Polish Consulate General in Jerusalem Konsulat Generalny Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w Jerozolimie (A.16)

Contains selected records of the Polish Consulate General in Jerusalem of the Polish government-in-exile.The Consuls General of the Polish Consulate General in Jerusalem were Witold Hulanicki (1936-1939), followed by Aleksy Wdziękoński (1939-1945).Includes records relating to deprivation of the Polish citizenship of Jewish soldiers in the Polish Army for desertion, activities within Jewish communities and contacts with different religious groups: Wolf Patron’s -- Jewish; Mustafa Alexandrowicz’s -- Muslim; Stanisław Funfstuk -- Christian. Also incorporates files of the Consul General, Hulanicki (correspondence, notes, copies of letters, list of payments). 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.