The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington tookover and secured the archives of deceased Stanislaw Banczyk

20 lipca, 2013

This June, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington tookover and secured the archives of deceased Polish Peasant’s Party’s (PSL) activist, Stanislaw Banczyk.

The archives consist of documents, manuscripts and books. Among them are annual periodicals: “Jutro Polski”, ("Poland\'s Tomorrow") “Wici” ("Withs"), “Młoda Myśl Ludowa” (" People Movement\'s Young Ideas") ; manuscripts: “Polaka leciwego myśli niepokorne” ("Rebelious ideas of an elderly Pole") by Adam Bieni (prosecuted in Moscow in the supposed “process of 16”) and “Boleslaw Wyslouch”, founder of the social movement in Galicja” by Peter Brock. The collection includes also documents about the works and internal issues of authorities of the emigrating PSL. The archives also consist of numerous book submissions with folkloric and political themes published after World War II, in London, New York, Chicago, Washington DC and Toronto. The archives will be added to the Historical Polish Folk Movement Society in Warsaw.

Stanislaw Banczyk (1903-1988) was a social activist. From 1919 to 1931 a member of (PSL) Polish Peasant’s Party’s “Wyzwolenie” (“Liberation”), and then, until 1939 in “Stronnictwo Ludowe” (SL)(“Peasant Party”). In 1945 he became the president of Polish Peasant’s Party, in the same year he went to the then-reborn PSL, in which he stayed until 1947 in the role of vice president. In 1944-1947 he was delegated to Homeland National Council (KRN), in 1947-1948 he was elected as envoy to the Sejm. During the period of his participation in his pro-government SL he was aggressively campaigning on session of KRN, against licensing the Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was let go from PSL by a verification commission and threatened with arrest, in 1948 he fled the country. While an emigrant, as a supporter of PSL Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, in 1966 Banczyk was nominated the President of PSL.