Ministry of Labor and social Welfare Ministerstwo Pracy i Opieki Społecznej (A.18)

Copyright Holder: Instytut Polski i Muzeum im. Gen. Sikorskiego w Londynie Contains selected records of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare of the Polish government-in-exile. Collection includes correspondence relating to worldwide care and aid rendered to Polish citizens, mainly refugees (including Jews), evacuation and geographical population of Polish citizens (also including Jews) from 1942 to 1944. The collection also includes general files from 1940 to 1941, 1943, 1944 and 1945. The Minister of Labor and Social Welfare from 1939 to 1944 was Jan Stańczyk, followed by Tomasz Arciszewski (1944-1947). Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie (Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile) was established after Germany and the Soviet Union occupied Poland in September 1939. The Polish government-in-exile was first based in Paris, but moved to London after the French army surrendered to the Germans in the mid-1940s. The Allied powers accepted the government-in-exile as the legitimate representative of the Polish people soon after it was created. The Polish government allied itself with the Allied powers, as its members believed that only a total military victory over Germany would restore Poland's independence and freedom. The government-in-exile led the Polish war effort throughout World War II, and amassed its own land, air, and naval forces. In addition, it commanded the largest underground army of the war, the Armia Krajowa (the Polish Home Army). In 1942, reports about the mass murder of Jews in Poland reached London. At that point, the Polish government-in-exile made several public declarations on the subject, and officially demanded that the Allied powers stop the Germans from continuing their campaign to murder Jews, and other individuals they deemed undesirable. From December 1942 onward, the government-in-exile backed the rescue work of Zegota, which offered aid to Jews throughout occupied Poland.