date and title of the article. The dates of the materials
span the years 1989-1991. In Polish, the materials are found in Box 2, Folders 1-2.
Box-folder 2:3
Series 3: Polish Government Documents.
1966-1987 (dates broken)
Language of Material:
Polish
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Series Description
This one folder series (Box 2, Folder 3) contains documents in Polish that the Polish archepiscopate and other Polish entities
issued. All are photocopies, mostly from the Archiwum Akt Nowych of Warsaw, one of the main governmental repositories in Poland.
The originals date from 1966 through 1987. 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 Wotlyja (John Paul II), to a member of the Polish Parliament concerning a religious procession.
The materials here are all in Polish. 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.
Box-folder 2:4
Series 4: Publications.
1982-1991 (dates broken)
Physical Description:
1.0 Folder
Series Description
This small series, found in Box 2, Folder 4, contains three issues of "Report on Eastern Europe" specifically on Communist
Poland, when the Research Institute of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty published these reports in journal form.
There is also an occasional paper from the East European Program European Program of the Wilson Institute of the Smithsonian
(1985) on religion and nationalism in Eastern Europe, and a periodical dedicated to book reviews on communism ("Problems of
Communism"; 1982).
Box-folder 3:1-2
Series 5: United States Government Declassified Documents.
1943-1945 (of originals).
Physical Description:
2.0 Folders
Series Description
In two folders (Box 3, Folders 1-2), this series consists of memoranda and some telegrams (all photocopies) from the Department
of State and Secretary of State sent either to President Franklin D. Roosevelt or to the Secretary of State concerning U.S.
relations with the Polish government in exile in the last years of World War II. Topics include the U.S. government's relations
with Polish Premeir 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 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).
Box-folder 3:3-4
Series 6: Andrzej Korbonski Conference Papers and Other Research Materials.
1983-1995 (dates broken).
Physical Description:
2.0 Folders
Series Description
This series consists of miscellaneous resources that Andrzej Korbonski gathered for his research. Most important is a press
release from the Polish People's Republic embassy in Washington, D.C., concerning the visit of John Paul II to Poland in 1983.
There is also master's thesis from the University of Toronto on relations between church and state in Communist Poland from
1956 to 1970.
Also there are conference papers that Korbonski wrote on the role of religion in Eastern Europe, in one case, specifically
Poland.
