Exhibitions

The IPN Archives are engaged in preparation of several portable exhibitions. The short information of its contents as well as PDFs of the exhibition boards are published on the IPN website:

„Ramię krzep – Ojczyźnie służ”. 135. rocznica powstania Sokolstwa Polskiego w Ameryce - "Strenghten Your Arm - Serve Your Fatherland". The 135th Anniversary of the Polish Falcons of America. The exhibition marking the 135 anniversary of the Polish Falcons of America, prepared in cooperation with Casimir Pulaski Muzeum in Warka, and using some of the documents donated to the IPN Archives by the President of the Polish Falcons of America, Mr. Timothy L. Kuzma.

Amerykanin na Ukrainie. Zdjęcia Juliena Bryana z lat 1930-1958. An American in Ukraine. Photographs from 1930–1958 / Amerykanin w Warszawie. Fotografie Juliena Bryana z września 1939. An American in Warsaw. Photographs of Julien Bryan from September 1939 – two exhibitions containing the photographs made by American photographer and filmmaker Julien Bryan: First one showing the photographs from the Bryan’s pre- and post-war voyages in the Soviet Ukraine, that were intended to picture the results of American and UNRRA efforts; however, the photographs taken then are a unique document of the every-day-life in the Soviet Union. The second exhibition contains photographs taken by Bryan during Siege of Warsaw in September 1939, among them the most dramatic – and iconic – pictures of civilian victims of German bombings raids and strafing.

Operacja polska NKWD 1937–1938 - Polish Operation of the NKVD 1937–1938. The exhibition concerns the Soviet genocidal action targeting Poles – Soviet citizens living mostly in the then Western Soviet Ukraine and Western Soviet Belarus. The secret Order No. 00485 issued by Nikolai Yezhov, the then head of NKVD, resulted in over 139 thousand Poles being repressed, of which more than 111 thousand were executed.

Polonica emigracyjne. Ze zbiorów instytucji członkowskich Stałej Konferencji Muzeów, Archiwów i Bibliotek Polskich na Zachodzie - Polonica in the Exile. From the Collections of the Member Organisations of the Permanent Conference of the Polish Museums, Archives and Libraries in the West. The catalogue describes the exhibits from the collections of the Polish exile institutions from the four continents that in 1979 formed the Permanent Conference of the Polish Museums, Archives and Libraries in the West.

Rozkaz nr 00485. Antypolska operacja NKWD na sowieckiej Ukrainie 1937–1938 - Order No. 00485. Anti-Polish NKVD Operation in the Soviet Ukraine 1937–1938. The exhibition prepared by the IPN Archives in cooperation with Ukrainian Archives of Odessa, Khmelnitsky and Vinnytsya. The so-called “Polish Operation” targeted Soviet citizens of Polish nationality, summarily accused of underground activity in the then long-defunct Polish Military Organisation (Polska Organizacja Wojskowa, 1914–1921). In the course of the “Polish Operation” in the Soviet Union more than 143 thousand Poles were arrested, at least 111 thousand of them were executed, more than 30 thousand were send to Gulag prison camps. Family members of the executed and imprisoned were also repressed – the adults were deported to Kazakhstan for 5 to 10 years, their children were forcibly removed from families and send to orphanages or prison camps. Only in Ukraine, where the majority of Poles in the Soviet Union lived, more than 55 thousand were tried, of which more than 47 thousand were executed.

Wycieczka Stowarzyszenia Weteranów Armii Polskiej w Ameryce do Ojczyzny w 1927 r. - The Homeland Excursion of the Polish Army Veterans Association of America in 1927. Exhibition concerns the 1927 excursion of the PAVA of America members – veterans of the volunteer Polish units in France during First World War – to Poland. The excursion was documented in the newsreel footage, that was used – among other archival material – to prepare the boards for the exhibition.

Powrót Kapitana – Tadeusz Starzyński (1903–1970) - The Return of Captain – Tadeusz Starzyński (1903–1970). The exhibition concerns Cpt. Tadeusz Starzyński – pre-war career police officer, and wartime Polish Army officer. Cpt. Starzyński during his service in the Polish Army was deployed to Scotland, and then – as a Polish section of SOE operative – parachuted in April 1944 to occupied Poland. Cpt. Starzyński later fought in the Warsaw Rising (1944). In 1945 as a former senior officer of the command of the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) he was apprehended by Communist security police, and sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted, and in 1955 Cpt. Starzyński was released from prison as an invalid. During his wartime deployment in Aberdeen, Capt. Starzyński befriended the Scottish family Ross, and left his private belongings to them before his parachute jump to Poland. The Ross family descendants visited IPN in 2017 and donated Cpt. Starzyński’s documents and personal effects (i.a. his wartime diaries) to the IPN Archives.

W walce o lepszą przyszłość. Wolne Związki Zawodowe 1978-1980 - In the Fight for a Better Future. Wolne Związki Zawodowe [Free Trade Unions] 1978-1980. The exhibition presents the history of the Free Trade Unions, independent workers’ movement acting in the aftermath of the 1970 and 1976 mass protests. The WZZ was one of the independent Polish citizen resistance movements in the second half of the 1970s, and its role in the initiating of the workers’ protests in 1980 and forming of the trade union Solidarity was of key importance.

"…a akta zniszczyć". Archiwa komunistycznego aparatu represji w Polsce i innych krajach Europy - „… and destroy the records”. The Archives of the Communist Repression Apparatus in Poland and Other European Countries. The exhibition presents the model of functioning of the archival branches of the Communist secret services in Poland and other countries of the Central and Eastern Europe. The ways of operative gathering the information on the citizens’ lives (including surveillance) and registering the information gained in operative activity were shown, as well as the methods of repression and destruction of the records that occurred in the period of the democratic transformation. The exhibition was prepared in the cooperation with partner institutions – members of the Network.

Zniszczenia Warszawy w 1939 r. Fotografie Antoniego Snawadzkiego - The Losses of Warsaw in 1939. Photographs taken by Antoni Snawadzki. The exhibition shows the damages caused by the German air raids and artillery shelling during the Siege of Warsaw in September 1939. The unique collection of the photographs taken by Antoni Snawadzki focuses on the extensive destruction of the buildings in Warsaw (mainly of non-military significance, like St. Barbara church and many others).

#MojaNiepodległa. Materiały z zasobu Archiwum IPN - „My Independent”. The Records from the IPN holdings. The exhibition presents the photographs of the independent festivities of the anniversary of the Polish independence held by anti-Communist opposition, as well as copies of leaflets and other artefacts connected to the 11^th November 1918 anniversary seized by the Communist security authorities. The unique photographs of the Marshall Józef Piłsudski were also used as a part of the exhibition.

„Widzę Cię, słyszę Cię...” - „I see you, I hear you…”. The exhibition shows the methods and devices of operative surveillance used by the Security Service of the Polish People’s Republic.

Marzec 1968 - March 1968 – The Exhibition shows the occurrences and the course of events of the March 1968 students’ protests, that engulfed the major Polish universities and led to the anti-Communist riots and academic strikes.

Stan Wojenny 1981–1983 - Martial Law 1981-1983. The exhibition shows the records and artefacts concerning the Martial Law period in Poland, the event marked with repressions against the Solidarity trade union movement and general suppression of every social independent movements.