Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for the Investigation of Crimes against the Polish Nation does not get involved into political arguments and is not a carrier of any political interests. The results of its work are to serve the truth, freedom and remembrance, and thus should serve the long-term interests of the Polish Nation and Polish State. This however, does not imply that the Institute is free from a public political assessment. None public institution is and should be. The assessments of the Institute often refer to its mission.

With regard to the activities of the Institute of National Remembrance from its inception to the end of the second report year of its existence, namely to the end of June 2002, following facts should be emphasized:

• The Institute independently, due to its own invention and good co-operation with the representatives of state and self-government authorities got hold of, renovated and adapted its premises, on the basis and within the budgetary means;

• The Institute accumulated a significant part of important archival record groups which constitute its statutory resources. Where necessary, the Institute secured the documents against further biological or mechanical degradation. The Institute has been intensely working to conscientiously elaborate the accumulated documents. It also prepared and launched the process of making records available to the repressed people in the first case;

• The Instituteωs prosecutors conducted 1271 investigations, including 245 in the cases of Nazi crimes, 937 in the cases of Communist crimes and 89 in the cases of other war crimes as well as crimes against humanity. In terms of evidence and organizational matters these crimes are particularly complicated. The prosecutors interrogated next to 8000 witnesses in the period from July 1st, 2001 to June 30th, 2002. In the same period 18 indictments were directed to courts, in the next 29 cases prosecutors presented 49 defendants with charges. One extradition application was issued. In two cases the trials were concluded by sentences. Some of the cases which are now in the process have not had any precedence and judgments in these cases will constitute a significant contribution to the development of a legal culture of a democratic state;

• The Institute has become a constant and vital center of historical and patriotic education of the Polish youth;

• In the activities of the Institute, combatantsω circles find support and the Institute offers a forum for other organizations of soldiers and veterans of the war and fight for independence as well as of democratic opposition in the post-war period;

• Within the two years of its existence, the Institute has become an important research center. This success is a result of significant scientific conferences, six publication series and two important periodicals. The Institute has been carrying out its research programs which focus on important events and phenomena of the 1939-1989 years. The Institute co-operates closely with the Institute of History and the Institute of Political Studies at the Polish Academy of Science and with a majority of Polish universities, on the basis of appropriate co-operation agreements;

• The Institute has initiated a substantive co-operation with its counterparts in other countries (Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and the USA). Where no counterpart institutions have been established, the Institute co-operates with historians and archivists, which is the case of Russia and Ukraine. The Instituteωs prosecutors co-operate closely with the German Center for Prosecution of Nazi Crimes in Ludwigsburg, with the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Department of Justice in the USA. The Instituteωs prosecutors co-operate, within the frames of legal assistance, with prosecutors from Germany, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, USA, Canada, Israel and Great Britain. At the service of truth, the Institute has become an element of a reconciliation of the Polish Nation with German, Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Belarussian and Jewish nations.

The Instituteωs Budget

For the year 2001 the Instituteωs budget equaled 84 694 thousand PLN. The Institute realized the budget in 95 %, spending 83 421 thousand PLN. This was assessed by the Supreme Chamber of Control in Poland as aω rational administering of public means in the realization of its missionω. The execution of the budget met also a positive response from the Parliamentary Commissions for Justice and Human Rights and for Public Finance.
The limitation of the Instituteωs budget in the year 2002 caused a slow down in the processes of document elaboration, public education (exhibitions, seminars, workshops, trainings and publishing projects) and delayed the adaptation and renovation work in the Instituteωs buildings.

Prosecution of Crimes

The policy of the investigative department of the Institute was accepted by the Council of the Institute of National Remembrance. The statutory responsibility of the investigative unitωs prosecutors is the conduct of investigations in the cases of Nazi and Communist crimes as well as crimes against peace, humanity and war crimes. The statute of the Institute of National Remembrance ω Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation defines Nazi and Communist crimes. The crimes described in the law are prosecuted in the international law as the war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide crimes. The prosecution of crimes against Communist officials was accepted by the European Court of Human Rights which in the sentence of March 22nd, 2001 in the case of Streletz, Kessler and Krenz against Germany noted that ωthe problem Germany had to deal with after reunification as regards the attitude to adopt vis-à-vis persons who had committed crimes under a former regime has also arisen for a number of other States which have gone through a transition to a democratic regimeω. In this judgment the Court considered that ωit is legitimate for a State governed by the rule of law to bring criminal proceedings against persons who have committed crimes under a former regime; similarly, the courts of such a State, having taken the place of those which existed previously, cannot be criticized for applying and interpreting the legal provisions in force at the material time in the light of the principles governing a State subject to the rule of lawω. The Court accordingly took the view that the applicants, who, as leaders of the GDR, had created the appearance of legality emanating from the GDRωs legal system but then implemented or continued a practice which flagrantly disregarded the very principles of that system, cannot invoke the protection of Article 7 ω 1 of the Convention. ωTo reason otherwise would run counter to the object and purpose of that provision, which is to ensure that no one is subjected to arbitrary prosecution, conviction or punishmentω.

Similarly, like this is in Czech Republic and Germany, the Instituteωs prosecutors prosecute only such deeds which were forbidden by the biding criminal code at the time of their commitment. At that time, like this is today, it was forbidden to , according to Polish law and UN conventions ratified in Poland, physically abuse people during investigations, to sentence them on the basis of not binding law, or to be in charge of mass repressions and associations showing traits of criminal character within the state structures.

Institute of National Remembrance ω Commission for the Investigation Crimes against the Polish Nation prosecutes these crimes which were committed against people of Polish citizenship, regardless of the place of their commitment, as well as against the victims of other nationalities, committed in the territory of the Polish State.

Investigations whose subject-matter concerns Nazi, Communist and war crimes, initiated by the Instituteωs prosecutorsω on the basis of their own preliminary information as well as on the basis of requests submitted by victims, witnesses and other subjects. A prosecutor makes a decision to launch an investigation in all the cases, in which there exists a legal qualification of a crime which subjects the crime to the prosecution of the Institute of National Remembrance.

The Institute continues a series of investigations in the cases of Nazi crimes. Approximately 95% of these investigations in the cases of Nazi crimes and other war crimes concern victims of Polish nationality. The following current investigations can be mentioned: the case of germanisation of Polish children, Nazi crimes in Fort VII in Pozna񬠴he crime in Ponary near Vilnius as well as the crime of murdering by the soldiers of SS Galizien and Ukrainian nationalists of approximately one thousand inhabitants of the village Huta Pieniacka. The last crime is treated as the crime against humanity. The investigations include also deportations of Poles inside the territory of the Soviet Union.

A substantive part of criminal proceedings in the case of Communist crimes consists of investigations in the case of crimes committed in Poland in the Stalinist period. The priority of these cases results from the advanced age and poor health condition of the victims, witnesses and perpetrators of these crimes. Prosecutors conduct also thorough and painstaking activities which, because of various reasons, do not end in the launch of an investigation.

The service of the Instituteωs prosecutors is specific as compared to the state prosecutors. This results from the necessity of knowing the historical context of the prosecuted crime as well as law and judgments which were binding at the moment of committing a crime. Sometimes there is a need to interrogate hundreds of witnesses which in turn has to be preceded by a painstaking process confirming personal data, finding them out and interrogating, often in their place of residence. Thus, a majority of the cases conducted by the investigative unit of the Institute should be compared, because of their scope, to investigations conducted in the cases of organized crimes and economic crimes by prosecutors representing appellate and regional prosecutor offices. This results from the fact that the crimes can be characterized by the multifaceted and complex offence mechanisms, number of victims and perpetrators as well as the fact that they were perpetrated on behalf of the state authorities by the state officials and thus they constitute the category of the state crime. The Instituteωs prosecutors have to conduct labor-consuming archival research in the national, ministerial and military archives. Additionally, the prosecutors conduct the whole process of investigation, and are not aided by the police in the area of determining facts which are the subject matter of the investigation. Without any doubt the Instituteωs prosecutors, more that any other prosecutors, while accumulating evidence need to rely on legal assistance of justice and other institutions of other countries. Records pertaining to the closed cases consist of several to several hundred volumes.

In many proceedings, victims who were interrogated in the capacity of witnesses expressed their moral satisfaction coming from the fact of the legal qualification of the crime which was assumed by the Instituteωs prosecutors. The witnesses emphasized many times that the testimony that they could deliver in the presence of the prosecutor is the only form of recording their past experiences that often traumatized their whole ensuing lives. The cases that did not end in filing an indictment against perpetrators to the court, due to various reasons, gained a label of ωhistorical investigationsω which depicts their character and goals only to some extent.

Preservation and dissemination of documents

The task of preserving and disseminating record produced by Polish and foreign state security organs in the years 1939-1989 stems from the constitutional duty of the state authorities described in articles 61 and 51 of the Polish basic law. According to these provisions as well as provisions coming from the statute on the Institute of National Remembrance ω Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation., the Institute must also take into account demands imposed by the law on the protection of classified information, personal data and protection of persons and their possessions. These tasks are carried out by the archival department of the Institute which consists of the Office of Preservation and Dissemination of Archival Documents, branch offices of preservation and dissemination of archival documents and record preservation and dissemination units in the Instituteωs delegations. On June 30th, 2002, 439 archivists were employed at the archival department of the Institute, and 150 archivists out of that number in the Office of Preservation and Dissemination of Archival Records.

In the period from June 30th, 2001 to July 1st, 2002, the priority of the archival department was to get hold of and make accessible the documentation in the way it is expounded on in the statute on the Institute of National Remembrance. Despite the clear provisions included in the statute, the former owners of the acts of the state security organs were not prepared to transmit the records to the Institute. The painstaking archival work was thus shared by the archivists of the former owners of the acts and the archivists of the Institute to speed up the process. The Institute was engaged in the take over of the documentation from the State Security Office, Military Intelligence Services and special military units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration as well as court archives and prosecutorsω offices. The collection of the Office of Preservation and Dissemination of Archival Records consist also of acts totally or partially taken over from the archives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, Police, Military Intelligence Services, Border Security Guards, Central Military Archives and the Archives of the Institute of the Ministry of National Defense, Archives of the Air and Air Defense Forces in Modlin, Archives of the Land Forces in Warsaw, Archives of the State Security Office in Warsaw and its delegations in Olsztyn and Radom, court archives and prosecutor offices in the Warsaw region, Chief Police Office, former Higher Police School for the Secret Security Service in Legionowo and the Warsaw regionωs Voivodship Police Office in Radom, Central Management of the Penitentiary, Highest Court as well as of documentation donated by various people (mainly recollections and reports concerning the Nazi and Communist repression times).
The regular process of taking over the records by the branch offices of preservation and dissemination of archival documentation was fully launched in the third quarter of 2001. This was conditioned by the prior process of preparation and securing proper premises where the acts were to be preserved.
On July 1st, 2001, the Institute got hold of less than half of the documentation (46,3%) which was envisioned to be taken over by the statute on the Institute of National Remembrance (which is 94, 128 meters of acts). In the period from July 2001 to June 2002 the documentation resources were increased by 253%. On June 30th, 2002 the resources amounted to 46, 722 meters, 46,9 % out of which were accumulated in the archives of the Office of Preservation and Dissemination of Archival Records in Warsaw, and the rest in nine branch offices of the Institute. The documentation resources of the archives place them at the top position among national archives dealing with national archival resources.
Only some parts of the acts directed to the Institute of National Remembrance have been streamlined. Some part of the records was damaged and needed intensive renovation. The archival proceedings necessitate at least partial streamlining of the documentation (binding, pagination) and thus the process of taking over the documentation is being prolonged.
From the beginning of February 2001 to the end of June 2002 more than eleven thousand people requested the access to records which were accumulated by the former security organs. In the period from July 2001 to June 2002 4813 requests were filed. They are being dealt with on the basis of chronology of submission, with taking into account the priority principles as established by the IPN Council. In the period discussed certificates were issued or further documentation was made accessible to 459 people. In the cases of 251 people in which no relevant documentation was found certificates were issued stating that these people were not repressed.
A repressed person can study the selected records in the IPN premises. The names of informers and state officials in the documents are substituted by numbers. If a repressed person demands this, copies of documentation are issued which do not include the names of informers and state officials. In the period discussed, 39 people submitted requests in the office of Preservation and Dissemination of Archival Records. The preparation of the requested documentation lasts from some to several months, depending on the complexity of the case.
Employees, collaborators or official of the state security organs who submitted proper requests together with their statements of co-operation with the state security organs are informed about documents concerning these people which are in the possession of the Institute. However, these people have no access to the documentation. They can receive copies of the employment certificates or of official opinions concerning their service. In the period under discussion, the Institute issued 41 certificates on employment, service or co-operation with the state secret services to officials, employees or collaborators of the former state security organs.
In the period under discussion, 28 237 other applications were received by the Institute which requested access to documentation on legal and private entities. In the same period, 31 618 answers were given out by the Institute. In order to do so 109 168 research procedures were launched. In the same period, 24 016 archival entities were disclosed and several hundreds of microfilms and photographs were made accessible both in Warsaw and in the branch offices.

Educational and Research Activities

In the period under discussion (July 2001 ω June 2002) a Plan of Activities of the Public Education Office of The Institute of National Remembrance ω Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, adopted by the IPN Council, was carried out. The Plan included national, supra-regional and regional programmes carried out by the central and branch Public Education Offices. The following national programmes were carried out: List of the Repressed and Sentenced to Death 1944-1956; Conspiracy and Civil Resistance in Poland 1944-1956. Dictionary of Biographies; Martial Law ω a Glance after Twenty Years; War and Occupation 1939-1945; Repressions against Peasants and Peopleωs Movement in the Years 1944-1989; Extermination of Jews in the Polish Territories; Security Apparatus and Civil Resistance 1944-1989.
In the process of carrying out research programmes Public Education Office organized or co-organised 39 conferences as well as academic and popular-scientific sessions. Openings of exhibitions in various Polish towns were often accompanied by such sessions. Conference topics varied and their choices resulted from the realization of the research programs and social needs as well as from the need to fulfill educational goals of the Institute. Among the most important conferences one should distinguish: Martial Law ω A Glance after 20 Years (Warsaw, December 13th, 2001) with the participation of President of Poland Aleksander Kwaωniewski, Action ωWisωaω (Krasiczyn, April 18th-19th, 2002) under the auspices of the President of Poland, Peopleωs Movement in the Service of Poland 1939-1989 (Lublin, November 29th, 2001) under the auspices of the Vice Prime Minister of the Polish government Jarosωaw Kalinowski , Political Opposition 1976-1980 from Todayωs Perspective (Warsaw, June 10th ω 11th, 2002) with the participation of main opposition activists, System of Stalinist Repressions in Poland in the Years 1944-1955. Repressions in the Navy (Gdynia, October 25th ω 26th, 2001) co-organised with the participation of the Polish Navy Command.
Regardless of the engagement in the realization of national and local programmes, Institute of National Remembranceωs researchers conducted individual research in line with the statute on the Institute of National Remembrance. In the discussed period 450 scientific elaborations and other publications (books, articles and reviews) were issued by the employees of the Public Education Office. Seven employees of the educational unit of Public Education Office received their PhD degrees and two of them were appointed professors. Moreover, some habilitation procedures are under way.
The educational unit of the Public Education Office prepares the IPN Bulletin which has been appearing every month since February 2001. Its circulation is 2-3 thousands depending on the topic and it is directed to selected institutions, media, libraries and individual people who are interested in the particular topics covered by current issues. The first issue of the scientific periodical Remembrance and Justice has also appeared on whose scientific board there are the most distinguished historians dealing with the recent times of Poland. In the frames of publishing activities eleven books were published, including as extensive volumes as Conspiracy and Civil Resistance in Poland 1944-1956. A Dictionary of Biographies (volume one).
In the school year 2001/2002 various educational activities were initiated which were addressed directly to history, contemporary society and Polish language teachers as well as the school youth. Educational packets were prepared for the teachers which included, apart from a detailed elaboration on a particular topic, also rich bibliographies, lessonsω scenarios and other teaching aids. Two educational packets were published while the next five of them will have appeared by the end of the year 2002.
Employees of the Public Education Office presented to school students around 300 speeches on the most difficult problems of the most recent history of Poland. Lessons in museums combined with visiting the exhibitions in several dozens of places in Poland were also conducted. Film reviews accompanied by panel discussions and 19 history competitions conducted by branch public education offices were most popular among the youth.
The topics of the 23 exhibitions organized by the Public Education Office were varied and presented unique and extensive photographic documentation and archival materials. The exhibitions are mobile and are exposed with a great success especially in small towns in the territory of the whole country. They constitute important cultural and medial local events. Often the exhibitions are organized in the co-operation with museums and combatantsω organizations.
A majority of initiatives launched by the Public Education Office have met a strong support of the local self-government authorities which assist in the organization of exhibitions, conferences and competitions by providing buildings, logistic help as well as sponsoring prizes and active participation in educational undertakings. Units of the Polish Army have also provided assistance, which has been especially valid in the case of the Gda񳫠Pomerania region. Many educational activities have been an effect of co-operation with non-government organizations, including the scout organizations.
One of the most significant events was the creation at the Institute of a Historical Club of General Stefan ωGrotω Rowecki comprising combatants, repressed people but also youth associated with the scouts training units, historians and teachers. The main goal of the Club is to inform about the most recent results of historical research as well as investigations conducted by the IPN.

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In the Resolution on measures to dismantle the heritage of former communist totalitarian systems, adopted on July 26th, 1996 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, it is stated that it is not easy to leave behind the communist heritage consisting of over-centralization, militarization of civilian institutions, bureaucratization, monopolization, forced collectivism of various forms of social and economic activities as well as enforced blind conformism. The Resolution stipulates the means of dismantling the communist heritage which contribute to the creation of the free market economy, the rule of law, democracy and the human rights and to the prosecution of crimes committed in the communist totalitarian times, lustration procedures as well as opening of secret files. Such activities serve to strengthen democracy and the rule of law.
Democracy and the rule of law cannot be built by denying responsibility and guilt. As expertsω opinions say the democratic political culture requires