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Register of the Stanislaw Mikolajczyk Papers, 1899-1966
78111
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Title: Stanislaw Mikolajczyk Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1899-1966
Collection number: 78111
Creator: Mikolajczyk, Stanislaw, 1901-1966
Collection Size:
207 manuscript boxes, 9 oversize boxes
(92 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
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.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives
Language:
Polish and
English.
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.
For copyright status, please contact
the Hoover Institution Archives.
[Identification of item], Stanislaw Mikolajczyk Papers, [Box no.], Hoover Institution
Archives.
Also available on microfilm (233 reels).
Digital copy in Poland's National Digital Archive at
http://szukajwarchiwach.pl/800/22/0/-/ . It was digitized from microfilm by the Polish State Archives.
International Peasant Union.
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (1945-1949)
Agriculture--Poland.
Anti-communist movements--United States.
Communism.
Poles--United States.
World War, 1939-1945.
World War, 1939-1945--Poland.
Europe, Eastern.
Poland.
Poland--Foreign relations--Soviet Union.
Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
Poland--Politics and government.
Soviet Union.
Russia (Federation)
Soviet Union--Foreign relations--Poland.
United States.
Statesmen--Poland.
| 1901 July 18 | Born, Holsterhausen, Westphalia, Germany |
| 1918 | Member and active participant of Sokoly, Polish insurrection against the Germans |
| 1920 | Private, Polish Army, Polish-Russo War |
| Graduated from Agricultural High School, People's University | |
| 1924 | Secretary, Polish Peasant Party, Poznan district |
| Editor, Wloscianin Wielkopolski | |
| 1930-1935 | Parliament member, Polish Peasant Party |
| 1935 | Chairman, Poznan Association of Agricultural Circles |
| 1937 | Leader, peasant strikes |
| 1939 | Private, September campaign |
| Interned in Hungary; escaped to France | |
| Vice-President, Polish Parliament in exile | |
| 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 | Deputy Prime Minister, Warsaw, Provisional Polish Government of National Unity |
| Minister of Agriculture | |
| President, Polish Peasant Party | |
| 1947 June | Resigned from government posts |
| Leader of parliamentary opposition | |
| 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