Consolidation of Archival Materials in Poland in the Interwar Period

The aim of this article is to present the issue of consolidation of archival materials in Poland in the interwar years (1918–1939). After Poland regained independence, the problem of merging archives became particularly important for Polish state archives, both in the context of ongoing revindication process of archival records and library collections and the need for their rational distribution in the archives as well as in the context of arranging and making archival resources accessible for scientific research. The author discusses the main problems that accompanied this process. She draws attention to the initiatives of the State Archives Department and the most prominent Polish archivists in this regard. She also points out the legal aspects of this process and the main difficulties associated with its implementation. The author emphasizes the role and efforts of archives and scientific libraries in the process of consolidating archival materials in Poland during the said period.