Archival materials/records
The Act on IPN stipulates that the IPN archival resource consists of the records of the state security bodies produced or gathered from 22nd July 1944 to 31st July 1990 as well as the records of the security bodies of Third German Reich and Soviet Union concerning the Nazi and Communist crimes, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes committed by Nazi collaborationists perpetrated on the persons of Polish nationality or Polish citizens of other nationalities.
The state security bodies listed by the IPN Act are:
- Resort Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego Polskiego Komitetu Wyzwolenia Narodowego (Office of the Public Security of the Polish Committee of the National Liberation, RBP PKWN, 1944),
- Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego (Ministry of the Public Security, MBP, 1945-1954),
- Komitet do Spraw Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego (Committee for the Public Security, Kds.BP, 1954-1956),
- the units subordinated to the abovementioned institutions, especially the units of Milicja Obywatelska (Citizens’ Militia, criminal and order police, MO),
- Służba Bezpieczeństwa (Security Service, SB, 1956-1990), its central departments based in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych, MSW) and local MO commands,
- Akademia Spraw Wewnętrznych (ASW, Internal Affairs College, security service college),
- Zwiad Wojsk Ochrony Pogranicza (Border Protection Troops reconnaissance unit, Zwiad WOP),
- Wojskowa Służba Wewnętrzna jednostek wojskowych MSW (Military Internal Service of the MSW troops, WSW JW MSW; military security and counterintelligence police of the military units subordinated to Ministry of Internal Affairs),
- Informacja Wojskowa (Military Information; military security and counterintelligence service, 1943-1957),
- Wojskowa Służba Wewnętrzna (Military Internal Service, WSW; military order, security and counterintelligence service, 1957-1990),
- Zarząd II Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego (II Directorate of the General Staff of the Polish Army, Z II SG WP; military intelligence unit);
- Główny Urząd Kontroli Prasy, Publikacji i Widowisk and Główny Urząd Kontroli Publikacji i Widowisk (Head Office of Press, Publications and Shows Control, and Head Office of Publications and Shows Control, censorship office),
- Urząd do Spraw Wyznań (Office for Religion Affairs, Uds.W; government department responsible for the control of churches and religious communities).
The foreign civilian and military institutions and bodies of tasks resembling the tasks of the abovementioned institutions (e.g. MfS, Securitate, etc.) are also counted as state security bodies. The military units and services engaged in the operative and investigative activity, other than listed above, are deemed the security bodies as well.
The IPN archival resources are divided in the 13 divisions, generally reflecting the character of the institutions and bodies producing records and collections kept in IPN Archives:
· Third German Reich security and administrative bodies (this division contains i.a. records of the German occupation authorities gathered by the former Chief Commission for the prosecution of the German/Hitlerite Crimes),
· Soviet Union repressive bodies (this division contains i.a. copies of records obtained from Ukrainian archives concerning the Soviet repressions targeting Polish nationals in Soviet Union prior to the outbreak of the Wold War II),
· Civilian security bodies (this division contains i.a. collections of RBP PKWN, MBP, Kds.BP and MSW and subordinate UB and SB units),
· Military security bodies (this division contains i.a. collections of Informacja Wojskowa, WSW, Zarząd II SG WP units),
· Internal troops (this division contains collections of the counterinsurgency troops units: Korpus Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego, KBW – Internal Security Corps, Wojska Obrony Wewnętrznej, WOW – Internal Defense Troops, Nadwiślańskie Jednostki Wojskowe MSW, NJW MSW – “Vistula” Military Units of MSW),
· Military units and administration (this division contains i.a. records and registries of the military administrative bodies, e.g. Wojskowa Komenda Uzupełnień, WKU, Military Mobilisation Administration),
· Civilian judicial bodies (this division contains the collections of records of the special courts, prosecution service etc., concerning the regime’s repressive activity, i.a. the records of investigations and trials against the independence fighters and opposition personalities),
· Military judicial bodies (this division contains the collections of records of the military courts and prosecution service etc., concerning the regime’s repressive activity, i.a. the records of investigations and trials against the independence fighters and opposition personalities),
· Penitentiary bodies (this division contains the collections of penitentiary institutions, i.a. prison service, prisons and forced labour camps),
· Commission for the Prosecution of the Crimes against Polish Nation (this division contains the records of the former Commission for the Prosecution of the German Crimes / Commission for the Prosecution of the Hitlerite Crimes / Commission for the Prosecution of the Crimes against Polish Nation and its subordinate units, mainly the records of the investigations and research procedures concerning German crimes in occupied Poland),
· Public administration bodies, offices and institutions, non-government institutions, extra-judicial repressive bodies, independence movement archives (this division contains e.g. the records of the state or party bodies engaged in repressive policy or activities, that were not the part of the security apparatus, the records of the so-called Colleges for the persecution of minor offences, etc.),
· Personal archives and collections (this division contains donated private collections),
· Archival collections, i.a. records from the foreign archives and its copies (this division contains mainly collections of copies of records obtained from foreign archives or donated by NGOs and private individuals, mainly concerning the Polish victims of Soviet and German repressions during the World War II and the post-war insurgency and opposition movement).
The descriptions of the archival collections and its parts, as well as particular records kept in the IPN Archives, are available in the archival information system Cyfrowe Archiwum (available in the IPN reading rooms in IPN HQ and in its territorial branches) and partially in the available online information system Archival Inventory (only the edited and updated descriptions of the particular records are published there). Archival Inventory contains also the dictionary of specific archival and operative terms used in the records of Communist security bodies, and the PDF of the published in 2009 guide on the IPN archival collections.