Państwowy Urząd Repatriacyjny (abbreviated PUR, translated into English as State Repatriation Office, State Office of Repatriation, National Repatriation Office or National Office of Repatriation) was a Polish communist governmental body created by
Polish Committee of National Liberation
The Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polish: ''Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego'', ''PKWN''), also known as the Lublin Committee, was an executive governing authority established by the Soviet-backed communists in Poland at the lat ...
on 7 October 1944 to oversee the
repatriation
Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...
s in
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 ...
. At first, PUR oversaw
repatriations of Poles from
Kresy
Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic, it ...
, and from 1945,
expulsion of Germans
Expulsion or expelled may refer to:
General
* Deportation
* Ejection (sports)
* Eviction
* Exile
* Expeller pressing
* Expulsion (education)
* Expulsion from the United States Congress
* Extradition
* Forced migration
* Ostracism
* Person ...
from
Regained Territories
The Recovered Territories or Regained Lands ( pl, Ziemie Odzyskane), also known as Western Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Zachodnie), and previously as Western and Northern Territories ( pl, Ziemie Zachodnie i Północne), Postulated Territories ( pl, Z ...
. Also, in 1945, PUR powers were limited, as some it its competences were transferred to the newly created post of the General Representative of the Government for Repatriation (Generalny Pełnomocnik Rządu do spraw Repatriacji).
Managers:
Władysław Wolski,
Michał Sapieha Michał () is a Polish and Sorbian form of Michael and may refer to:
* Michał Bajor (born 1957), Polish actor and musician
* Michał Chylinski (born 1986), Polish basketball player
* Michał Drzymała (1857–1937), Polish rebel
* Michał Heller ( ...
,
Mścisław Olechnowicz.
In the post-World War Two territory of Poland, the PUR had branches in each
voivodeship
A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...
. Furthermore, in the so-called
Recovered Territories
The Recovered Territories or Regained Lands ( pl, Ziemie Odzyskane), also known as Western Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Zachodnie), and previously as Western and Northern Territories ( pl, Ziemie Zachodnie i Północne), Postulated Territories ( pl, Z ...
, it ran regional offices, which covered several
powiats
A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powia ...
. In the first postwar months, these offices were under direct supervision of three voivodeship branches,
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...
,
Katowice
Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
and
Białystok
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area.
Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...
. Most important tasks in postwar transfers of population were carried out by stage offices (punkty etapowe) of the PUR. The biggest one was Special Western Stage Office (Specjalny Punkt Etapowy Zachodni), located in
Czechowice-Dziedzice
Czechowice-Dziedzice (, szl, Czechowice-Dziydzice), previously known until 1958 as Czechowice, is a town in Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 35,684 inhabitants as of December 2021. It lies on the northeastern edge of t ...
. It serviced some 500,000 people.
There were four kinds of such offices:
* offices located along new eastern border of Poland (see
Curzon Line
The Curzon Line was a proposed demarcation line between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, two new states emerging after World War I. It was first proposed by George Curzon, 1st Marque ...
). They provided financial and material help for Polish inhabitants of
Kresy Wschodnie
Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic, i ...
, forced to leave their homeland,
* offices located along main rail lines, which provided food and directed transports to their destinations,
* special offices, which handled those rail transports that had to switch from wide gauge into regular gauge track,
* destination offices, in which transports were unloaded, and directed to the designated places of resettlement.
As for August 31, 1945, the PUR had 259 offices of all kinds, scattered across Poland.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panstwowy Urzad Repatriacyjny
1944 establishments in Poland
Poland in World War II
Aftermath of World War II in Poland
Post–World War II forced migrations