crimes committed by totalitarian regimes - Ministrstvo za pravosodje

Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes
The preamble of this act states that by establishing the Institute the Seym aimed at the following:
“Keeping in memory the vast number of victims, enormity of losses and damage inflicted upon the
Polish Nation during the Second World War and after its ending,
– The Polish Nation’s patriotic tradition of waging a fight against occupants, Nazism and
Communism;
– The deeds of Poles performed in order to re-establish independent Poland and to secure freedom
and dignity;
– The obligation to prosecute crimes against peace, humanity as well as war crimes;
– The duty to express gratification and make compensation in order to redress all the injustice
done by the State as a result of violating human rights, as we believe that unlawful acts of the
authorities against its nation neither should be hidden under cover nor should be forgotten.”
The main objective for the Institute’s operation is investigating the repressive system from 1939
to 1989 and diverse forms of resistance to totalitarianism, as well as making the files available to the
wronged and prosecuting Nazi and Communist criminals.
The Institute of National Remembrance is headed by a body composed of 11 members, called
the Council. The Institute’s Council decides upon the lines of work, enacts the statutes, rules and
regulations, as well as expresses an opinion on current work. The most important task of the Council,
however, is choosing a candidate for the President of the Institute. It is necessary for a candidate to
obtain the constitutional absolute majority of votes in Seym (that is two thirds of the votes cast) and the
consent of the Senate in order to become the President of the Institute. The President of the Institute
of National Remembrance enjoys wide immunity. He/she directs the work of the Institute on a daily
basis nominates and hires employees, and, once a year, is obliged to report on the Institute’s work to the
Seym.
Initially, it turned out to be extremely difficult for candidates to obtain the majority of two thirds
of votes. Thus, the process of electing the first President lasted over one year. Finally, Prof Leon Kieres,
a lawyer, was appointed as the first President of the Institute. Now this position is held by Prof Janusz
Kurtyka, a historian, who was previously the Director of the Institute’s Branch Office in Krakow.
The first years of the institute’s existence were spent on its structuring and organising its work. The
buildings had to be redecorated, the staff employed, and, most importantly, the archival resources had
to be taken from hitherto holders, such as state security services, the Police, courts and public attorneys’
offices. The Institute has gathered more than 85,000 running meters of files altogether. It has been one
of the greatest operations of that sort conducted in the history of Poland so far.
Right now the process of establishing the structure of The Institute of National Remembrance is
featuring its final stage. Apart from the Headquarters located in Warsaw, there are 11 regional branch
offices and 7 delegations. Together they employ about 1,800 people.
Both the Headquarters and Branch Offices were initially divided into three basic divisions:
– The Chief Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation;
– The Office for Preservation and Dissemination of Archival Records;
– The Public Education Office.
The first division continues the works of the former Chief Commission for the Prosecution of Nazi
Crimes in Poland which existed even before 1989. It employs 100 public prosecutors (appointed by the
Minister of Justice), who carry out investigations in the field of Nazi crimes, communist crimes and war
crimes as well as crimes against humanity.
The Office for Preservation and Dissemination of Archival Records deals with gathering and
rendering accessible documents created by the Nazi and Communist structures of security apparatuses
as well as other repressive bodies (e.g. courts) in the years 1939 through 1990. The documents are
made available to victims and wronged persons (i.e. people who were victimised) as well as researchers
(historians, political scientists, etc.) and journalists. The great majority of documents are available to
the public now. But several hundred running meters of files have, due to state security reasons, been
stored within a special fund the access to which is restricted. This fund contains mainly the documents
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