Józef Sigalin’s military service and his notes from the report logs as a source for the history of the destruction and reconstruction of Warsaw

Abstract

The article discusses Józef Sigalin’s road to service in the Polish Army and his notes from the report logs that originated from it. Józef Sigalin (1909–1983) was the chief architect of Warsaw between 1951 and 1956. While in the army, he became a member of the Communist Party of Poland, which determined his later position and relations with the postwar authorities. During the war, Sigalin fought in the Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division. Since 1944, he kept meticulous notes on the organisation of the reconstruction of Warsaw. He was one of the first people to enter left-bank Warsaw after its inhabitants left it in January 1945.