The relocation of the manuscript collection of the Warsaw University Library to Okólnik in 1941 in the light of hitherto unknown archival sources

Abstract

In 1940, the occupying German authorities decided to transform two previously independent libraries: University and National libraries into Staatsbibliothek Warschau. Over time, the number of libraries whose collections were incorporated into this institution grew. Staatsbibliothek Warschau consisted of two branches: Branch I (corresponding to the University Library) and Branch II (formerly the National Library). In time, Branch III became the Special Collections of the SB located in the building of the liquidated Ordynacja Krasińskich Library at 9 Okólnik St. Already in early 1941, the commissary head of the SB – Wilhelm Witte – decided to change the organization of the SB’s collections: he abandoned the principle of leaving the collections of individual branches in their previous form and decided to divide the collections thematically. Henceforth, Branch I was to collect foreign prints, Branch II – polonics, and Branch III – special collections. The result of this decision was a great action of moving collections between branches. The text presented here deals with the movement in 1941 of only one category of library holdings: manuscripts, and only those which, until the establishment of SB Branch I, constituted the collection of the University Library. The present description of the collection, as presented both in archival sources and printed publications, has been significantly supplemented by the discovery of two extremely important sources: the first is the transfer and receipt protocols, which show the signatures of the transferred collections and the dates of transfer of the various batches of the transferred collection (BUW Archives, ref. IX/76); the second source is the protocol of the inspection conducted by S. Bodniak and J. Zathey in late September/early October at Okólnik (BN Archives 87 (I.1/22)). The list of signatures (units) of manuscripts transported from Branch III in 1941, published in the appendix, compiled based on these sources, indicates that the previous findings should be revised. This list is the most complete compilation of the manuscript holdings of the Warsaw University Library from this period and significantly complements the researchers’ findings. Moreover, it was decided to publish other unknown archival sources related to the action of transporting the collection.