SAVANTS EN POLOGNE
W ładysław P ociecha (Poland)
T H E R E P O R T O F A L IB R A R IA N A N A U T O B IO G R A P H Y F R O M T H E P E R IO D O F T H E W A R
(1 S ep tem b er 1939 - 18 Jan u ary 1945)
T o p s e c r e t At the m om ent w hen m obilization was declared I stayed in Cracow w here I was perform ing my duties at the Jagellonian Library. As a lieutenant o f the levy in m ass I expected to be called up to the m ilitary service. Since until the 4th o f Septem ber I had not received any call-up and the G erm ans w ere com ing upon, I decided to leave Cracow and in this way m ake m y self available at any tim e for the Polish m ilitary forces. On that very day I started to walk tow ards Lublin, fully convinced that in L ublin there w ould be a reorganization o f the scattered detachm ents and an incorporation into active army o f the officers who had not been called up until then. M y itinerary covered M ogiła, Koszyce, Skała and N ow y K orczyn. At the latter place I got the news that on the 6th o f Septem ber the G erm ans occupied B usko and that there was an im m inent danger for all o f us to get cut o ff at any m om ent. So, I got across to the right bank o f the V istula river in the direction o f D ąbrow a, and then I w ent north tow ards Szczuczyn, w herefrom I had to turn back in the direction o f M ielec once again because Szczuczyn w as in danger. T ogether with the retreating troops o f the Polish m ilitary forces I m ade the next part of my journey through K olbuszow a, Sokołów , Rudniki, U lanów , Biłgoraj and Zw ierzyniec. On the 14th o f Septem ber, in a forest near Zam ość we were attacked by the G erm an advance parties. In view o f the im m inent danger we headed for G rabów ka, R adoszyce, Turobin and W y sokie. On further way, outside the village o f G iełczew o, w e got to the front line, and we w ere captured by G erm an patrols (Sunday, 17 Septem ber). D ue to the bad state o f my health and a strong fever (en route I had been w ounded in the leg), the G erm an lieutenant allow ed m e to stay in a p easan t’s house
at Stary M aciejów . To go back to Cracow on foot was som ething I could not even dream o f (the w ound in the leg festered causing fever), and there w as no horse and cart w illing to take an ill man. It was by chance only that on the 21st of Septem ber a peasant returning by horse and cart to his house agreed to take m e with him to his dw elling place near O patów at the price o f 50 zlotys. And so, through Sławce, Studzianki, Józefów and Tarłów , on the 23rd o f Septem ber I arrived to D ębow a W ola (that was the place w here the peasant cam e from ). On the sam e day still, my farm er gave m e on extra charge the horses and the cart, due to which I was able to reach the city of O patów . At Opatów an ow ner o f a transport enterprise agreed to take me along w ith other people onto a platform going to C racow (of course, I had to pay him a due sum o f m oney). W e went in the direction o f K ielce, Jędrze jó w and M iechów. On W ednesday, 27 Septem ber, at 1.30 p.m . I arrived to
Cracow , exhausted by the fever so com pletely that only after tw o w eeks I was able to get up and walk using a stick. In spite o f this, on the 14th of O ctober I reported m yself at the Jagellonian Library to resum e my duties. I was encharged with a task to guard and protect the collection from a theft and robbery done by the invader. I transferred to my house a precious set of the w ood-engraver’s boards (16th to 19th century), kept so far in the P rinting House of the Jagellonian Library, protecting them in this way from falling into the hands o f the G erm an “Treuhänder” . A few years later, when I was threatened with eviction, I deposited that set in a Technical-Industrial M useum in custody o f D irector W itkiew icz. W hen I was invited to partici pation in a “fam ous” lecture on organization o f the university educational system , held by the G erm an authorities on the 6th o f N ovem ber, my reaction was to start an agitation am ong my friends and colleagues, calling them to a boycott o f this villainous com edy; I believed that to p articipate o f o n e ’s own free will in a lecture delivered by the Nazi bandits (with the tragedy of W arsaw living so fresh in our m em ories!) hum iliated in an obvious way our national pride. The sam e day in the afternoon G estapo put the seals on the Library, but we were allow ed to go home. In this way I escaped the fate o f so m any o f the participants of this infam ous m eeting, who w ere taken to O ranienburg. In the period o f 6 N ovem ber 1939 to 1 July 1940 I rem ained at hom e as an unem ployed, doing my scientific studies and collecting a benefit of 15 zlotys per m onth from the D epartm ent of Social W elfare. My living conditions were at that tim e very poor. Sustaining a num erous fam ily consisting of 6 persons, I m ade a living o f the sale of valuable objects (to m ention, in particularly, a few gold chains, a gold lad y ’s w atch, and a few gold rings which belonged to my wife). Twice, due to the efforts o f D irector Kuntze, I was given a benefit in the am ount of 800 and 400 zlotys.
In June 1940, together with D irector Kuntze, we w ere asked by D irector G ustav Abb, sent from Berlin as a general m anager of all the libraries in Poland, if we were willing to arrange a transfer o f the collection o f the
Jagellonian Library from St. A nna’s Street to a new building in the M ick ie w icza avenue. A bb had w arned us that there w as a project to d istribute the collection o f the Jagellonian Library sending it to various libraries in G e r m any, and to place in the building o f the Library, after proper adjustm ents, a broadcasting studio - the fact w hich he w anted to avoid and w hich m ade him p ut forw ard a proposal to m ake o f the Jagellonian L ibrary a new G erm an Staatsbibliothek. A fter a debate with D irector K untze w e adm itted the n e cessity o f accepting A b b ’s proposal, to avoid a robbery o f the collection and to prevent total destruction o f the new library building. O n the 1st o f July, together w ith D irector K untze, we assum ed our duties and we establish ed a list o f the em ployees, Poles only, w ho in m ost cases had already been em ployed by the Jagellonian Library and by the Library o f the A cadem y o f Sciences. I was paid the prew ar wages in an am ount o f 450 zlotys m onthly, w hich was sufficient for a m ost m odest living only. I did not avail m y self o f any type o f the social or governm ent-sponsored help, neither did I receive any parcels from abroad, w hich helped m any o f m y colleagues in th eir m ain tenance. In spite o f very hard conditions I did not neglect m y duties and responsibilities in and for the Library. I prepared the respective plans and layouts, and I supervised the distribution and arrangem ent in the new b u il ding o f the book collections from the Jagellonian Library, from the A cadem y o f Sciences, from A cadem y o f M ining, from the A cadem y o f Fine A rts, etc. Then, w ith A b b ’s perm ission or w ithout it, w e started to transfer to the L ibrary the collections o f books from other university departm ents, from public institutions (e.g. the Central Pedagogical L ibrary), and even from p ri vate libraries, especially from those w hich w ere ow ned by the university professors not present at that tim e in Poland; w e also m oved the im pressions o f the scientific societies, e.g. o f the Society o f the Lovers o f C racow (H is tory and M onum ents).
A fter consultations with my father-in-law I transferred from the Printing H ouse o f the U niversity to the Library the rem aining part o f publications belonging to the A cadem y o f Sciences and to the Scientific Society in Lvov. A fter half a year o f the strenuous w ork we am assed in the Jagellonian L i brary alm ost all book collections kept in Cracow and not destroyed so far. W e also saved all the published works o f the A cadem y o f Sciences. U nder my guidance they were arranged properly, placed on the shelves in an u n derground hall o f the Jagellonian Library, and protected from robbery by tim bering with a padlocked entrance. During the transfer o f books from the A cadem y to a new building o f the Jagellonian Library I m ade a suggestion addressed to the M anaging B oard o f the A cadem y that it m ight have been useful to deposit a part o f the book collection (especially the university handbooks) in one o f the storehouses in Cracow . In this w ay the A cadem y w ould have an opportunity to exercise free control over those books, using th em e ith e r as a subvention for the scien tific w orkers liv ing in ex trem e
poverty, or as m eans to help the A cadem y students w orking for the secret University. My proposal was contradicted m ost firm ly by G eneral Secretary o f the A cadem y o f Sciences Professor Kow alski, and therefore I had to give up this idea, to avoid an accusation that I was acting from personal m otives. Later on, it often happened so that professors and students w ere com ing to m e with a request to supply them with the necessary handbooks. In this m atter I applied to R ector Szafer, and I suggested that in view o f the diffi culties m ade by the General Secreatary, he should appoint one o f the m em bers o f the A cadem y and authorize him to dispose freely o f the publications deposited at our Library and let them be used by the secret U niversity. Rector Szafer did authorize me to give out the books against receipt on his own responsibility, but I was not w illing to take upon m yself this task, not to give the im pression that by insisting so stubbornly on putting the publications in practical use I was self-interested only. In fact it was really regrettable that the students working at the risk o f their lifes for the secret U niversity could not get any sort o f assistance from our m ost im portant scientific centre, w hile the Germ ans were given gratis the pub lications o f the A cadem y, dis patched in quite a considerable am ount to various scientific institutions in G erm any, or even to be used by private persons, w hich was not opposed by the General Secretary who, at his own request, w as perform ing in the Library a m odest function of the ju n ior library assistant.
W hen the Library had already been transferred to its new building, in D ecem ber 1940 A bb asked me if, during a period of two w eeks, I could arrange a m ain reading-room in the great hall of the Library on the first floor, and m ake it ready for the cerem onial opening o f the L ibrary. Leaving to my discretion the choice o f works and their layout, he m ade one reser vation only, nam ely that the Polish books should not be too conspicuous and that attention should be focussed m ainly on the G erm an scientific lit erature. I drew his attention to the fact that our form er reading-room was o f a general scientific nature and that it possessed books w ritten in various languages. I also m ade it clear that it would be advisable to continue this trend now, and availing m yself o f this opportunity, I hinted that I could establish on the upper floor of the reading-room a separate Polish division w hich I w ould arrange m yself already after the opening cerem ony. Abb agreed, and thanks to that not only did I not rem ove even one single Polish item from the old stock kept in the reading-room , but I extended the Polish division to a size that had never been seen before. In the reading-room I placed, in particular, all the periodicals published by scientific societies, a large num ber o f the Polish journ als (am ong others, publications o f the Baltic Institute and o f the Silesian Institute, prohibited by the G erm ans), all sections o f the Polish history grouped according to relevant problem s (the history of law, the history o f the Church, the history o f art, o f culture and education, the history of m ilitary science, regional history, etc.). In m y efforts aim ing
at the establishm ent o f a Polish division I had in view the creation o f a scientific system w hich m ight be used by the secret U niversity and by those o f the Polish scientists who had no right to use the Jagellonian Library. M oreover, in the reading-room I also arranged a separate departm ent, headed under a very innocent nam e o f “O stfragen” , w here 1 collected the m ost im portant bibliography on our problem s o f Silesia, Pom erania and Slav terri tories in general. I expected it to serve as a basis for investigations carried out at that tim e very intensely by the secret Polish G overnm ent and regarding the possibility of a reivindication o f our W estern territories and E ast Prusia. O f course, I also took into consideration the question o f the E astern territo ries, and I devoted to that problem a separate sector, hidden in the sub-group called “Polen” . Here, apart from the basic bibliography, I collected, first o f all, a large set o f the source m aterials, m ostly o f the Russian and U krainian origin, referring to the history o f our Eastern territories and their relations w ith Poland until the m ost m odern tim es.
Since I was appointed ch ief o f the reading-room , as soon as I had it fully arranged, I started to look after the m issing item s. T he enorm ous losses that we had suffered in our book stock due to a system atic destruction o f the Polish books done by the G erm an authorities, brought to m y m ind an idea that pretending we are m aking up for the books m issing in the read ing-room , w e m ight be able to purchase not only these Polish w orks that were really m issing (e.g. lent before the w ar and not returned) but also the second and third copies o f the basic works, to m ake them available to other libraries and scientific centres which suffered losses during the war. A vailing m yself o f the opportunity that em erged during A bb’s absence, I ordered in the bookshops in Cracow and W arsaw quite a considerable num ber o f these publications, paying for them the total o f a few thousand zlotys. W hen Abb got the list o f the newly purchased item s, he was obviously stricken by a large num ber o f the Polish books acquired for the Library, and since that tim e he forbade us to place orders w ithout his approval. In the period when m y possibilities of ordering the works for our Library w ere practically un lim ited, I tried to get the item s lacking in our book collection. I took into account all fields of know ledge, though my special consideration w ere the m ost neglected dom ains o f m athem atics, natural sciences, technics and m ed icine. Though A bb w anted us to buy only the “neuere deutsche L iteratu r” , I kept ordering the works w ritten in all the E uropean languages, if only they could be purchased in the G erm an bookshops. O f the scientific literature w ritten in G erm an I was taking into account only the m ost im portant and m ost fundam ental publications of an international significance, like e.g. a handbook of physics including a few dozen o f volum es, a handbook o f neu rology o f the sam e size, a handbook o f m ental diseases, etc. In m y task o f supplem enting the book collection, I w as guided only by the needs o f the Polish science, and to achieve this goal I established a contact w ith the
Polish professors from various universities. I was inviting them to confe rences held at the Library and inquired what should be purchased in the first place from the branch o f know ledge they represented. For the P ublisher of the Polish B iographic D ictionary I bought the follow ing biographic dictio naries: Danish, N orw egian, French, Italian, Belgian, A ustrian, G erm an, etc. I developed further the section of encyclopaedic, dictionaries, books on his tory and studies o f religion (though A bb w anted it to be rem oved com pletely from the reading-room ). Since, later on, A bb did not allow us to place any orders w ithout his consent, I had to “fight” with him for every new item. For exam ple, he crossed out from my list o f acquisitions the new est, volu m inous history o f Spain by A. B allesteros y Beretta: “H istoria de E spaña y su influencia en la historia universal” , claim ing that for the Staatsbibliothek it w ould be quite enough to have only the history o f Spain w ritten in G erm an. So, I had to prove to him that the w ork was on the list o f an exem plary catalogue o f the books available in the reading-room o f the U niversity L i brary at Gottingen, and therefore our Library should possess it as well. F i nally, he agreed and accepted my order. In this way I acquired for the Ja- gellonian Library a num ber of the valuable w orks, to m ention only a com plete set o f Archivio Storico Italiano from 1842 to 1942, the w ork which none o f the libraries in Poland possessed.
W ith tim e I exercised such an influence on A bb that he did not dare to contradict openly m y orders and inspect my activities; he even gave me charge over the entire section o f scientific inform ation and propaganda ex hibitions. O f course, this put m e in a very aw kw ard position. Fortunatelly, I alw ays m anaged to get out of it safely, ow ing my success m ainly to the fact that I was dealing with a new class o f people, nam ely the N azi “scien tists” w hose know ledge o f the science was but very poor only. W hen I was expected to give inform ation on som e “tricky” problem s w hich, w hen re vealed, m ight cause harm to Poland or serve the G erm ans as a tool for adverse propaganda, I used two m ethods: either I provided them with m a terials supporting Poland and its theses, and hence inconsistent w ith what they w anted to get, or I was hiding the books w hich m ight have been used as a source o f the inform ation disadvantageous to us, placing them on the list o f “verm isst” item s, when the Library was not under our control. For exam ple, when Abb w anted to boast before a dignitary from the M inistry o f E ducation, sent from Berlin for inspection, about the Code o f Baltazar Behem as an illustrious specim en o f G erm an culture in the territories of Poland, I proved to that gentlem en that the m iniature paintings from that Code w ere a w ork o f art m ade by Polish noblem an Szeliga-Zem icki, the m u nicipal painter o f miniatures, which was testified by the coat-of-arm s Szeliga, placed on the front page, and by the initials J. Z. under some o f the miniatures. At the same time, I quoted the relevant information recorded in register books o f the city o f Cracow, where Szeliga-Zernicki was m entioned as a m unicipal
painter o f m iniatures at the close o f the 15th century. K now ing in advance who and in w hat m atter w ould com e and ask m e questions, I alw ays had m y answ ers ready and carefully selected according to the problem w hich w as discussed. O f course, I had to act very prudently, not to raise any sus picions and let m yself get involved into a trouble. For instance, I can relate the follow ing incident. A high dignitary from G estapo cam e to us w ith a dem and to get him the works dealing w ith a history o f the Polish political parties (socialist, com m unist, national dem ocracy, etc.) and a list o f their m em bers and m ost active leaders; in this situation I hid all the reference m aterials (which, by the way, I had previously collected carefully m y self in a reference reading-room ), and I placed them as “verm isst” , additionally stating that undoubtedly the workers from the O stinstitut m ust have taken them away during the first year o f occupation, w hich sounded quite probable. In this way, m any times I could serve the Polish cause, not allow ing the G erm ans to get hold o f the m aterials w hich m ight have been used for an anti-Polish propaganda or for the persecution o f Poles. There is no need to add here that this was the task particularly difficult and dangerous, requiring a lot o f self-control and tact. O f an invaluable help was alw ays in this m atter the late Janina K ow atschow na, my assistant, an em inent librarian and a very broad-m inded person, devoted with all her heart to the Polish cause. I shall never forget the m om ent when with a gentle sm ile on her face she w as calling for m y help when an im pudent Nazi from SS w as shaking his fists at her because he was not given the works he dem anded.
A yet m ore difficult task was the organization o f exhibitions. A bb, of course, w anted those exhibitions to perform the function o f a strictly pro- G erm an propaganda. How m uch trouble did it cost m e to convince him that, being a great centre o f the Polish intellectual culture, the Jagellonian Library did not possess works o f this type, and that it w ould be m uch m ore advisable to show rather what did it credit, nam ely the m ediaeval m anuscript c o llec tion, and som e precious album s. An exhibition o f this type was arranged by m e for the cerem onial opening of the Jagellonian Library as a Staatsbibli- othek celebrated by Frank. I organized the exhibition w ith ulterior m otives o f revealing a strong influence of R om anesque art on the Polish culture, and therefore in the section o f prints and m anuscripts I put em phasis, first of all, on the relics o f Rom anesque origin. O bviously, the gloriously illum inated m anuscripts roused adm iration am ong the G erm an dignitaries visiting the exhibition, and occasionally even the words o f tribute paid to the Polish culture, w hich m ade the visitors forget the true purpose o f the exhibition. A bb w as com plim ented on this, w hile I was strengthening my position and gaining full liberty for my further activities w hich had as their m ain aim to paralyze all G erm an propaganda in the Library. A t the sam e tim e I took the liberty to do the things w hich seem ed alm ost im possible in view o f the m addening terror o f N azis reigning at that tim e in the territories o f Poland.
And it happened so that the Jagellonian Library becam e probably the only centre in Poland w here the anti-G erm an propaganda was tolerated officially. F or the reception o f H itler’s nephew Forster, G auleiter o f G dańsk, I orga nized - with full im pudence, I m ust say, the G dańsk exhibition which, w i thout the slightest alteration, m ight equally well serve as a Polish propaganda exhibition for the “Day of the Polish P om erania” . At the exhibition I showed, am ong others, a Latin brochure ow ned by a senator o f G dańsk from the 18th century, w here it was clearly stated that G dańsk alw ays belonged to Poland and never to G erm any (it was even em phasized in the title), not to m ention various “Shields o f Sobieski” and the like Polish stuff. For an exhibition organized on occasion o f the Nazi training w orkshops held for the teachers from secondary schools, and prepared by m e from the point o f view o f a developm ent in the art o f illustrating books and title pages, I com piled such reference m aterials (for a better contrast I confronted beautiful E nglish and French illustrations with the w orst possible G erm an stuff, am ong others, with the disgusting G erm ania in a m em orial book o f the conquest o f Paris in 1871) that the leader o f training exclaim ed to me: “Oh, how did the G erm ans loose their sense of aesthetics in an epoch of their m ilitary splen dour!” A nd im m ediately she tried to convince m e that she w as enchanted by the E nglish culture and knew E ngland very well, to prove w hich she boasted in conversation with m e o f her know ledge of English.
In a sim ilar way I solved the difficult problem o f organizing an exhi bition related with F ran k’s inauguration o f the G erm an Scientific Society in C racow. As a subject o f the exhibition Abb suggested the developm ent of the intellectual life in Cracow over centuries but only in term s o f an influence o f the G erm an culture on Poland. Indeed not add here that my position m ight have been critical if I did not consent to set my hand to this anti-Polish propaganda. O f course, I m ight have diplom atically fallen suddenly ill, but then the exhibition w ould be arranged by som eone else, and I had every reason to fear that the new organizer w ould com ply with the G erm an wishes. That is why I preferred to choose the m ore difficult way rather and risk the organization of an exhibition according to the spirit o f a Polish propaganda. H aving thought this problem over, I adopted as a leitm otiv o f the exhibition all this which m ight prove a preponderance of the Polish intellectual culture in Eastern and Central Europe over the G erm an one, and its enorm ous pow er o f assim ilation in respect to the G erm an elem ent. So, starting w ith an erec tion diplom a o f the C asim ir U niversity, later Jagellonian U niversity, I de picted the part which our University had played in the intellectual m ovem ent in W estern Europe, its relations with Sorbonne in Paris, its participation in oecum enical council at Basle (with special em phasis put on the person of Paw eł W łodkow ic and his polem ics with K nights o f the T eutonic Order). Then, to accentuate an obvious contrast betw een the great and universal ideas em anating from the Cracow U niversity and propagating to the W est
and the propaganda o f the G erm an “K ulturtrager” forcing their w ay to Poland in search o f m oney, in a m ocking way I disclosed the activities o f “T he Literary Society at the V istula” , founded by K onrad Celtis, giving as an exam ple o f the activities o f this prototype o f the later N azis (m ost un fo rtu nately still reckoned even by the Polish scientists am ong the “full o f m erit” pioneers o f hum anism in Poland) his libels on Poland and a letter w ritten by H asilina, a tow nsw om an from Cracow , addressed to C eltis (in b oth Czech and G erm an) in w hich she had poked fun at the G erm an chauvinist and outlined him as an arrant rascal. I grouped the exhibits from the 16th century around the central personage o f C opernicus, placing his scientific w orks and the related Polish dissertations, while o f the G erm an dissertations I chose only the m ost recent work by Professor Sm auch, opened on this page w here he adm itted that the fam ily nest o f C opernicus in Silesia as w ell as the nam e o f the Polish astronom er w ere undoubtedly o f a Slav origin. In continuation I presented a struggle o f the U niversity against the tide o f G erm anism in the 19th century, putting forw ard the personage o f D ietl w hom I ch arac terized as a great Polish patriot, expelled for his Polish nationalism from the U niversity by the A ustrian G overnm ent. I did it on purpose because the G erm an propaganda often used the nam e o f Dietl to show w hat effect the G erm an culture had on Poland. So, when before opening o f the exhibition it had been inspected by Dr. Eichholz, H ead o f the Faculty o f A rt and Science, he asked Abb with surprise: “Is it possible? W as D ietl a Polish patriot?” “A las!” answ ered him Abb. “It c a n ’t be helped for quite often it happened so that the Germ ans who settled in Poland got under an influence o f the Polish culture and turned out to be the Polish chauvinists.” In the sam e way I illustrated the activities o f the Cracow Scientific Society with its chairm an professor M ajer, and o f the A cadem y o f Fine Arts along with its founder W ojciech Stattler, a friend o f Slow acki. A separate show -case was devoted to the achievem ents o f the Polish A cadem y o f Sciences, d is closing its m ost beautiful publications and em phasizing the versality o f its interests (Sanscrit, texts w ritten in the R om any and A frican languages, etc.). Proper inscriptions and statistical data em phasized in an obvious w ay the im portant part that was played by the A cadem y o f Sciences as a m ost e m i nent scientific centre in Eastern Europe. T he im pact o f the exposition arran ged by m e could be detected in F rank ’s speech in w hich he had to adm it that the G erm an elem ent did succum b som etim es to an influence o f the Polish culture, and therefore the m ain objective o f the new Scientific Society in Cracow should be to consolidate the G erm an scientific culture in a “G e r m an C racow ” .
Paralyzing G erm an propaganda right on the prem ises o f the Jagellonian Library, I tried at the same tim e to render the L ibrary ’s collection available to the w ide circles o f the Polish society, although the conditions under w hich I was w orking were extrem ely difficult, because one was allow ed to use the
books only by the perm ission o f G erm an authorities (the w arrants were issued by Abb or by his deputy), w hile an access to the L ibrary was, by order o f a delegate from the M inistry of Education in Berlin, guarded by the w orst possible individuals from the, so called, Sonderdienst. H ere, I have to m ention one fact, nam ely that on the second floor o f the Library building there was a seat of the “M inistry of E ducation” established in G eneralgou- vernem ent, and so we w ere literally inside the “lio n ’s cave” . M oreover, as everybody knows, there was an order prohibiting Poles to carry out their scientific activities which, as Abb had w arned us, obviously referred also to the personnel o f the Jagellonian Library. To check if those regulations were duly obeyed, Abb had his own spies, am ong others, a B rzóska - the librarian from Berlin. The spies w ere hanging around us like our own shadows, w atching in an alm ost im perceptible way all our actions. And yet, with a bit of goodw ill, the im possible could be m ade possible. O ur Library becam e a centre of the Polish scientific and pedagogical activities and a seat o f the clandestine patriotic m ovem ent.
In M arch 1941, at the time o f the deepest general dism ay, felt especially by the circles o f our intelligence, the Polish authorities entrusted me with m anagem ent of departm ent o f culture, science and art in the district of C ra cow. A lthough I did not feel com petent enough to take upon m yself such responsibility, I thought that it was my duty as a citizen to accept the task and regard it as a forem ost post on the front o f the fight w ith Germ ans. A m ong various duties, very unpleasant to me, I also controlled the conduct and attitude o f the staff of university teachers tow ards the G erm an occupant and, acting in consultation with Rector Szafer, I tried to persuade the w eaker individuals and restrain them from m aking the m istakes for w hich they m ight be suffering very seriously later on. In som e exceptional cases only I was com pelled to prosecute an action. I cannot relate here in m ore details my activities in this particular sphere; I only wish to em phasize one fact, namely that when, due to the pressure exerted by us, in 1942 the secret U niversity w as started at last, I was in perm anent contact w ith its T echnical D irector Professor M ałecki. The students who attended the secret lectures contacted m e through delegates appointed by the respective team s. In this way the secret lending library was functioning, serving both the U niversity and the Polish scientific workers. To encourage to work and raise the spirits of various pessim ists and those who lost their hope, I arranged for them a most convenient procedure for using our collection, including old prints and m an uscripts. A nd to tell the truth, let it be said openly that my endeavours bore som e very prom ising fruits. Even the m ost fearful ones, seeing m y peace of m ind and self-confidence, were plucking up their courage; they felt in the Library like in the old good Polish tim es, and even started to be “capricious” . Som etim es I had in the Reading-R oom up to 70% o f the “illegal” readers whom , no m atter what their age and position were, I had to lead by the
hand like children, instruct carefully w hat and how they should an sw er when enquired by the G erm an officials, and to take care o f them like a m other. For m yself I chose a defensive position on the upper floor in the M ain Reading-R oom w here every day I stayed from 8.00 or 7.30 in the m orning until 6.00 in the afternoon w ithout any lunch break, w atching over the “herd of my sheep” . W e extended the scope o f activities o f the secret lending library so m uch that we were even bringing, under the false G erm an nam es and at the G erm an s’ charge, the scientific books from foreign libraries to be used by the Polish scientists, and the orders w ere signed by A bb him self! The m ost insubordinate “sheep” I seated by my side on the upper floor, to protect them from falling recklessly into the jaw s o f a wolf. F o r exam ple, one o f such readers was Professor K onopczyński. In spite o f m y instructions he felt in the Library like in his own house or in a reading-room for p ro fessors in the old tim es, which once alm ost brought us to a catastrophe. W hen professor Konopczyński, surrounded by a heap o f books and papers and in deshabille, was w orking by my side on the upper floor, suddenly appeared like the ghost o f Banko, treading so softly that I was not able to see him on tim e, the fam ous Brzóska, and w ith a scowl on his face, pointing to K onopczyński, he asked me: “W ho is he?” I answ ered him very quietly, not interrupting for a m om ent writing o f my “B ona” : “P rofessor K onop czyński.” A nd Brzóska, spreading his hands: “A nd w hat is he doing here?” I turned slightly tow ards him, and breaking into a laugh I said: “A nd how on earth can I know what my readers are reading? Surely Professor K onopczyński goes deep into the heraldry” (behind his back there was a bookcase with the Polish heraldry). My self-confidence confounded B rzóska so m uch that he did not dare to ask K onopczyński in my presence to produce his w arrant with perm ission to use the Library. It w as like incessant dancing am ong the swords. In this tension o f nerves and will I had been w orking for over four years! I saw m any tim es that in this everyday struggle against the death and for life the decisive factor was the pow er o f will and character; and good luck - o f course! I shall not describe here hundreds o f different situations full of danger in which I have found m yself because o f the func tions perform ed. To give ju st one exam ple, I am going to relate the incident w hich happened to m e during F o rster’s visit. It was, as far as I can rem em ber now, on W ednesday, and for that day I engaged the m an w ho w as supplying the secret press to our Library collection com pleted, at first, by the late lam ented archivist from the R ecord O ffice o f the city o f C racow Dr. N iw iński, the exam ple of a quiet heroic w orker devoted to the Polish cause during the war, and then collected for the Jagellonian Library by me. F or ster’s visit cam e upon us so unexpectedly that I had no tim e to w arn the m an not to com e on that day to the Library. The m ain R eading-R oom , in w hich I was ju st arranging an exhibition about G dańsk, was separated from outside by the tables behind which were sitting the m en from G estapo arm ed
to th e teeth. A t that very m om ent the ja n ito r announces a young m an who wants to see me. I com e out o f the R eading-R oom , and I can see a young student, very pale, standing with a parcel in his hand and attracting the attention o f all the gentlem en from Gestapo. I break into a loud laugh (that was m y usual trick), and extending my arm to get hold o f the parcel above the heads o f the sitting G estapo m en I exclaim loudly: “Splendid! Y ou have com e ju st in tim e!” O f course, “H err L eiter des L esesaales” w ho ju st a m om ent ago has been talking to the highest dignitaries com m ands respect am ong the gentlem en from G estapo... and so cannot arouse suspicions. But if I did not m anage to get there in tim e, and the frightened young m an was cross-exam ined by G estapo, the parcel with the secret press w ould fall into their hands, w hile I would have to bid “good-bye” to this w orld in the M on telupich prison.
O ne o f my functions as a head o f the dep artm en t o f cu ltu re, science and art w as also a custody o f the archives and m useum co llectio n s. O f an inv aluab le assistance in the section o f archives w as the q uiet but full o f heroic d evotion w orker Dr. M arian F riedberg , to w hom I en tru sted that d ep artm ent, excluding from all po ssib le co o p eratio n Dr. B u d k a w ho was co m p ro m isin g h im se lf at every step in his b e h av io u r gov ern ed by a deadly fea r o f the G erm ans. F or the custody o f sacral m onum ents I app oin ted R ev. P ro fesso r K ruszyński. W e w ere recordin g the m onum en ts o f art in P o lan d robb ed by the G e rm a n s’ the exact files w ith detailed d escriptio ns and ph oto graph s w ere kept in the low er room s o f the L ibrary building, in the section o f S o nderdienst. T he files in cluded thou sand s o f exhibits from all parts o f Poland. T hrough m y agent I m anaged to get only a list o f the m ost im p ortant item s. I asked my su p erio r a u th o rities to let m e pho to g rap h on a film reel the en tire co llectio n (I had no fin an cial m eans at my disposal). U n fo rtu n ately , in the head office they w ere so slow in m ak ing decisions that finally the G erm ans took aw ay from P o lan d the w hole files. On the oth er hand, w e reg istered the archives belo ng ing to the G erm an auth orities and G erm an offices in my d istrict, and actin g in co n su ltatio n w ith the C h ie f o f the Security S erv ice I p rep ared a plan o f gettin g them und er my control th e m om ent the G erm ans w o uld be re tre a tin g from P oland. M ost unfortunately, h ow ever, at that d ecisiv e m om ent both our security service and the g overnm ent failed us. In spite o f this, I m anag ed to steal by m y se lf and under the G e rm a n ’s eyes q u ite a c o n siderab le and m ost im portant p art of the archiv es o f the C entral Statistical O ffice from the tim es o f the N azi occupation. In sum m er 1944, w hen the G erm ans w ere seized w ith panics because o f the S oviet arm y ap p ro ach in g C racow , the w hole co llection o f the archives o f the S tatistical O ffice was heap ed up in the M ain R eading-R oom o f the Jag ello n ian L ib rary , and the clerks from the O ffice w ere ordered to destroy som e o f the files and p rep are the o th er for a d ispatch to G erm any. T he c h ie f o f that O ffice, an
em in ent m em b er o f the N azi party, forb ade m e un d er perso n al re sp o n si bility to let anybody e n te r the M ain R eadin g-R oom , and he in stru cte d his p ersonnel to see to it th at none o f the acts got out o f the L ib ra ry . In sp ite o f this, due to M r R o g ’s assistan ce (the P olish C h ie f o f the O ffice), 1 m anaged to take out the m ost im portant files and tra n sfe r th em to a sto re room o f the L ibrary. I had to carry m y se lf w ith lig h tnin g speed the heavy brief-cases, various instru m ents and m achines, b ecau se the few L ib rary jan ito rs w hom I had called to help m e, u n d er no c ircu m stan ces w anted to give m e a hand for fear o f getting u n d er arrest. In M ay 1945 I han d ed those files over to the M ain S tatistical O ffice in W arsaw . W h en in su m m er 1944 A bb asked m e to pack up the w ho le stock o f the M ain -R ead - ing-R oom , w ith intention o f taking it aw ay to G erm any, I tried at all costs to p rev ent it. Y et, m y acts o f sabotage suddenly m et w ith the resista n c e im po ssible to overcom e. T he jan ito rs did not w ant to obey m y ord ers in fea r o f the G erm ans, and they w ere w orking so eagerly th at th e m ajo r part o f the new p u b licatio n s and a great part o f the stock k ept in the R eading-R oom had already been p ack ed w hen I co n ceiv ed th e id ea o f hiding the rem ain in g em pty boxes in a basem en t and te llin g A bb that there w ere no m ore boxes left for packing. B ut the ja n ito rs d id n ot w ant to execute that o rder either, and only w hen I to ld them th at la te r on they w ould be free to keep those boxes to th em selv es, they lo w ered them in hoists to the basem ent. I also m an aged to p ersuade the ja n ito rs th at they could take out w ithout any fear the books from the boxes w hich had already been packed, p lace them on shelves and put into the boxes again, that is, to do the sam e w ork all the tim e w ithout p ro ceed in g any fu rth er, w hich should pass u n no ticed by A bb w ho w ou ld see them o ccu p ie d all the tim e in p ack ing o f the books. D ue to this, until the m o m en t w hen A bb escaped from C racow only a part o f the book stock from the M ain R eading-R oom had been pack ed in the boxes. A t the last m o m en t I w anted to save this p art, too. I tried to p ersu ad e A bb that if th e book s w ere tran sp o rted during the chaos w hich p rev ailed at the end o f July 1944 due to a m ass escape o f the G erm ans from C racow , they m igh t get e ith e r lost o r destroyed. T h at was m y last con versations w ith A bb. A bb w as stickin g to his idea, and finally he told me: “A fter all, I am the o ne resp o n sib le fo r all th is!” To this I answ ered: “O f course, you are resp o n sib le to y o u r superiors, but I am resp o n sib le for it to P o la n d .” “P oland ex ists no lo n g er” - told m e straight to my face the im pudent G erm an, turning crim son with anger. T hat was too m uch even for me, and although I usually tried to com pose m yself, I shouted breaking into an affected laugh: “Is it possible?! You have been for so many years in Poland and you know nothing about her existence! M aybe you d o n’t know either about the existence o f the Polish G overnm ent in London and about the Polish arm y fighting on all the fronts?” L istening to that A bb was quite stupefied, and after a w hile w ith a sneer,
still blushing, he stam m ered: “W ell, so far we are the m asters here, and I could as well get you under arrest im m ediately for w hat I have been told!” “O h, I know it only too w ell” - I retorted - “th at this is no p ro b lem for you!” T hen A bb, not w anting to go too far, ch an g ed his tone all o f a sudden, and assuring m e that he w ould like us to p art as friend s, he started tellin g m e about his various services rendered to the L ibrary and about his last talk w ith Frank. But I got so irritated th at the next day I did not com e to the L ibrary, and on that very day - during my absen ce - A bb o rd ered to take the p ack ed boxes aw ay to P fe il’s e sta te at A d e lsd o rf near G o ldb erg (10 km E ast o f L egnica). B efore his d ep artu re, on the 3rd o f A ugust, A bb dism issed the w hole L ib rary p erso n n el, ord ered th e L ibrary to be clo sed , and au tho rized D irecto r K untze, m e and secretary M arczy ń ski to tak e care o f the L ibrary co llectio n. B ecause D irecto r K untze soon fell ill, it d ev olved upon m e to w atch the L ibrary co llectio n w ith a few ja n ito rs, u n d e r very unpleasant conditions. T h ere w ere hordes o f SS-m en sw eep in g over the L ibrary, near my o ffice placed th em selves the sta ff o f “ raid ers” (A u ffan g stelle), near the en trance to the L ibrary the N azi guards w ere standing, and in the basem ent they kept p e o p le arrested du rin g the street raid s. To m ake things even w orse, E ichholz w ho was stay ing on the seco n d floor w ith his secretary, rum oured to have got indign an t at the new s o f A b b ’s law less flight, let us un d erstan d that A b b ’s orders were no lo n g er valid and that there was no place for us in the L ibrary . F inally, w e m an ag ed to persu ad e him som ehow that the L ibrary co lle ctio n could not be left unguarded, and he gave us new w arrants, and even au th orized us to open partly the L ibrary. W e w ere also allo w ed to re-em p lo y a p art o f the old p ersonnel, not bound to w ork in the co n stru ctio n o f e n tre n ch m ents. It was p erm itted to return books only, and only those w ho had special p ass issued by E ichh o lz could use the L ibrary. O f co u rse, I did not stop even for a m om ent lending o f books to the P olish scientific w orkers and students. I only w arned them to have all the w arran ts in o rd er b ecause the guards from the Nazi party w ere ex am in ing them upon e n terin g the L ibrary. As a reason for com ing to the L ibrary ev erybody had to give the return o f books, w hile the books that had been borrow ed w ere taken out u nder coats, blouses, etc. L arge b atches o f books I was tak in g hom e m y self and distribu tin g them am ong the readers. B ecause I got inside inform ation th at the G erm ans had p laced m ines u n d er the m ain state bu ild in g s and, am ong others, also und er the Jag ello n ian L ib rary , to blow them o ut in case they should leave C racow , I applied to the resp o n sible au th o rities w ith dem and to get the case ex am in ed by sp ecialists and m ake the w ires cut off, it necessary. A las, my w arnin gs w ere ig no red and alth ou gh , as it turned o ut later, no m ines had been placed un d er the L i brary itse lf because after exam inations the G erm an specialists had o b ser ved that th e und erg ro und p assages w ere too narrow to p lace m ines there,
various other buildings did have som e m ines laid un d ern eath , and ou r “se curity” service did nothing to prevent w hat m ight have been o f catastrophic consequences.
U nder such w orking co nd itio ns I lived to see the B o lsh ev ik s atta ck C racow . In m id-January, w hen C racow w as h eavily bom bed, n o b ody cam e to w ork in the L ibrary. E ichh o lz left on W ed n esd ay , 17 Jan u ary . In the L ibrary building rem ained only m ech an ic R ybicki and ja n ito r K net. L eft w ith o u t any assistance, I w as taking care o f the b u ild in g safety q u ite alone. If I am not m istaken, only ja n ito r Sow a rep o rted h im s e lf o f his ow n w ill after he had been m isinform ed th at the L ib rary w as on fire. T here w ere few drunk P olish ja n ito rs from E ic h h o lz ’s o ffice p ro w lin g round the L ibrary b uilding and prep arin g th em selv es fo r rob b ery o f the G erm an supply o f provisio n s stored in the L ibrary. F eelin g th at th e m is c h ie f was brew ing, I ordered them to get ex p e lled from the bu ild in g , then I asked K net and R ybicki to barricad e the door, and I fo rb a d e u n d e r p e r sonal resp o n sib ility to take anything aw ay. In this way I sav ed a large supply o f p ro v isio n s, w hich w ere later p ro tected by secretary M arczyriski and given to the U niversity for d istrib u tion am ong its w o rk ers. In that p erio d o f a sham eful robbery o f C racow done by the v u lg ar m ob u n d e r the leadersh ip o f the pro fiteers from the tim es of the w ar, in te llig en c e included, we had to literally repulse the attack s on the L ib rary , into w hich the m ob tried to break by m eans o f ladders, w hen the o rig in al attem p ts to knock out the entrance doo r had failed. O n the 20th o f Jan u ary I p o ste d up on the door o f the L ibrary an an n o u n cem ent w ritten in P o lish and in R ussian p ro h ib itin g anyone, excep t the L ibrary p ersonnel, to e n te r the L ibrary building. By interv ention o f R ecto r L ehr-S plaw iriski so m e S ov iet soldiers w ere po sted at the entran ce gate, and only then the first clerk s and som e o f the jan ito rs started to drop in. F inally, w e saved from robbery the w hole installation left by the G erm ans, the stock o f m ed icin es (we gave them to the m an ag em en t o f the P olish h o spitals), p rec io u s fu rn itu re and carpets (in m ajority taken o v er by the U n iv ersity ). T h en , D irec to r K untze o rdered to prepare an inventory o f all the m ovables.
T h ro u gho u t the w hole p eriod o f the w ar I tried to raise th ro u g h ap p ro p riate pro p ag an d a the spirits in the w ide circles o f our in te llig en c e w ho so easily fell dep ressed. To achieve this goal, I used v ario u s m eans w hich can not be discu ssed here in detail. L et m e m ention only that, am ong others, I used a prophecy o f St O th ilia from the 8th century . T h e tex t o f this p rophecy, p u b lish ed in Paris in 1915 w ith com m ents by the F ren ch scien tists (the copy ow ned by th e A cadem y o f S cien ces) w as sp re a d in g in the dup licates w hich I p rep ared m y se lf far b eyond C raco w , rea c h in g ev en L vov (I sent it to O sso lin eu m ). T he p ro p h ecy , d e p ic tin g in an astonishing way the presen t w ar and its d uration (basing on th e p ro p h ecy D irecto r T or app o inted as early as in M arch 1944 the d ate o f 6 Ju n e as
a beg in n in g o f the invasion, m en tio n ed very distinctly in the prophecy and called “tem pus invasionis”), had foreseen the total m ilitary defeat o f G er m any and liberation o f the nations, victim s to that aggression o f bandits. At that tim e I did not neg lect my scien tific activ itie s either. B etw een July 1941 and January 1945 I w rote fo ur co m p reh en siv e volum es o f a m o n o graph e n title d “Q ueen B ona” , and I started volum e V. I co m p le te d m y w ork for the E astern In stitu te, d ealing w ith th e n atio nal p ro b lem s on e a st ern frontier. I p rep ared a m onograph o f P rim ate Ł aski for th e A rt P u b lis hing H ouse, etc. I p a rticip ated in the c lan d estin e m eetin gs o f m em bers o f the H isto rical C om m issio n o f the P olish A cadem y o f S ciences and in the m eeting s o f the Polish H isto rical Society, o rgan ized by a g roup o f the assistan t p ro fesso rs o f history attach ed to th e Jag ello n ian U n iv ersity , w ho w ere m eeting in p rivate flats (A ssist. Prof. P iw arski, A ssist. Prof. B arycz, and D irecto r F ried b erg ) the d eliver the scien tific papers and carry ou t d iscu ssion s. T he m inutes o f those m eetings w ere p rep a re d by A ssist. Prof. B arycz. I perfo rm ed my duties o f a c h ie f o f the d ep artm en t o f c u l ture, scien ce and art qu ite g ratuitou sly , not receiv in g any g o v ern m en tal sub ven tio ns. By interv en tio n o f P ro fesso r Z y g m u n t W o jciech o w sk i (w i th o u t m y know led ge!) I w as given from tim e to tim e from the funds w hich R ecto r S zafer had at his disposal an advance pay fo r m y w ork on B ona. So, I u su ally lived under very lam entable fin an cial co n d itio n s (m y c h il dren w ere w alk in g barefoo t to the school), and I earn e d m y livin g selling m y furn iture (a p ian o , an escrito ire, etc.), p orcelain , p ictu res (I sold the last w ork o f my fath er m ade ju s t before his death ), cloth es, d resses, etc. A p art from this, my incom e m ainly co n sisted in very m o d est ad vance m oney p a id by the A tlas L ibrary (D irecto r P iątek ) on acco u n t o f the fee fo r “B o n a” , w hich the L ibrary bought from m e. In the epoch o f the raging pro fiteerin g , ex p lo itatio n , th efts, sw indles, and the decay o f any p rin c i p les, I w an ted to give, in m y ow n m odest cap acity , an ex am p le o f the volun tary and d isin terested sacrifice fo r our national cause. T h roug h out the w ar p eriod I alw ays declared m y se lf ag ain st the o rg an izatio n o f fam es, atten d in g the clubs and cinem as, buying th e G erm an “re p tile ” press (es pecially the ill-fam ed “G oniec K rak o w sk i” ). I hid m y e ld e st son from B au d ien st and dig ging o f the en tren ch m ents, but I sent him to th e fro n t line n ear M y ślen ice to fig ht again st the G erm an soldiers. I th o u g h t that to co o p erate w ith G erm ans in any w ay m ean t the betrayal o f the national cause. I did not belong to any p o litical p arties b ecause I did riot co n sid er m y w ork to be a step p in g -sto n e for the fu tu re “c a re e r” , but I reg ard ed it as a fu lfilm en t o f o n e ’s com m on duty as a citizen to P oland. T h erefo re I tried to keep in the background as m uch as p o ssib le w hich, on th e o ther hand, m ad e the perfo rm an ce o f m y tasks m uch easier. I k e p t in m y house th e P oles activ ely eng ag ed in p o litical w ork w ho w ere p e rse c u te d by the G erm ans; for th ose w ho w ere searched by G estap o I fo rg ed the false
K ennkartes and places o f em ploym ent. In spite o f so m any trag ic e x p e rien c e s and gettin g fam iliar, due to my activities, w ith an enorm ous m isery o f the disgraced hum an souls, I did not loose my faith in the restoration o f our nation and in a better future. This inherent optim ism was m y pow er, w hile the only solace in the hard life was my scientific work. A bouquet o f flow ers handed to my by the scholars on my nam esday w as for me the best rew ard for all the hardships borne.
