30 September 2011 Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bogdan Zdrojewski handed to the Chief Director of State Archives prof. Władysław Stępniak the act establishing him as a first term member of the Council of Polish-Russian Centre for Dialogue and Agreement and as a member of the International Council of Polish-Russian Centre for Dialogue and Agreement.

The establishment of the Centre Council and the Polish part of the International Centre Council are the next steps in the organization of the Centre developed on the basis Act on the Polish-Russian Centre for Dialogue and Agreement adopted in March this year.
 

On August 10 2011 at the request of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the Prime Minister Donald Tusk appointed to the position of General Director of State Archives Władysław Stępniak, PhD.

Władysław Stępniak, PhD – associate professor at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, member of the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Programme and of the Polish-Russian Group for Difficult Issues.
Between 1973 and 1976, Władysław Stępniak was a PhD student at the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, following which he started his career at the Head Office of the State Archives. For a period of 7 years, he was a junior lecturer and later a reader at the Department of Archive Studies. Between 1983 and 1997, he worked at the Central Archives of Historical Records, first as the Deputy Director, and later as the Director of this institution.

Since 1997, Professor Stępniak has been working again at the Head Office of State Archives: until 2007 as the Chief Deputy Director of the State Archives, and currently as the Director's Advisor.

During his academic career, Professor Władysław Stępniak participated in research projects carried out by universities outside of Poland – first in Belgrade, as part of the scholarship granted to him by the Department of Political Science of the University of Belgrade. Later he was a visiting professor at London University (1985) and Stanford University (1994-1995). Professor Stępniak is actively involved in cooperation with academic institutions: he lectures at the Department of East European Studies of Warsaw University, Świętokrzyska Academy in Kielce and Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.

He is the author of approximately 220 academic publications, including four monographs. His main area of research involves the legal aspects of international protection of cultural goods, the history of Polish archival records dispersed throughout the world and their revindication, as well as issues relating to the availability of archival records. His main areas of academic interest include also the position of small and medium countries particularly the Balkans, in the history of international relations in the 20th century.

Memory of States and Nations. World Register of UNESCO Programme, Memory of The World, Warsaw 2011, ss. 324, ISBN 978-83-62421-13-8

Publication is edited by dr. Barbara Berska and prof. Władysław Stępniak. The album is an attempt of recapitulation of 20 years of UNESCO Memory of The World Programme, wchich biggest accomplishment is the register of the most valuable documentary achievements of mankind.

Publication accompanied The IV International Conference of UNESCO Memory of the World Programme held in Warsaw in 2011. Album is a collection of photographs and decriptions of objects from the World Register of the UNESCO Memory of The World Programme. Documents are presented according to chronology of entries.

The Head Office of State Archives published new edition of "The rules of treatment of archival materials". It is a handbook of proper maintenance of archival records in places of their storing.

Publication covers information about threats to the records, priorities, which should be observed by people responsible for archival records protection and specific preservation methods on different data carriers. Book includes also chapter about security and proceeding rules in case of crisis situations and references to expert literature.

Book is available on The Head Office website: www.archiwa.gov.pl/pl/wydawnictwa.html
 

The Head Office of The State Archives new publications:

„Polish citizens in Kyrgyzstan. The selection of documents (1941-1946)”, edited by Albin Głowacki (ISBN 978-83-6242-06-0, pp. 350)

The publication edited by Professor Albin Głowacki came into existence as a result of cooperation between Polish and Kirghiz archivists. The presented documents derive from The Central Archive of Modern Records in Warsaw and Kirghiz archives. They show sundry aspects of fate of Polish citizens in Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic between 1941 and 1946. Mostly unreleased previously sources had been created by Soviet party authorities and Polish citizens. The documents have been published in original shape, without any photo corrections, thanks to which they are even more powerful in showing the complicated problems of Poles in Kyrgyzstan during the period described.
 

„The reference book on archival holdings of Stutthof Museum”, Agnieszka Kłys (ISBN 978-83-62421-10-7, pp. 29)

The Stutthof Museum in Sztutowo has been founded in 1962 and one of it’s main assignments was to collect the whole outlasted documentation concerning the German concentration camp in Stutthof. The archival holdings have been formed by the acquisition of the documents from the former prisoners and their families; from 1964 on words – thanks to The Head Office’s of National Archives support - by carrying on the search queries in national archives and by revendication.

Currently The Stutthof Museum has in it’s holdings around 95% of the outlasted documentation from Stutthof camp, that is 69 000 archival units, sized 125 current meters. It’s main part is formed by the group of acts of Konzentrationslager Stutthof, which index and the photographs of exemplary materials create the content of Agnieszka’s Kłyś publication.
 

„The fatherland in lens. Imponderables of the annalist Juliusz L Englert in exile”, edited by Andrzej Biernat & Władysław Stępniak (ISBN 978-83-62421-05-3, pp. 118)

The goal of the publication was to present the profile and achievements of departed in January 2010 in London Mr Juliusz Ludwik Englert – the combatant of Warsaw’s Uprising and the author of multiply photo exhibitions and albums devoted to great Poles. The text have been written by people who personally knew Mr Englert, amongst others the last President of Republic of Poland in exile – Ryszard Kaczorowski. The publication is accompanied by a selection of tens of photographs from the „Foto Archive of Juliusz L Englert” consisting of about 107 000 negatives, which he handed over himself to Polish national archives.