1. History of Foundation
The Archive of the Institute of National Remembrance (AIPN) is part of the state office bearing the full name of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu), abbreviated to IPN. It was established on 19 January 1999, under an Act of 18 December 1998, and has research, educational, investigative, lustration, searching, commemorative, and archival powers.
The IPN headquarters are in Warsaw, while its regional branches are located in 11 provincial cities. The main task is the prosecution of crimes against the Polish Nation from 8 November 1917, throughout the Second World War and the communist period, to 31 July 1990, as well as conducting and popularizing scientific knowledge. An important role in these activities is played by the IPN Archive.
2. Legal Commission and Task
The IPN Archive and its regional branches collect materials and documents from 1917-1990, mainly devoted to the German and Soviet occupation and the communist period. The archive stores documents relating to: Polish People’s Republic (communist Poland) civilian and military security organizations (the secret police) from 1944–1990; individuals repressed for political reasons (documents originating in courts, prosecutors’ offices, and prison units); the fate of the Polish Nation from 1939 (including documents obtained from foreign archives, Polish institutions abroad, and private individuals); the crimes of Nazis, communists, and others that were committed against Poles and citizens of Poland from 1917 on.
The task of the archive, apart from storing, processing, and digitizing the gathered materials, is to issue certified copies, excerpts, reproductions, etc., and make them available to victims of repression, journalists, and researchers.
3. Material relevant to the study of religion under communism
The Archive of the Institute of National Remembrance contains a lot of archival material that can be used to research on religions during the communist period. This is due to the fact that in Poland, the main force that did not submit to communist authorities was the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, it was subjected to large-scale surveillance and state repression. This also applied to other religious communities, whether registered (Protestant Churches) or not (Jehovah’s Witnesses), as well as to other religious events such as miracles or apparitions (miracle of Zabłudów). The documents and materials produced and confiscated by the secret police, which were not destroyed at the beginning of the political transformation, were transferred to the IPN Archive. Among them, there are: observation and informer’s reports, operational plans, surveillance photographs and films taken with a hidden camera, transcriptions of phone taps, summary reports, and materials created by religious groups themselves but confiscated by the secret police.
4. Access for Researchers
Any researcher in humanities, social or economic studies, and/or law, or a person possessing a letter of recommendation from such a researcher, can apply to the IPN for access to the archival resources.
Application Information: