Register of the Poland. Konsulat (Cape Town) Miscellaneous Records, 1939-1948
Prepared by Andrew Sorokowski
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Phone: (650) 723-3563
Fax: (650) 725-3445
Email: archives@hoover.stanford.edu
© 2000
Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved.
Register of the Poland. Konsulat (Cape Town) Miscellaneous Records, 1939-1948
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, California
Contact Information
- Hoover Institution Archives
- Stanford University
- Stanford, California 94305-6010
- Phone: (650) 723-3563
- Fax: (650) 725-3445
- Email: archives@hoover.stanford.edu
- Prepared by:
- Andrew Sorokowski
- Date Completed:
- 1975
© 2000 Hoover Institution Archives. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Poland. Konsulat (Cape Town) Miscellaneous records,
Date (inclusive): 1939-1948
Collection number: 75067
Creator:
Poland. Konsulat (Cape Town)
Collection Size:
1 manuscript box
((0.4 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
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.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives
Language:
Polish.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
Publication Rights
For copyright status, please contact
the Hoover Institution Archives.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Poland. Konsulat (Cape Town) Miscellaneous records, [Box no.], Hoover Institution
Archives.
Acquisition Information
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1975
Accruals
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
Access Points
International relief.
Poles--South Africa.
Refugees.
World War, 1939-1945.
World War, 1939-1945--Civilian relief.
World War, 1939-1945--Poland.
World War, 1939-1945--Refugees.
Africa.
Cape Town (South Africa)
Poland.
Poland--Foreign relations--South Africa.
Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
South Africa.
South Africa--Foreign relations--Poland.
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).
Series Description
Box: 1
SUBJECT FILE, 1939-1948.
Scope and Content Note
Letters, clippings, photographs, pamphlets, and the
Polish Digest (Nos. 1-14/15, August 1944 - September/October 1945). Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Container List
Box 1
Committee of Jewish citizens and Friends of Poland, Johannesburg
Export of Polish products to South Africa
State Export Institute, Warsaw, correspondence, 1936-1939
Trade representative, Y.N. Mi¸edzyrzecki, correspondence, 1938-1942
Gifts for Polish soldiers, II Army Corps
Madagascar, opening of Polish consulate in Tananarive, correspondence, 1942-1944
Mission of Jesuit Fathers, Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia, 1933-1941, and other missions
Mozambique, aid to Polish citizens in
Polish Defence Loan (Polish Internal Loan), 1939
Polish Information Centre, Johannesburg
Polish Digest, Nos. 1-14/15, August 1944 - September/October 1945
Polish Relief Fund, Cape Town
Union of Poles in Africa, Organizing Committee, 1945-1946
