Studia Maritima

This work was supported by a Research Fellowship funded by the Jan Karski Institute of War Losses and University of Gdańsk.

Poland, having regained its independence after 123 years of partitions, had to face one of its most significant tasks: to enforce and exploit its rights granted in the Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919, which ended World War I. These rights were exercised with the help of various authorities and posts fulfilling specific functions in the political and legal system of the Republic of Poland, and in the Free City of Danzig, in which Poland gained special powers resulting from free access to the sea secured by the peace treaty. As Poland began to organise its access to the Baltic Sea, institutions and offices were established for that purpose in the territory of the Republic of Poland and in the Free City of Danzig. They all contributed to creating records, as their operations generated specific types of documentation. Their activities were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. Military operations and their postwar effects resulted in devastation of archives. The paper presents a summary of remaining records in the form of an archival guide, based on the directory of maritime authorities and institutions drawn up by the author. The guide ought to facilitate access to the preserved records and at the same time, indicate institutions, of which all records have been lost. The guide, therefore, covers the following authorities, offices and institutions undertaking activities related to the gained access to the Baltic Sea, existing on the eve of the outbreak of World War II, covered in 7 sections: a) Special (maritime) administration b) Merchant Navy. Polish Shipping Companies (state-owned companies) c) Maritime associations of high public utility d) Associations of shipping enterprises (transportation and freight forwarding) e) Special courts (maritime chambers) f) Maritime education g) The Polish Navy The analysis of the state of preservation of the records of maritime institutions and organisations operating before World War II shows that in the archives we can find 473 archival units created by the special (maritime) administration, as well as 1605 archival units created by state-owned merchant navy companies, 152 archival units by associations of high public utility, namely the Maritime and Colonial League, 601 archival units by maritime associations of shipping enterprises, 12 archival units created by special courts, 59 archival units by organizations dealing with maritime education and 1851 archival units by the Polish Navy. Not even one archival unit has been left of the records of 11 institutions and organisations enumerated in this paper. Even more I would like to invite readers to make contact in the case there being a possibility to enrich the current database, both in terms of information on saved records, and the lost ones.