Register of the Dom Polskich Dzieci records
Finding aid prepared by Andrew Sorokowski
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 1998
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Dom Polskich Dzieci records
Date (inclusive): 1942-1949
Collection Number: 75068
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
Polish
Physical Description:
2 manuscript boxes
(0.8 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, telegrams, notes, memoranda, clippings, accounts, lists, protocols, reports, inventories, and published materials
relating to the evacuation of the war orphans from Russia to Oudtshoorn, the establishment and operation of the Home, and
the care and education of the orphans.
Creator:
Dom Polskich Dzieci (Oudtshoorn, 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
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1975.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Dom Polskich Dzieci records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Historical Note
In 1942, Polish military authorities in the USSR informed their government in London of the presence of large numbers of orphaned
and/or deported Polish children in Russia. The London Government, acting through Consul General Dr. Min. Stanislaw Lepkowski,
secured permission from the government of the Union of South Africa to transport 500 of the children to that country. In 1943,
after they had been evacuated to Iran, the children were brought to South Africa. The Polish Children's Home (Dom Polskich
Dzieci) was organized in Oudtshoorn in 1943 for their temporary accommodation, care, and education. Under the supervision
of the South African Department of Social Welfare, as well as of Polish consular and ministry representatives, it reamiend
in operation until the summer of 1947.
The directors of the Polish Children's Home -- also known as the Polish Orphanage of St. Andrew Boboli (Polski Sierociniec
pod wezwaniem Sw. Andrzeja Boboli) and, later, as the Polish Children's Home "Southern Cross" (Dom Polskich Dzieci "Krzyz
Poludnia") -- were Father Franciszek Kubienski (March 13, 1943 - November 29, 1943), L. J. Barr (November 29, 1943 - June
23, 1944), Stanislaw Tarnowicz (June 23, 1944 - January 31, 1945), and Dr. Zygmunt Skowronski (January 31, 1945 - July 18,
1947).
The archives of the Polish Children's Home at Oudtshoorn were sent to Dr. Lepkowski in Pretoria in 1947. They eventually came
into the possession of Mr. Tadeusz Kawalec, a former Polish consular official who had participated in the work of the Home,
and were donated by him to the Hoover Institution in 1975.
Scope and Content of Collection
Correspondence, telegrams, notes, memoranda, clippings, accounts, lists, protocols, reports, inventories, and published materials
relating to the evacuation of the war orphans from Russia to Oudtshoorn, the establishment and operation of the home, and
the care and education of the orphans.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Refugees
World War, 1939-1945 -- Poland
Refugees
International relief
World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief
World War, 1939-1945 -- South Africa
Polish people -- South Africa
Correspondence
1942-1947
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence of the Office of the Director of the Polish Children's Home, arranged chronologically by directors' tenure
and thereunder alphabetically by correspondent.
Kubienski, Fr. F.
1943 March - November
box 1, folder 1
Consulate General, Pretoria
box 1, folder 1
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
box 1, folder 1
Ministry of Religion and Public Education, Nairobi Delegation
Barr, L. J.
1943 November - 1944 June
box 1, folder 2
Consulate General, Pretoria
box 1, folder 2
Ministry of Religion and Public Education, Nairobi Delegation
box 1, folder 2
Union of South Africa, Department of Social Welfare
Tarnowicz, S.
1944 June - 1945 January
box 1, folder 3
Consulate General, Johannesburg
box 1, folder 3
Consulate General, Pretoria
box 1, folder 3
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
box 1, folder 3
Ministry of Religion and Public Education, Nairobi Delegation
box 1, folder 3
Union of South Africa, Department of Social Welfare
Skowronski, Dr. Z.
1945 January - 1947 July
box 1, folder 4
Consulate General, Johannesburg
box 1, folder 4
Interim Treasury Committee
box 1, folder 4
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
box 1, folder 4
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Nairobi Delegation
box 1, folder 4
Ministry of Religion and Public Education, Nairobi Delegation
box 1, folder 4
Union of South Africa, Department of Social Welfare
box 1, folder 5
Various
Scope and Contents note
Miscellaneous correspondence.
Subject File
1942-1949
Scope and Contents note
Letters, telegrams, notes, memoranda, lists, accounts, reports, inventories, protocols, clippings, etc., arranged alphabetically
by subject.
Administration, organization, and personnel
box 1, folder 7
Conference of February 5, 1945
box 1, folder 8
Directors' reports
1943-1946
box 1, folder 9
Kitchen and laundry regulations
1944
box 1, folder 10
Arrival of children and founding of Polish Children's Home
1942-1943
box 1, folder 11
Bundles for Britain
1943-1944
box 1, folder 12
Child-guest committees
1943-1945
box 1, folder 13
Concert of Polish children
box 1, folder 14
Conferences with government officials of the Union of South Africa
1944-1945
Scope and Contents note
Includes related correspondence, etc.
box 1, folder 16
Excerpt from account book "Gifts"
1943-1946
box 1, folder 17
Gifts, monetary and material
1943-1945
box 2, folder 1
Governments of Poland, South Africa, and U.S.A., correspondence on Polish refugee children
1942-1943
box 2, folder 2
Health inspection report (November 2, 1943)
box 2, folder 4
Physicians' reports
1943-1947
box 2, folder 5
Inspections by representatives of the Department of Social Welfare, Union of South Africa
1943-1945
box 2, folder 6
Liberty Cavalcade, Cape Town, March 25 - April 1, 1944, Polish Children's Section
box 2, folder 7
Liquidation of Polish Children's Home
1946-1947
box 2, folder 8
Lucas, Archbishop M. H., Apostolic Delegate to South Africa, reception for (December 15, 1946)
box 2, folder 9
Overseas Children Reception Administration
1943
box 2, folder 10
Physical education
1946-1947
box 2, folder 11
Pod Krzyżem Południa, Johannesburg
1947-1948
box 2, folder 13
Recruitment for W.A.A.F. [Women's Auxiliary Armed Forces]
1944
box 2, folder 14
Religious education
1944-1949
box 2, folder 15
Reuniting of families
1943-1947
box 2, folder 16
Directors' reports
1944-1947
box 2, folder 17
History of schooling
1946-1947, undated
box 2, folder 20
Tutelary Council
1945-1946
box 2, folder 22
Warsaw Administration mission
1946
box 2, folder 23
Warsaw Appeal activity
1945
box 2, folder 24
World League of Poles Abroad
1945-1946
