Overview of the Marian Spychalski papers
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
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Title: Marian Spychalski papers
Date (inclusive): 1906-1988
Collection Number: 2010C26
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
Polish
Physical Description:
3 manuscript boxes
(1.2 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Memoirs, other writings, clippings, photographs, and memorabilia, relating to underground movements in Poland during World
War II, and to postwar political conditions in Poland. Includes a Polish doctoral dissertation by Marek Katolik relating to
Marian Spychalski.
Creator:
Spychalski, Marian
Creator:
Katolik, 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
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2010.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Marian Spychalski papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
Marian Spychalski, one of the "founding fathers" of communist Poland and a prominent Polish politician during the period from
1944 to 1968, served as Polish minister of defense, 1956-1968.
Born in 1906, Spychalski became connected with the communist movement in his years as architecture student in Warsaw. During
the 1930s, he was a promising young architect and urban planner in Poland, winner of several national and international competitions
and awards. During the war, Spychalski headed the intelligence activities of two successive communist underground organizations,
Gwardia Ludowa (People's Guard) and Armia Ludowa (People's Army), the principal aims of which were not only fighting the Germans
but preparing for eventual "liberation" by the Soviets. A major part of this effort was gathering intelligence and sabotaging
the anti-Nazi struggle of the much larger and more popular, pro-Allied national underground, Armia Krajowa (Home Army). The
final year of the war Spychalski spent with the Soviet forces and their Polish communist-led units, quickly advancing to the
rank of general. Spychalski headed the first administration of newly liberated Warsaw, then returned to political work in
the armed forces as deputy defense minister; he was then appointed as the minister responsible for the postwar reconstruction
of Poland, a position he held until the end of 1949. He was arrested in 1950 as part of a broader Soviet plan to rid the Polish
communist leadership of people suspected of potential Western or "nationalist" tendencies. Spychalski, who was then imprisoned
and brutally interrogated, confessed to everything of which he was accused. Fortunately for him, and hundreds of others, Stalin's
death and Nikita Khrushchev's ascension to power brought about a gradual easing of the repressive regime throughout the Soviet
bloc. As a result of this "thaw" Spychalski was released from prison in early 1956. A few months later he was completely "rehabilitated,"
returned to the Politburo, and made minister of defense, a position he held until 1968. Spychalski ended his political career
in December 1970 as chairman of the Council of State, or president of communist Poland. He died in retirement in 1980.
Scope and Content of Collection
Memoirs, other writings, clippings, photographs, and memorabilia, relating to underground movements in Poland during World
War II, and to postwar political conditions in Poland. Includes a Polish doctoral dissertation by Marek Katolik relating to
Marian Spychalski.
The most interesting and valuable part of Spychalski's papers are his memoirs. Written during his retirement, in the mid-1970s,
the four-volume, nearly 600-page typescript covers the period of roughly 1930 through 1950. Written largely from the perspective
of an architect and urban planner, it focuses on Warsaw: the capital of "bourgeois" Poland, then the suffering and devastated
capital of the Nazi-occupied country, and, finally, the rising symbol of the new and just People's Republic. Against this
background, Spychalski chronicles many, but not all, of the major events he witnessed or participated in. It is a story written
by an educated, committed Marxist, a true believer; therefore it is not only an eyewitness account by a significant player
in the historical process but also a primary source for the study of the tortured intellectual meanders of Polish Communists.
In addition to the memoirs, the collection includes photographs, selected articles, and many of Spychalski's medals and decorations.
The collection is significantly enhanced by biographical reminiscences of Spychalski's wife, Barbara, written after his death
in 1980, as well as a massive, unknown to historians, unpublished doctoral dissertation about Spychalski, completed at the
Feliks Dzierzynski Military Political Academy in Warsaw in 1988. Understandably, the Dzierzynski Academy did not survive the
political transformation of Poland in 1989-90. Unfortunately, some of the documentation on which the work was based did not
survive, due to the wide-scale destruction of the Interior Ministry archives ordered by the departing communist authorities
during the same period, making this dissertation potentially even more valuable to historians.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Poland -- Politics and government -- 1945-1980
World War, 1939-1945 -- Poland
Medals
Statesmen -- Poland
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