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Mikolajczyk (Stanislaw) papers
78111
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Title: Stanislaw Mikolajczyk papers
Date (inclusive): 1899-1966
Collection Number: 78111
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In Polish and English
Physical Description:
209 manuscript boxes, 9 oversize boxes, 5 phonodiscs
(94.4 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, speeches and writings, reports, notes, newsletters, clippings, photographs, tape recordings, motion picture
film, and printed matter, relating to communism in Eastern Europe and Poland, agriculture in Poland, Polish politics, especially
during World War II, Polish-Soviet relations, the International Peasant Union, the Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, and Polish
emigre politics. A digital copy of this entire collection is available
here .
Creator:
Mikołajczyk, Stanisław, 1901-1966
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
A digital copy of this entire collection is available
here . Box OCM6 and original phonodiscs may not be used without permission of the Archivist; there is digitized content from this
collection available. The remainder of 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.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
[Identification of item], Stanislaw Mikolajczyk Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Also available on microfilm (233 reels).
Digital copy in Poland's National Digital Archive at
here . It was digitized from microfilm by the Polish State Archives.
| 1901 July 18 | Born, Holsterhausen, Westphalia, Germany |
| 1918 | Member and active participant of Sokoly, Polish insurrection against the Germans |
| 1920 | Graduated from Agricultural High School, People's University |
| Private, Polish Army, Polish-Russo War | |
| 1924 | Editor, Wloscianin Wielkopolski |
| Secretary, Polish Peasant Party, Poznan district | |
| 1930-1935 | Parliament member, Polish Peasant Party |
| 1935 | Chairman, Poznan Association of Agricultural Circles |
| 1937 | Leader, peasant strikes |
| 1939 | Vice-President, Polish Parliament in exile |
| Interned in Hungary; escaped to France | |
| Private, September campaign | |
| 1939-1941 | Acting President, Polish National Council |
| 1941-1942 | Minister of Interior |
| 1941-1943 | Deputy Prime Minister, Sikorski government |
| 1943 July-1944 November | Prime Minister |
| 1944 | Went to Moscow and Washington |
| 1945 | President, Polish Peasant Party |
| Minister of Agriculture | |
| Deputy Prime Minister, Warsaw, Provisional Polish Government of National Unity | |
| 1947 June | Leader of parliamentary opposition |
| Resigned from government posts | |
| 1947 October 20 | Left Poland |
| 1947 November 26 | Arrived in New York |
| 1948 | Founder, Polish Peasant Party in exile |
| 1948-1964 | President, International Peasant Union |
| 1950 | President, Polish National Democratic Committee |
| 1950-1966 | President, Assembly of Captive European Nations |
| 1951 | Member, Central and Eastern European Committee |
| 1955 | Went to Japan |
| 1956 | Presided over International Peasant Union Congress, Paris |
| 1966 December 13 | Died |
The Stanislaw Mikolajczyk papers were acquired in 1979 from his son Marian. Shortly thereafter, the late Helena Sworakowska
prepared a preliminary inventory, which remained in use for nearly two decades. Detailed processing and preservation microfilming
have now been made possible by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and by matching funds from
the Taube Family Foundation. In addition, the grant provides depositing a microfilm copy of these materials in the State Archives
of Poland in Warsaw.
The papers cover mostly the second part of Mikolajczyk's life, beginning in 1939 when, as a soldier, he made his way to France
to join the Polish government-in-exile (which later established itself in London). He served successively as vice-president
of the Polish parliament, president of the Polish National Council, minister of the interior, deputy prime minister, and prime
minister after the death of Wladyslaw Sikorski in 1943. (As a close associate of the general throughout those years and his
successor, Mikolajczyk's archives contain part of Sikorski's working files.)
The government service series covers Mikolajczyk's activities in those capacities, as well as his interactions with other
offices of the Polish government-in-exile. Particularly significant are the papers relating to his tenure as prime minister,
as they reflect a dramatic period of Poland's wartime history; that is especially evident in light of numerous intelligence
reports.
While the London years are well documented, the period from 1945 to 1947, during which Mikolajczyk served in the provisional
governement in Warsaw, is not. Indeed, when he left Poland in October of 1947, forced once again into exile, Mikolajczyk took
with him only a small dossier of materials on political persecussions. Complementing the secret police records surviving in
Poland, this part of the collection (found in the Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe series) fills important gaps in the country's
history after 1945.
After 1948, like many other of the Central and East European exiles, Mikolajczyk was very active in unifying émigré circles
from Poland as well as from other East European countries. He remained a prominent émigré figure until his death in 1966,
and was the leading personality, representing the entire region, in the stuggle against Soviet plans to communize Eastern
and Central Europe. His closeness to political circles in Washington allowed him to form the first East European lobby and
to put the issue of Soviet occupation on the political agenda of consecutive United States administrations.
Mikolajczyk founded and/or presided over many organizations such as the Assembly of Captive European Nations, the International
Peasant Union, the Polish Peasant Party in exile, and the Polish National Democratic Committee. He was also very active on
behalf of Radio Free Europe. All those efforts are widely represented in the collection, with each of the major organizations
he was involved in constituting a separate series.
An avid collector of documents, Mikolajczyk was very aware of their significance for history. He also amassed clippings from
numerous sources, now gathered into a printed matter series.
Finally, researchers will find an extensive audio-visual series containing a very large number of photographs and of audio
tapes.
Zbigniew Stanczyk
August 1999
August 1999
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Anti-communist movements -- United States
Poland -- History -- Occupation, 1939-1945
Polish people -- United States
World War, 1939-1945 -- Diplomatic history
World War, 1939-1945 -- Poland
Poland -- Foreign relations -- Soviet Union
Soviet Union -- Foreign relations -- Poland
Poland -- Politics and government
Communism -- Europe, Eastern
Statesmen -- Poland
Communism -- Poland
Agriculture -- Poland
Selski internat͡sional
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (1945-1949)