Poland. Konsulat Generalny (New York, N.Y.) records, 1940-1948

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Poland. Konsulat Generalny (New York, N.Y.)
Abstract:
Correspondence, telegrams, memoranda, reports, agreements, minutes, histories, financial records, lists, press summaries, photographs, and printed matter, relating to the German and Soviet occupation of Poland during World War II, activities of the Polish Government-in-Exile (London), and displaced Polish citizens after World War II.
Extent:
7 manuscript boxes (2.8 Linear Feet)
Language:
Polish
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Poland. Konsulat Generalny (New York, N.Y.) records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The records of the Polish Consulate General in New York (Konsulat Generalny Rzeczpospolitej w Nowym Jorku) were obtained by the Hoover Institution in 1976 from the family of Consul General Sylwin Strakacz, three years after his death.

The New York Consulate was the first Polish diplomatic post on American soil after Poland regained its independence. It opened on August 1, 1918, much before the Polish Embassy in Washington and shortly before the San Francisco Consulate did (the latter remained open only for a short time, to facilitate the transfer of Poles remaining in Siberia). The New York office played a significant role, but these records deal mostly with civic and administrative affairs, not political ones.

What could be of particular interest to researchers are the efforts of the Polish diplomats in organizing relief among Polish Americans for their compatriots released from the Siberian camps in 1941, as well as the assistance to Polish prisoners of war in Germany throughout the war. From the same period, one will also find interesting documents on Polish-Soviet relations and on Polish-Jewish cooperation in the United States.

The collection is a good illustration of confusion among Polish diplomats in 1944-1945, caused by uncertainty about the future of their homeland and, subsequently, by the loss of recognition internationally (see the correspondence of Sylwin Strakacz with Tadeusz Gwiazdowski and Jan Ciechanowski, the Polish ambassador). One of the first posts of Poland's diplomatic network, the New York Consulate was also one of the first to fall, in 1945, to the communist takeover.

Some materials in the collection date from beyond the consulate's closing year. Since they related to the subject of Polish post-war politics, they were added to the consular records by Mr. Strakacz, who stayed in the United States after 1945 and remained active in émigré circles.

It is difficult to determine if the New York Consulate used the uniform system of classification recommended by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Very likely, the order in which the documents came to the Hoover Institution was established by Mr. Strakacz himself.

Biographical / historical:

Polish Consulate General in New York City.

Acquisition information:
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1976.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Poland. Konsulat Generalny (New York, N.Y.) records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
Website