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Poland. Konsulat (Cape Town) miscellaneous records
75067  
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  • Access
  • Use
  • Acquisition Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Historical Note

  • Title: Poland. Konsulat (Cape Town) Miscellaneous records
    Date (inclusive): 1939-1948
    Collection Number: 75067
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: Polish
    Physical Description: 1 manuscript box (0.4 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: Correspondence, clippings, photographs, pamphlets, and printed matter, relating to Polish commercial interests, emigre organizations, fund raising for war relief, and consular activity in South Africa.
    Creator: Poland. Konsulat (Cape Town, South Africa)
    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 1975

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Poland. Konsulat (Cape Town) Miscellaneous records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Historical Note

    A Polish Consulate General was established in Cape Town, Union of South Africa, on January 1, 1929. It was headed by Consul General Micha[UNK]l Kwapiszewski from January 1, 1930 to August 1, 1931. It then became an Honorary Consulate under Honorary Consul Cyryl Caro (August 1, 1931-September 15, 1934). In 1935, it was a Consular Agency and in 1936 an Honorary Vice-Consulate under Jan Majewski. In 1938, the post was an Honorary Consulate with Majewski as Honrary Consul, and in 1939 its status was raised to that of a regular Consulate. It remained as such, under Consul Majewski, until its liquidation in 1946. Among the changes occurring during this period were an expansion in both sphere of activity (reflecting the post's elevated status) and territorial jurisdiction (to include both Northern and Southern Rhodesia by 1938).
    Elsewhere in southern Africa, a Polish Consular Agency was set up in Johannesburg in 1939, and in the same year an Honorary Consulate was opened in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. By February 1941, a Consulate General had been established in Pretoria with Minister Plenipotentiary Dr. Stanis[UNK]law [UNK]Lepkowski as Consul General. In 1943, a Consular Agency at Durban attained the status of Consulate, the Honorary Consulate at Salisbury became a Consulate General, and Consulates were opened in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia and Zomba, Nyasaland for the care of Polish war refugees transported to East Africa. Contacts were maintained between the consular posts in South Africa and Polish government representations elsewhere in Africa, such as the Consulate in Tananarive, Madagascar and ministry delegations in Nairobi, Kenya. Among the concerns of the posts in the Union of South Africa were the transport and supervision of Polish war orphans settled at the Polish Children's Home in Oudtshoorn (see also the collection Dom Polskich. Dzieci).
    As a result of withdrawal of international recognition of the London Government, most consular offices of the Republic of Poland were closed after the war. The Consulates in Durban and Cape Town and the Consulate General in Johannesburg ceased to function on May 1, 1946, while the Consulate General in Pretoria closed on May 15 of that year.
    The archives of the Polish Consulate in Cape Town were sent by Mr. Majewski to Dr. Lepkowski in Pretoria for storage on July 27, 1946. Both the Cape Town and Pretoria consular archives eventually came into the possession of Mr. Tadeusz Kawalec, a former official of the Consulate in Cape Town, who donated them to the Hoover Institution in 1975.
    (Sources: Palyga, Edward. Stosunki konsularne Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej, Warszawa 1970 and Rocznik sluzby zagranicznej Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Warszawa 1936 and 1938).

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Poland -- History -- Occupation, 1939-1945
    World War, 1939-1945 -- Refugees
    World War, 1939-1945 -- Poland
    Refugees
    International relief
    World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief
    Polish people -- South Africa
    Poland -- Foreign relations -- South Africa
    South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Poland
    Cape Town (South Africa)