The archive of the Union of Poles, Zgoda, in the Federal Republic of Germany
I. The History of the Organisation
The Union of Poles, Zgoda (Harmony), in the Federal Republic of Germany [Związek Polaków „Zgoda“ w Republice Federalnej Niemiec] was set up in Hamburg in 1950 and registered in 1952 as a cultural and educational society in the register of societies at the district Court in Hamburg. It was a breakaway from the Union of Poles in Germany, Rodło (BPiD “Rodło”) [Związek Polaków w Niemczech “Rodło” (ZPwN “Rodło”)] that was set up in 1922 and revived after the Second World War. The main reason for the split was the different political positions taken by the main officials in the BPiD “Rodło”. The divisions became clear in the second half of the 1940s and escalated further between 1950 and 1952. This period played a decisive role in deciding the future of the BPiD “Rodło”, and affected the lives of Poles in Germany for decades to come. The conflict was accompanied by obstinate attitudes in the consular department of the Polish military mission [Wydział Konsularny Polskiej Misji Wojskowej] in Düsseldorf. The government of the Peoples Republic of Poland attempted to persuade the board of the Union to encourage Poles living in Germany to return back home. This resulted in two different political groupings in the BPiD “Rodło”, a national Catholic group headed by Michał Wesołowski and a pro-Polish group (regarded as pro-Communist), led by Augustyn Wagner. The annual general meeting of the BPiD “Rodło” on 26. March 1950 marked the turning point in the conflict: Michał Wesołowski was elected as Chairman of the Union. At the same time Augustyn Wagner was pushed out of the board since it was feared that the German side of the Union might be pressurised to ally itself more closely with the ideas of the communists. Subsequently Wagner was a major figure in setting up the Union of Poles Zgoda, which by contrast with the BPiD “Rodło”, pledged its loyal support to the Polish government and the changes introduced in the People's Republic of Poland. The newly founded organisation aided and abetted the work of the Polish government. That said, it was primarily popular amongst Poles living in Germany for financial reasons, because its members could benefit from a reduction in the mandatory amount of exchange when they travelled to Poland. As a result Zgoda attracted many new members until 1990. When the mandatory amount of exchange was done away with in 1990 its membership began to decline. Despite all its attempts to change its image and find new ways to finance its activities it continued to decline. The Union of Poles in the Federal Republic of Germany finally ceased to exist in 2013.
II. The History of the Archive Stock
After the Union of Poles, Zgoda, in the Federal Republic of Germany was dissolved, in 2015 its archive was handed over to “Porta Polonica” in Bochum, the organisation responsible for documenting the culture and history of Poles in Germany. Subsequently the ordered inventory was transferred to the Archive of Social Movements (AfsB) in the Haus der Geschichte des Ruhrgebiets in Bochum and made available to the general public for research purposes.
III. The Main Features of the Archive
The Union's archive stocks in the AFsB are incomplete. The registers of ingoing and outgoing correspondence (in so far as these were conducted) and some of the annual volumes of circulars are missing. The documents were placed in thematic files and collected in card index boxes (membership declarations and membership cards). It is difficult to say exactly how complete the remaining archive is, although it is certainly around 90%. It is in a good state of repair. The majority of documents are in Polish. The individual archive units also have Polish titles. When an inventory of the stock was made, titles were given in German.
