ORGANIZATION OF ACTIVITIES AND PERSONNEL COMPOSITION OF THE PRISON IN THE TOWN OF WIŚNICZ, KRAKÓW VOIVODSHIP, II RZECZPOSPOLITA (SELECTED ASPECTS)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24919/2519-058X.36.339339Abstract
After World War I, in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe an integral part of the state-building processes was the formation of penal service (penitentiary system) – an integral component of any state law enforcement system. Interwar Poland – the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (II Rzeczpospolita) was no exception, where even before the declaration of independence restoration, the formation processes of penitentiary system were traced. The purpose of the article is to study selected aspects of activities organization and personnel composition of the prison in the town of Wiśnicz, Kraków Voivodeship of II Rzeczpospolita. The research methodology is based on the use of general scientific and specifically historical research methods, including problem-chronological, synchronous, diachronic, comparative and historical, etc. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that the authors attempted, based on unpublished archival materials, to highlight selected aspects of the organization of activities and personnel composition of the prison in the town of Wiśnicz, Kraków Voivodeship in II Rzeczpospolita.
Conclusions. Thus, the prison in Wiśnicz was an integral part of the penitentiary system of II Rzeczpospolita. Between the two world wars, this prison evolved from one of the largest penal institutions of the state to the prison of a new profile – “a prison – a craft institution” with broad resocialization opportunities. The penitentiary institution under study was designed to imprison 580 people, but it was often overcrowded and on the eve of World War II there were almost 860 people.
During the period under analysis this prison was headed by S. Sledzewski, under whose leadership numerous assistants, inspectors, guards, and office employees worked. The prison staff also included auxiliary personnel – doctors, teachers, and clergy. The staffing level of the prison in Wiśnicz was around 90 – 100 people and was insufficient for the proper functioning of this institution due to its constant overcrowding. At the same time, the prison employees tried to perform their duties properly, which is confirmed by the documentary materials we have analyzed.
Key words: Poland, Wiśnicz, prison, penitentiary system, organization, personnel.
References
Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie [National Archives in Krakow – ANK].
Derzhavnyi arkhiv Brestskoi oblasti [The State Archive of Brest Region – SABR].
Derzhavnyi arkhiv Hrodnenskoi oblasti [The State Archive of Grodno Region– SAGR].
Derzhavnyi arkhiv Volynskoi oblasti [The State Archive of the Volyn Region – SAVR].
Czerwiec, M. (1939). Więzienie zakład rzemieślniczy w Wiśniczu [The prison craft factory in Wiśnicz]. W Służbie Penitencjarnej, 1, 3–4. [in Polish].
Księga jubileuszowa więziennictwa polskiego 1918 – 1928. (1929). Księga jubileuszowa więziennictwa polskiego 1918 – 1928. [Jubilee Book of the Polish Prison System 1918–1928]. Pod. red. Ż. Bugajskiego. Warszawa: Nakładem Związku Pracowników Więziennych Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. [in Polish].
Pawlak, K. (1995). Więziennictwo polskie w latach 1918 – 1939 [The Polish Prison System in the Years 1918 – 1939]. Kalisz: Centralny Ośrodek Szkolenia Służby Więziennej. [in Polish].
Pawlak, K. (1999). Za kratami więzień i drutami obozów (Zarys dziejów więziennictwa w Polsce) [Behind the Bars of Prisons and the Bars of Camps (An Outline of the History of the Prison System in Poland)]. Kalisz: Centralny Ośrodek Szkolenia Służby Więziennej. [in Polish].
Razyhrayev, O. (2020a). Povsiakdennia viaznia v penitentsiarnykh zakladakh II Rechi Pospolytoi: vybrani aspekty (za materialamy Volyni ta Skhidnoi Halychyny) [Everyday life of a prisoner in penitentiary institutions of the II Polish Republic: selected aspects (based on materials from Volyn and Eastern Galicia)]. Ukrainskyi istorychnyi zhurnal – Ukrainian Historical Journal, 2020, 4, 85–96. DOI: 10.15407/uhj2020.04.085 [in Ukrainian].
Razyhrayev, O. (2020b). W obronie więzionych komunistów. Czerwona Pomoc Zachodniej Ukrainie: struktura organizacyjna i działalność na Wołyniu i w Galicji Wschodniej w okresie międzywojennym [In defense of imprisoned communists. Red Aid to Western Ukraine: organizational structure and activities in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in the interwar period]. Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość, 1, 252–274. doi: 10.48261/pis203511 [in Polish].
Razyhrayev, О., Rudyanin, І., & Kunytskyy, М. (2021). Diialnist Mizhpartiinoho sekretariatu borotby za amnistiiu politychnykh viazniv u mizhvoiennii Polshchi v 1926 – 1928 rr. (na prykladi Volyni ta Skhidnoi Halychyny) [The activity of the Inter-Party Secretariat of the Struggle for Amnesty of Political Enemies in Interwar Poland in 1926 – 1928 (on the example of Volhynia and Skhidnoi Halychyna)]. Storinky istorii – History Pages, 52, 224–237. DOI: 10.20535/2307-5244.52.2021.236163 [in Ukrainian].
Razyhrayev, O. (2022a). Kształtowanie się służby więziennej na Wołyniu oraz w Galicji Wschodniej w latach 1918 – 1923 [The development of the prison service in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in 1918 – 1923]. Przegląd Nauk Historycznych, 1, 301–321. DOI: 10.18778/1644-857X.21.01.10 [in Polish].
Razyhrayev, O. (2022b). Z regionalnej historii więziennictwa II Rzeczypospolitej. Więzienie karne w Drohobyczu na Górce w latach 1918 ‒ 1939. Wybrane zagadnienia [From the regional history of the prison system in the Second Polish Republic. The Drohobych penal prison on Górka in 1918 – 1939]. Przegląd Nauk Historycznych, 2, 159–189. DOI:10.18778/1644-857X.21.02.05 [in Polish].
Razyhrayev, О. (2023). Svit za gratamy. Penitentsiarna systema na Volyni ta v Halychyni u 1918–1939 rokakh [The world behind bars. Penitentiary system in Volhynia and Halychyna in 1918 – 1939]. Drohobych: Kolo. [in Ukrainian].
Rozporządzenie Ministra Sprawiedliwości. (1928). Rozporządzenie Ministra Sprawiedliwości z dnia 22 czerwca 1928 r. o wykonaniu rozporządzenia Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej z dnia 7 marca 1928 r. w sprawie organizacji więziennictwa [Regulation of the Minister of Justice of 22 June 1928 on the implementation of the regulation of the President of the Republic of Poland of 7 March 1928 on the organization of the prison system]. Dziennik Ustaw Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, 64, poz. 591. [in Polish].
Urbański, K. (1997). System penitencjarny II Rzeczypospolitej a więźniowie polityczni (na przykładzie województwa kieleckiego) [The penitentiary system of the Second Polish Republic and political prisoners (based on the example of the Kielce Voivodeship)]. Kielce: Kieleckie Towarzystwo Naukowe. [in Polish].
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
