The Pilecki Institute (Polish: Instytut Pileckiego; full name Instytut Solidarności i Męstwa imienia Witolda Pileckiego, lit. Witold Pilecki's Institute of Solidarity and Courage) is a Polish government institution in care of preserving the memory, documenting and researching the historical experiences of Polish citizens and increasing awareness regarding totalitarianism in the 20th century.[1] Its patron is Witold Pilecki.[2]

Pilecki Institute
Instytut Pileckiego
Formation2017
HeadquartersWarsaw, Poland
Location
  • 17 Foksal Street
Region served
Republic of Poland
Official language
Polish
President
Wojciech Kozłowski
Budget
75 million PLN
Websiteinstytutpileckiego.pl/en

The organization has been called Polish Yad Vashem.[3]

Activities

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Research

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The Research Department initiates and participates in interdisciplinary research projects devoted to totalitarianism and the history of Poland in the 20th century. The Institute gathers researchers who specialize in political science, sociology, history and Jewish studies. It gathers and publishes documents concerning its scope of interests, provides support for scientific research, especially connected to the victims of Nazism and Communism. The studies are concerned primarily with World War II and its consequences. The Institute also translates into Polish the most important works on totalitarianisms.[4]

Education

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The Institute carries out educational projects and events.[vague][5]

Commemoration

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The Pilecki Institute commemorates persons who were murdered for providing aid and assistance to Poles and Jews during the World War II. Under “Called by Name” project were honoured e..g. Jadwiga Długoborska, Lucyna Radziejowska.[6] On recommendation of the Institute, the President of Poland bestows the Virtus et Fraternitas Medal,[7] the Eastern Cross, and the Western Cross.[8]

Organisation

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The Pilecki Institute was established by the Polish Parliament on 9 November 2017,[1] and following year incorporated the Witold Pilecki Center for Totalitarian Studies.[9] On 2017 the institute was given a one-time lump sum of PLN 75 million (roughly $18.7 million) by the Polish parliament, which was used to launch the institute and cover operational expenses through 2019. In 2020, the institute received a specified-user subsidy of PLN 20 million (roughly $5 million) from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Its aim is to analyse the importance for the history of the 20th century of the Nazi and Soviet totalitarian regimes and the global consequences of their actions.[10] The Institute is supervised by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.[1]

The Institute is governed by the director – Wojciech Kozłowski. A consultative and advisory body to the Director of the Institute is the Council of Memory whose members are appointed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Amongst them are, e.g.: Grzegorz Berendt, Sławomir Dębski, Jan Ołdakowski, Albert Stankowski. The chairperson is prof. Zofia Zielińska.[11]

The Institute is divided into:

  • Department of Archives
  • Education Department
  • Promotion and Production Team
  • Personnel Department
  • Research Department
  • Publishing Department
  • Personal Data Controller
  • Accounting Department
  • Competitive Tendering
  • Film Projects Team
  • Translation Team
  • Library
  • Press Office
  • Administrative Department
  • Raphael Lemkin Center for Documenting Russian Crimes in Ukraine
  • Berlin Branch

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c "Ustawa z dnia 9 listopada 2017 r. o Instytucie Solidarności i Męstwa imienia Witolda Pileckiego". prawo.sejm.gov.pl (in Polish). 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  2. ^ "Our patron - Instytut Pileckiego". instytutpileckiego.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  3. ^ Mrozek, Witold (8 February 2018). "Rząd tworzy "polskie Yad Vashem". Instytut Solidarności i Męstwa będzie walczył o dobre imię Polski i honorował pomagających Polakom". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
  4. ^ "Instytut Pileckiego. Research". instytutpileckiego.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  5. ^ "Edukacja - Instytut Pileckiego". instytutpileckiego.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  6. ^ "Pośmiertnie uhonorowane za "heroiczną postawę wobec zagłady Żydów"". TVN24.pl (in Polish). 2019-06-29. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  7. ^ "Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 22 października 2018 r. zmieniające rozporządzenie w sprawie opisu, materiału, wymiarów, wzorów rysunkowych oraz sposobu i okoliczności noszenia odznak orderów i odznaczeń" (PDF). prawo.sejm.gov.pl (in Polish). 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  8. ^ "The medal - Instytut Pileckiego". instytutpileckiego.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  9. ^ "Centre for Research on Totalitarianism im. Witolda Pileckiego – Centre for Research on Totalitarianism im. Witolda Pileckiego". obnt.pl. 2018-07-04. Archived from the original on 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  10. ^ "Instytut Pileckiego". instytutpileckiego.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  11. ^ "Instytut Pileckiego. Rada Pamięci". instytutpileckiego.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
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