COURAGE

connecting collections

The Institute was set up in May 1945 and named after General Władysław Sikorski (1881-1943), the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile, as the General Sikorski Historical Institute. It was created after an agreement between Helena Sikorska, General Sikorski's widow, and the organizing committee, which included senior commanders of the Polish Army and members of the government in exile. To avoid any political pressure from the British government and the communist regime in Warsaw, the Institute was established as a trust and later received charity status. The Institute acquired its present name in 1965 when the General Sikorski Historical Institute merged with the Polish Research Centre. In 1988 the Institute also incorporated the Polish Underground Movement Study Trust. The PISM consists of the Archives and the Museum, which also includes the photographic, film and sound archives. The archival holdings pertain to the Polish war effort in the Second World War and contain files created by the Polish government, Polish Armed Forces, resistance movement, individuals and institutions.

During the period of communist rule in Poland, the role of the Institute was safeguarding Polish history and culture. It was also a beacon for free and unfettered access to Polish archives and education. Through its research, publications and exhibitions, the PISM contested the propaganda and historiography of the communist regime. After 1989 that role has changed. The Institutes remains probably the single most important source of Polish history in the Second World War, definitely outside of the borders of Poland. It cooperates with the Royal Air Force Museum, the Imperial War Museum in London, Polish state archives, the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw, the Polish Navy Museum in Gdynia, the Polish Library in Paris and the Polish Institute in Rapperswil in Switzerland.

Set up in 1942, the Polish Library in London operates as a library, archive, research institution and a cultural center serving the needs of the Polish community in Greater London and United Kingdom. It is the second largest Polish library outside Poland next to the Biblioteque Polonaise in Paris.

During World War II, it constituted a library department of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Education of the Polish Government-in-Exile. In 1945, it acquired the name of the Polish Library and passed under the administration of the British authorities. From 1942 to 1973, the Library was directed by Maria Danilewicz. It became part of the Polish University College in 1947. After the dissolution of the College in 1953 the Library was placed under the tutelage of the Polish Research Centre. The British government announced its plans to liquidate the Polish Library and transfer its collections to the Department of Russian Studies at the University of Birmingham in 1965. However, due to the unprecedented mobilization on the part of the Polish community in Great Britain the Library was saved. The authorities transferred its ownership to the Polish Social and Cultural Association POSK.

During the 1970s and '80s, the Polish Library POSK in London systematically expanded its collections and staff. It also participated in the distribution and shipment of books published in exile and by Western publishers to People's Poland using legal and illegal means. The origins of this initiative dated back to the 1950s when the Congress of Cultural Freedom and the Central Intelligence Agency began of the largest Cold War cultural offensives, the distribution of anti-communist books to Eastern Europe. Throughout the 1970s and '80s, the book distribution program continued under the nominal guidance of another CIA-sponsored organization, the International Literary Centre (ILC) in New York. The Polish émigrés actively participated in all stages of the operation with the Polish Library POSK in London becoming one of the major distribution centers next to Paris, Rome, Stockholm, and Cologne.

During the 1980s, Zdzisław Jagodziński, the Library's director from 1973 to 2001, also started collecting Polish underground publications printed by opposition groups in People's Poland. These and other activities of the Polish Library POSK in London before the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe make one of the most significant centers of cultural opposition to the party state in exile. At present, the Library continues its threefold mission, service to the Polish community in Great Britain, to Poland, and to United Kingdom. It collects Polonica of different formats and origins, promotes Polish culture and history, and cooperates with Polish, British, and other émigré archives, libraries, and museums.

The Polish Rock Granary is a project of the Regional Museum of Jarocin and is funded from the budget of this institution. It opened on the 17^th July 2014 in the building of an old granary, which was renovated particularly for this purpose. The permanent exhibition of the Granary relies on multimedia, and is dedicated to the history of Polish rock music and Jarocin festivals. The exhibition takes two floors, covering ca. 600 m². The Granary also contains a hall for temporary exhibitions. The club space on the ground floor hosts rock concerts and meetings with artists on regular basis.

A particularly important part of the exhibition features the history of Greater Poland’s Rhythms of the Youth – a regional music event organised throughout the entire 1970s – and its continuation in the form of the All-Polish Festival of Music of Young Generation (1980-1982) and the Rock Musicians’ Festival (until the end of 1980s). The narrative of the exhibition was created by Robert Jarosz and Leszek Gnoiński, while the interior was designed by Kłaput Project s.c. company. Murals in landmark locations of the city constitute an integral part of the exhibition.

The Granary is involved in research and educational activities. It promotes the legacy and the history of Polish rock music, stimulates interest in music, shapes the tastes of the audience, and promotes socially-engaged attitudes. Additionally, the Granary takes part in the organisation of the current Jarocin festival and several other music and cultural events.

The Polish Social and Cultural Association (Polski Ośrodek Społeczno-Kulturalny, POSK) was born in 1964. It is the major socio-cultural institution of Polish diaspora in Greater London and United Kingdom. The origins of POSK date back to the arrival of Polish soldiers and civilians in Great Britain during World War II and their final settlement in 1945 when the majority of Polish émigrés chose not to return to communist-dominated Poland. POSK was the brain child of Roman Wajda (1901-1974), veteran of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 and World War II, lecturer of the University of London and Polish University Abroad, social activist and community leader. The Association moved to its current headquarters in Hammersmith, London, in 1974. At present, POSK houses several institutions including the Polish Library POSK in London, Joseph Conrad Society (UK), Polish University Abroad, "Syrena" Theatre, art gallery, and Jazz Café.
From its creation in the 1960s, POSK actively opposed the communist regime in People's Poland; it staged plays and artistic events critical of communist ideology and supported anti-communist opposition. At the peak of its popularity in the 1960s, the Association had 3000 members, often veterans of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. The following decade saw the advent of activists born in Great Britain after World War II. Throughout its existence, POSK has cultivated ties with other centers of Polish diaspora in Europe and USA; after 1989, it has collaborated with cultural and educational institutions in sovereign Poland. Following Poland's entry into the European Union in 2004, the identity of POSK has been marked by the migration of thousands of Poles into United Kingdom.