Józef Piłsudski Institute for Research in Modern History of Poland

The Józef Piłsudski Institute for Research in Modern History of Poland (Polish: Instytut Józefa Piłsudskiego Poświęcony Badaniu Najnowszej Historii Polski) is an institution founded in Warsaw in 1923 to preserve and study the recent history of Poland.

The origins of the Pilsudski Institute date back to March 1923, when colleagues and supporters of Józef Piłsudski (led by Col. Walery Sławek (Aleksander Dębski, Aleksander Prystor, Wacław Sieroszewski, Adam Skwarczyński, Michal Sokolnicki, Artur Śliwinski, Kazimierz Świtalski, Leon Wasilewski) collaborated on establishing the Institute for Research into the Modern Polish History (Instytut Badan Najnowszej Historii Polskiej). Formally registered with Poland’s Ministry of the Interior on May 27, 1923, the Institute’s purpose (as described in its bylaws) was to collect and preserve historical records and accounts covering the period from the 1863 January Uprising through restoration of Poland’s independence in 1918. The Institute was tasked with historical research into collected materials, their publication, and cooperation with Polish authorities and interested associations (in Poland and abroad). Funding for the Institute was to be provided by membership subscriptions, donations, legacies and private gifts, book sales and paid speeches.

Leon Wasilewski was the Institute’s first chairman. Activities focused on the creation of an archive of historic records and accounts that would be as complete and comprehensive as possible. To this end, on November 15, 1924 Col. Walery Sławek requested all Piłsudski "legionnaires" to protect and donate documents, memoirs, prints, appeals, proclamations, photographs, letters and hand-written notes from their time in service. Sławek’s appeal made it clear that all records were deemed valuable in demonstrating legionnaires’ individual contributions and the broader challenges posed by opposition from foreign governments and within their own society. The response was swift and widespread, but ultimately hampered by the Institute’s lack of a home and post-World War I inflation.

...
Wikipedia