Common Archival Heritage
of the Nations and States
of Central and Eastern Europe

Any archival institution interested may join the Common Archival Heritage of the States and Nations of Central and Eastern Europe Program.

In order to post data into the Common Archival Heritage web site, the proposed text or a publication in an electronic version should be sent to the Head Office of the State Archives of Poland, only English language versions are acceptable as any information is published in English. A transferring institution submitting the text should also make a declaration regarding copyrights.

Any archives interested may receive a copy of the database with detailed instructions on how to enter data regarding their own holdings.

The database operates based on Microsoft Access application.

The data gathered in the database are available on the Common Archival Heritage web site free of charge.

With the development of the Program, the archival description will be extended with subsequent elements of ISAD(G), and, upon the approval of all the participating countries, selected elements of ISAAR will also be gradually introduced. It is of a great importance, in particular, in reference to materials of the common archival heritage, as they represent various systems of creating records and archives. However, at the initial stage of the database development, members of the Steering Committee considered it appropriate to limit the database to most basic data, the acquisition of which might be possible based on filing systems currently used at archives of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

We would like the Common Archival Heritage Program to become a significant European project, and the web site web site of the Program - a forum for the exchange of experience and an important source of information on archives of our continent.
 

The initiative of the Common Archival Heritage of the Nations and States of Central and Eastern Europe Program was raised in 1997 at an annual conference of archives from the countries of the region, a subsequent one from the series of Colloquia Jerzy Skowronek dedicata conferences, first organised in 1995 and held every year in Poland. The 1997 Conference was devoted to archives preserving documentary evidence to the common history of Central and East European countries. The idea to prepare a directory to these archive materials was adopted during the above mentioned conference. A survey was made among the participating countries in respect to the project assumptions, aiming at a precise determination of the subject and geographical scope of the directory and organisational assumptions regarding the collection of materials for the needs of the publication. The results of this survey were published in the 4th Conference Report of 1998: "Private Archives and Archive Materials in the Central and East European Countries", Warsaw 1999.

The Common Archival Heritage database, updated on a continuous basis, constitutes the main element of the Program. The base will include data pertaining to materials of the common archival heritage. ISAD(G) standard will constitute the basis for the archival description.

 In 1996 the Archives of Mechanical Documentation [Archiwum Dokumentacji Mechanicznej] in Warsaw enriched the holdings with a new collection of extremely interesting photographs. The collection entitled "Tadeusz Jankowski's Photographic Archives" (Fond No. 38) consists of 1562 negatives and 188 positives of photographs, coming from the period of the World War II. It is a private collection which makes up a photographic documentation of Lieutenant Tadeusz Jankowski's war routes during the World War II. The subsequent stages of his war history included the September Campaign of 1939, the internment in Hungary as a soldier of the 10th Motor Brigade under the command of General Stanisław Maczek, the service in the Brigade of Carpathian Fusiliers in Palestine, and then in the Officers Legion in Egypt and the 2nd Polish Corps in Italy. Photographs depicting the life of the Polish military men interned in Hungary belong to the most valuable pieces of Jankowski’s collection. The squads of the Polish Army, including the 10th Brigade of Motor Cavalry, individual soldiers and Polish civilians were crossing the Polish-Hungarian border in September and October, 1939. The Hungarians used to treat the refugees in a warm-hearted way. In towns and villages they were offered the food: bread, goulash, grapes and wine. Sometimes they were greeted with due ceremony. The Hungarian press also used to write about the Poles with sympathy. This attitude towards the Poles raised their spirits after the September defeat.

In this frame of web site the scientific descriptions, finding aids, other e-publications related to the substantial scope of the Program should be presented. This element will also include publications of printed materials (articles) discussing materials of the common heritage, bibliographies, etc. No source publications are envisaged.