Melania Dereszyńska-Romaniuk, For eightieth anniversary of State Archive in Bydgoszcz


Genesis of State Archive in Bydgoszcz dates back to 1906 when Prussian authorities in this town Archive of The Royal Prussian General Committee for West Prussia and Wielkopolska (Archiv der Königliche Preussische Generalkommission für die Provinzen Westpreussen und Posen) where collected were files of General Committee for West Prussia and Wielkopolska, active from 1832. Due to liquidation of mentioned Committee in 1909 Bydgoszcz archive was subordinated to General Committee for Silesia, based in Wrocław, and in 1915 its name was changed for The Royal Prussian General Committee for Silesia in Wrocław - Archive for West Prussia and Wielkopolska in Bydgoszcz (Königliche Preussische Generalkommission für Schlesien zu Breslau - Archiv für Westpreussen und Posen in Bromberg). During World War One some part of holdings was transported from Bydgoszcz to Wrocław. Alongside with independence regaining, Bydgoszcz archive, as an archive of former General Committee in Bydgoszcz was subordinated to General Committee in Poznań, soon after that transformed into District Office in Poznań. In initial years of independence there come into being few projects into Bydgoszcz archive. Eventually, on 1 January 1924 it was transformed into Branch of State Archive in Poznań. A year before World War Two outbreak, in connection with changes of administrative boundaries between poznańskie and pomorskie provinces, Bydgoszcz archive formally gained status of independent state archive with territorial range of province. In interwar period Mieczysław Białynia-Rzepecki, and afterwards Tadeusz Esman governed the archive. In that time, in the archive carried out was arrangement and description the holdings, which was were growing in number of items, consisting of archival materials of Prussian origin as well as Polish offices and state institutions from interwar 20-year period.

During World War Two Bydgoszcz archive was, as branch, subordinated to The Archive of Reich in Gdańsk. In years of occupation its holdings was considerably increased, added were among other things files of Polish offices and institutions from interwar period, files of towns (inter alia Bydgoszcz, Chełmża, Fordon, Koronowo, Nakło, and Solec Kujawski), family-estate archives (inter alia Komierowski of Komierowo, Sczaniecki of Nawra, Alvensleben of Ostromecko) and church archives. At the end of the war some part of the Bydgoszcz holdings was transported to Germany (Sławno, Goslar). Some items have never come back where they belonged.

From the end of January 1947 pre-war hear of the archive, Tadeusz Esman stared his efforts aimed at protection of the holdings, which had remained on the spot. Two years later, under instruction of Minister of Education dated on 21 March 1947, Bydgoszcz archive would gain status of the state archives. For the sake of wide territorial scope of bydgoskie province (established in 1950), within first half of fifties, established were remote units of the archive in Bydgoszcz. Finally, till 1958 established were: district state archives in Chojnice, Grudziądz and Włocławek as well as remote branches in Toruń and Inowrocław. As a result of administrative reform in 1975 independent became Toruń archive, to which subordinated as branches would be former district archives in Grudziądz, and in 1981 also in Włocławek. After those changes, at present at State Archive in Bydgoszcz are Branch in Inowrocław and agency in Chojnice. After Tadeusz Esman had left the position of Bydgoszcz archive head was taken, for short period of time, by Czesław Skopowski, after him Franciszek Fedorowicz, Anna Perlińska; since 1982 this position has been occupied by dr hab. Janusz Kutta.