Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw ( pl, Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych w Warszawie, AGAD) is one of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

's four national archives. It holds records ranging from 12th century until

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The current headquarters is located in Raczyński Palace located at Długa 7 Street in Warsaw.

History

The archive was founded in 1808. A large portion of the archive was intentionally destroyed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939 and in 1944. In the aftermath of the suppression of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

of 1944, the archives were not only deliberately set ablaze, but the

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

troops also entered each of the nine accessible fire-proof vaults in the underground shelter and meticulously burned one after another (entrance to the 10th was blocked by rubble, thus saving its contents).

Official names

The archive went through several name changes: *National General Archive (Polish: Archiwum Ogólne Krajowe) (1808-1816) *Central Archives of the Polish Kingdom (Polish: Archiwum Główne Królestwa Polskiego) (1816-1889) *Warsaw Central Archive of Historical Records of the Polish Kingdom (Polish: Warszawskie Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych Królestwa Polskiego) (1889-1918) *Central Archives of Historical Records (Polish: Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych) (since 1918)

Archive Directors

*Walenty Skorochód Majewski (1808–1835) *

Feliks Bentkowski Feliks is a variant spelling of the given name Felix, used in Poland and the Baltic states, as well as in the transliteration of the name Felix from Russian. Feliks may refer to: *Feliks Ankerstein (1897–1955), Polish Army major and intelligen ...

(1838–1852) *Walenty Hubert (1853–1875) *

Adolf Pawiński Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

(1875–1896) *

Teodor Wierzbowski Teodor is a masculine given name. In English, it is a cognate of Theodore. Notable people with the name include: *Teodor Muzaka III, Albanian nobleman who was born in 1393. * Teodor Andrault de Langeron (19th century), President of Warsaw * Teodor ...

(1897–1919) *

Stanisław Kętrzyński Stanisław Kętrzyński (; 10 September 1878 in Lwów, Austro-Hungary – 26 May 1950 in Warsaw, Poland) was a Polish historian, diplomat and freemason. He was the son of Polish historian Wojciech Kętrzyński. During the Second World War ...

(1919–1920) *

Józef Siemieński Józef Siemieński (born 2 March 1882 in Skrzydłów near Radomsko – 14 October 1941 in Auschwitz) was a Polish archivist, historian of law. Siemieński was from 1925 until 1939 director of the Central Archives of Historical Records (AGAD) in W ...

(1920–1939) *Adam Stebelski (1939–1953) *Michał Wąsowicz (1954–1976) *Kazimierz Krzos (1976–1979) *Mieczysław Motas (1979–1981) *

Edward Potkowski Edward Potkowski (10 May 1934 in Rybnik - 31 July 2017) was a Polish historian. His specialization includes history of the medieval period and paleography. Edward Potkowski was born on 10 May 1934 in Rybnik.Jan TyszkiewiczEdward Potkowski (10 V ...

(1981–1986) *Władysław Stępniak (1986–1997) *Hubert Wajs (from 1997)

References

{{Authority control

Archives in Poland

History

Official names

Archive Directors

See also

Further reading

References