The Archive of the Institute of National Remembrance collects, elaborates on, and discloses materials related to the history of the Polish Nation between 1917 and 1990, i.e. mainly under German and Soviet occupation, and during the communist period. The Institute’s collection contains files acquired from the communist organs of repression and documents of the Second World War occupational authorities. They are now accessible to the victims of repression, journalists, researchers and public institutions. The IPN’s archival resources amount to over 91 km of files.
The Act on the IPN regulates the recording, collecting, storing, processing, securing, making available and publishing of the documents of the state security authorities, produced and accumulated from 22 July 1944 until 31 July 1990, as well as the documents of the security authorities of the Third Reich and the Soviet Union concerning the crimes committed against the Polish Nation and Polish citizens of other nationalities from 8 November 1917 until 31 July 1990. The documents in question pertain to both German and Soviet repressions.
Apart from documentation in paper form, the resources of the IPN consist of photographs,microfilms, videos and audio recordings.
- 39,000 000 photos
- 840,000 microfilms
- 1,900 films
- 1,100 audio recordings
The IPN’s archival resources were obtained from the following institutions:
- Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration,
- Commission for the Prosecution of Crimesagainst the PolishNation,
- Office for State Protection,
- Ministry of Defense,
- Ministry of Justice,
- common and military courts, common and military prosecutor’s offices,
- state archives,
- international archives and institutions,
- private donations.