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Poland. Konsulat Generalny (New York, N.Y.) records
76004  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Use
  • Acquisition Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Historical Note
  • Scope and Content Note

  • Title: Poland. Konsulat Generalny (New York, N.Y.) records
    Date (inclusive): 1940-1948
    Collection Number: 76004
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: Polish
    Physical Description: 7 manuscript boxes (2.8 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: Correspondence, telegrams, memoranda, reports, agreements, minutes, histories, financial records, lists, press summaries, photographs, and printed matter, relating to the German and Soviet occupation of Poland during World War II, activities of the Polish Government-in-Exile (London), and displaced Polish citizens after World War II.
    Creator: Poland. Konsulat Generalny (New York, N.Y.)
    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 1976.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Poland. Konsulat Generalny (New York, N.Y.) records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Historical Note

    Polish Consulate General in New York City.

    Scope and Content Note

    The records of the Polish Consulate General in New York (Konsulat Generalny Rzeczpospolitej w Nowym Jorku) were obtained by the Hoover Institution in 1976 from the family of Consul General Sylwin Strakacz, three years after his death.
    The New York Consulate was the first Polish diplomatic post on American soil after Poland regained its independence. It opened on August 1, 1918, much before the Polish Embassy in Washington and shortly before the San Francisco Consulate did (the latter remained open only for a short time, to facilitate the transfer of Poles remaining in Siberia). The New York office played a significant role, but these records deal mostly with civic and administrative affairs, not political ones.
    What could be of particular interest to researchers are the efforts of the Polish diplomats in organizing relief among Polish Americans for their compatriots released from the Siberian camps in 1941, as well as the assistance to Polish prisoners of war in Germany throughout the war. From the same period, one will also find interesting documents on Polish-Soviet relations and on Polish-Jewish cooperation in the United States.
    The collection is a good illustration of confusion among Polish diplomats in 1944-1945, caused by uncertainty about the future of their homeland and, subsequently, by the loss of recognition internationally (see the correspondence of Sylwin Strakacz with Tadeusz Gwiazdowski and Jan Ciechanowski, the Polish ambassador). One of the first posts of Poland's diplomatic network, the New York Consulate was also one of the first to fall, in 1945, to the communist takeover.
    Some materials in the collection date from beyond the consulate's closing year. Since they related to the subject of Polish post-war politics, they were added to the consular records by Mr. Strakacz, who stayed in the United States after 1945 and remained active in émigré circles.
    It is difficult to determine if the New York Consulate used the uniform system of classification recommended by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Very likely, the order in which the documents came to the Hoover Institution was established by Mr. Strakacz himself.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    United States -- Foreign relations -- Poland
    Poland -- Foreign relations -- United States
    Poland -- History -- Occupation, 1939-1945
    Polish people -- United States
    World War, 1939-1945 -- Poland
    Poland -- Foreign relations -- Soviet Union
    Soviet Union -- Foreign relations -- Poland
    Polish people -- Soviet Union