Preliminary Inventory of the Marek Łatyński papers
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2016
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
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Title: Marek Łatyński papers
Date (inclusive): 1958-2002
Collection Number: 2017C3
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
Polish
Physical Description:
16 manuscript boxes
(6.7 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, writings, memoranda, reports, broadcast transcripts, and printed matter relating to radio broadcasting to
Poland, and to Polish-Swiss relations.
Creator:
Łatyński, Marek
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
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2016.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Marek Łatyński papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
Marek Łatyński, a Polish journalist, was born in Warsaw in 1930 into a middle-class family. Much of his childhood and youth
coincided with periods of Nazi and Stalinist terror in Poland. During the German occupation of the country, he attended classes
in an underground gymnasium. After the war, the communists imprisoned his father for six years on charges of "economic sabotage."
Łatyński's university studies were in English language and literature at the universities of Cracow and Warsaw. He was also
very interested in twentieth-century Polish history but had to study it on his own, as this was a subject under the rigid
control of the Communist Party. Although still a student, Łatyński found employment in the Polish Radio's foreign-language
programming. He worked there until his defection from the Polish People's Republic in 1967.
During a few months' stay in Paris, Łatyński was noticed by two key Polish émigré leaders, Jerzy Giedroyc, the Paris publisher,
and Jan Nowak-Jezioranski, the director of the Polish service of Radio Free Europe (RFE). Nowak offered Łatyński a job with
RFE in Munich. His association with RFE, first in charge of daily news and later as director of the Polish service, lasted
until the end of 1989, with a two-year hiatus in the 1980s when he served as Voice of America's commentator on East Central
Europe in Washington, D.C.
Łatyński returned to Munich as director of RFE's Polish broadcast service in 1987. His tenure, from March 1987 through November
1989, coincided with the momentous changes taking place in Poland and within the Soviet bloc, led by the last Soviet Communist
Party general secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev. In January 1988, the communists stopped jamming RFE programming and the Munich
radio greatly increased its daily presence in Poland. Live telephone interviews with Solidarity opposition leaders and prominent
cultural and religious figures, combined with in-depth uncensored international and domestic news, helped solidify national
consensus for a peaceful political change. Under Łatyński's direction, Radio Free Europe Polish broadcasting became an important
medium for the anticommunist opposition during the Round Table Talks with the communist regime and the semi-free elections
of June 1989, which opened the way for a democratic Poland. In July 1989, Łatyński made his first trip to his homeland in
more than two decades, as a member of George H. Bush's press entourage during the president's official visit to Poland.
Łatyński briefly worked as the Paris commentator for the Polish radio and, from 1991 to 1994, served as Poland's ambassador
to Switzerland. He also continued to write and publish, first his RFE memoirs, titled
The English Garden (the Munich street address of RFE), and later a greatly expanded and revised edition of his study on Stalinist terror in
Poland of the 1940s and early 1950s. Łatyński died in Warsaw in 2003.
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers of Marek Łatyński consist of his RFE papers, the archives connected with his ambassadorial tenure in Bern, and
his historical manuscripts. Materials include correspondence, writings, memoranda, reports, broadcast transcripts, and printed
matter.
Related Collections
Andrzej Czechowicz papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Zdzisław Najder papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Radio broadcasting -- Poland
Poland -- Foreign relations -- Switzerland
Switzerland -- Foreign relations -- Poland
Radio Free Europe
box 1, folder 1
Radio Wolna Europa (RWE) - opracowania z okresu wczesnego
1958
box 1, folder 2
RWE - audycje z pierwszych lat
1968-1973
box 1, folder 3
RWE - oceny i opinie amerykanskie
1968-1985
box 1, folder 4
RWE - wybrane komentarze
1973-1985
box 1, folder 5
RWE - Jan Nowak-Jezioranski
1975-1993
box 2, folder 3
RWE - oceny programu z zewnatrz
1984-1985
box 2, folder 4
Wywiady z Kisielewskim i Czapskim
1987-1988
box 3, folder 1
RWE i
Kultura Giedroyca
1975-1979
box 3, folder 2
Teksty o Dwudziestoleciu i o wojsku
1984-1985
box 3, folder 3
Audycje z Okresu Paryskiego
1990
box 3, folder 4
RWE w mediach zachodnich
undated
box 3, folder 5
Korespondencja z ludzmi z zewnatrz
1983-1989
box 4, folder 1
RWE - memoranda i korespondencja wewnetrzna
1987-1990
box 4, folder 2
RWE w prasie krajowej po 1989
1989
box 4, folder 3
Pobyt w Warszawie i wywiad w
Tygodniku Powszechnym,
1989
box 4, folder 4
RWE - krajowi uczestnicy audycji
1987
box 4, folder 6
RWE - lata po odejsciu
undated
box 5, folder 3
Wlodzimierz Odojewski - korespondencja
undated
box 5, folder 4
RWE - sprawy personalne
1987-1988
box 5, folder 5
Zygmunt Stankiewicz
undated
box 5, folder 6
Alina Grabowska, listy, komentarze, artykuly
undated
box 5, folder 7
Krzysztof Skubiszewski, polityka polska
undated
box 5, folder 8
Pawel Zaremba, wspomnienia, korespondencja z Giedroyciem
1979-1981
box 5, folder 9
Czapski, Wozniakowski
1988-1992
box 6, folder 1
RWE - memoranda i korespondencja wewnetrzna
1968-1985
box 6, folder 2
RWE - audycje z okresu paryskiego (sierpien-pazdziernik)
1990
box 6, folder 3
RWE w mediach krajowych
1981-1989
box 6, folder 4
RWE - sprawy personalne
1968-1990
box 7, folder 1
RWE - wyjatki z ksiazek autorow amerykanskich
undated
box 7, folder 2
RWE - wystapienia publiczne
1977-1990
box 7, folder 3
RWE - audycje z okresu paryskiego (czerwiec-lipiec)
1990
box 7, folder 4
RWE - listy - przyjscie Z. Najdera jako dyrektora
1981-1982
box 7, folder 5
RWE - rozne publikacje radiowe
1963-1989
box 7, folder 6
RWE - fraszki Jacka Kaczmarskiego
undated
box 8, folder 1
Berno, wycinki prasowe, listy, zaproszenia (lipiec)
1991
box 8, folder 2
Berno, wycinki, korespondencja, artykuly ( sierpien-pazdziernik)
1991
box 8, folder 3
Berno, korespondencja, wycinki prasowe (listopad-grudzien)
1991
box 9, folder 1
Szwajcaria, Berno, korespondencja, zaproszenia, artykuly
1992
box 9, folder 2
Berno, wycinki prasowe
1992
box 9, folder 3
Berno, korespondencja, wycinki prasowe
1992
box 10, folder 1
Berno, wycinki, dokumenty, listy
1993
box 10, folder 2
Szwajcaria i sprawy polsko-szwajcarskie
undated
box 10, folder 3
Szwajcaria, artykuly, wycinki prasowe
undated
box 10, folder 4
Berno, Grande Societe
undated
box 10, folder 5
Berno, MSZ, wycinki prasowe
1994-1998
box 11, folder 1
Szwajcaria, zaproszenia, korespondencja
1993
box 11, folder 2
Sprawozdanie kierownika przedstawicielstwa dypolomatycznego
1994
box 11, folder 3
Dokumentacja przyjec prezydenckich i spotkan z Polonia
1993-1994
box 11, folder 4
Berno, pisma, artykuly, wycinki, korespondencja
1993
box 12, folder 1
Berno, notatki, korespondencja (wrzesien-pazdziernik)
1994
box 12, folder 2
Berno, korespondencja, wycinki prasowe, artykuly
1994
box 12, folder 3
Berno, korespondencja, artykuly, wycinki prasowe (maj-sierpien)
1994
box 13, folder 1
Listy, recenzje z ksiazki, zyciorys, projekt testamentu
1998-2002
box 13, folder 4
Listy gratulacyjne, nominacje
undated
box 13, folder 5
CIA i wywiad, wycinki prasowe
1995-2003
box 13, folder 6
Niezalezne publikacje polskie
1979
box 13, folder 7
Echa przerwanego wydania ksiazki,
Nie pasc na kolana,
1985
box 13, folder 8
Nie pasc na kolana, rozne materialy
2002
box 13, folder 9
Nie pasc na kolana, pozostalosci, korespondencja, etc.
1976-1982
box 14, folder 1
PRL, materialy do ksiazki
undated
box 14, folder 2
PRL, dodatki do ksiazki, pozostalosci
undated
box 14, folder 3
Ogrod angielski, recenzje i inne reakcje
undated
box 15, folder 1
Nie pasc na kolana - maszynopis, pierwsza wersja poprawiona
undated
box 15, folder 2
Bibliografia do ksiazki,
Nie pasc na kolana,
undated
box 15, folder 3
"Wariacje na temat Jaruzelskiego,"
undated
box 16
Trzy pudelka z haslami do Indexu ksiazki
Nie pasc na kolana
undated
