Date range
1928-1968
Biography / History
Roman Michalowski (1895-1974) was a noted Polish diplomat, a military officer in the Polish and in the American Armies (at the rank of colonel in the former and lieutenant-colonel in the latter), an employee of the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a lecturer at the Institute of Public Affairs in Charlottesville Virginia and at the New York University, a member and vice-president of The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America. Born in Poland in 1895, Roman Michalowski received his education in Cracow in the Gimnazjum Jana III Sobieskiego and subsequently during the academic year 1913/1914 at Oxford University. During the period 1921/1922 he remained a student of the École Supérieure de Guerre and the École des Sciences Politiques in Paris. He played a significant role in the Poland’s fight for independence. After joining the Brigade I of the Polish Legions as a private in January 1915, he took part in battles on the Eastern front. In 1917 he endorsed Pilsudski’s stand on the issue of non-cooperation with Austria and Germany. He became an active member of the POW (Polish Military Underground Organization) in 1917 and Jozef Pilsudski’s aide-de-camp in 1918. In 1920 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the 24 Infantry Division and in this capacity took part in the Polish -Russian campaign of 1920. After graduating from the École Supérieure de Guerre (1922), he was appointed Military Attaché in London (1923-1928) and then in Bucharest (1929-1932). In 1932 Roman Michalowski was transferred to the Polish diplomatic service and served as the Secretary and Counselor in the Polish Embassy in London and from 1938 as the Counselor in the Polish Embassy in Tokyo. In December 1939 he ceased his activity in the Polish diplomatic service and arrived in the USA, where he became the editor of a political monthly review ‘New Europe’ and in 1942 Deputy Director of The Research and Reference Division of The Interallied Information Center in New York City. He launched his career in the American Army (Gen. Jacob Devers’s 6 Army Group), taking part in the African, Italian, French and German campaigns as chief operational intelligence officer. After his final return to the USA in December 1945 he gave lectures at The Institute of Public Affairs in Charlottesville Virginia and at the New York University. In 1950 he became co-founder of The Polish Federalist Association. Awarded the Cross of Independence, the Cross of Valor four times and many others Polish and foreign military decorations, he died in New York City in 1974. Acquisition Note: Gift 2008.
Abstract
The fond consists of records documenting Roman Michalowski’s concern over the Polish issue at the background of international politics and functioning of the Soviet Union, as well as records of his diplomatic, military and scientific career. Documents are arranged in chronological order within every series. The collection is not complete – a part of Roman Michalowski’s archive is being stored in the Jozef Pilsudski Institute of America. Arrangement in Series: Papers, Publications and Source Materials; Professional Activity; Correspondence; Materials by Other People.
Language
Polish, English, French.
| No. | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Papers, Publications and Source Materials | ||
| 1 | Paper: 'If Hitler Wins'. | 1940-1940 |
| 2 | 'Paper on the Research Work in Connection with a New Order for Eastern and Southeastern Europe'. | 1940-1940 |
| 3 | Paper: 'Struggle of Europe 1939 - ?'. | 1940-1940 |
| 4 | Memo on the Polish issue with reference to 'Odbudowa Organiczna Polski' Organic Reconstruction of Poland by Prof. Stefan Ropp. | 1941-1941 |
| 5 | Paper: 'Some Implications of the Russo-German War. Hitler versus Stalin'. | 1941-1941 |
| 6 | Memo on the German problem in the postwar period. | 1942-1942 |
| 7 | Paper: 'Can democracy win the peace?'. | 1946-1946 |
| 8 | Paper: 'Europe's place in the world'. | 1948-1948 |
| 9 | 'Memo On Cultural Activities' - note related to the Soviet attack on cultural heritage of the subjugated nations. | 1951-1951 |
| 10 | Memo on the Europe's integration. | 1953-1953 |
| 11 | Paper: 'Russia - growth of power potential'. | 1958-1958 |
| 12 | Paper: 'Foreign policy of the Soviet Union'. | 1962-1962 |
| 13 | Background on the foreign policy of the Soviet Union - note. | |
| 14 | Paper: "Russia and the West. Historical Past. Strategy'. | |
| 15 | Source materials to the study: ''Russia and the West. Historical past. Strategy'. | |
| 16 | Paper: 'Soviet Armed Forces. Part I'. | |
| 17 | Paper: 'Soviet Armed Forces. Part II'. | |
| 18 | Paper: 'USRR Military Economy'. | |
| 19 | Texts of the articles published in 'The Polish Review': 'Poland and Europe: a German Appraisal' and 'Constans in Rusian Foreign Policy'. | |
| 20 | Press clippings - articles by Roman Michalowski. | 1941-1957 |
| 21 | Source materials: press clipings related to the world politics and economy. | 1933-1968 |
| 22 | Source materials: biographical note of Maria Bereda - Fijalkowska. | |
| 23 | Source materials: British statements on the Russian Entry into Poland and a memo on the negotiations with Russia in 1939 - excerpts. | 1939-1939 |
| Professional Activity | ||
| 24 | Exhibition of Piotr Michalowski's paintings in Warsaw - brochure, correspondence. | 1934-1934 |
| 25 | Report on taking over the Office of the Military Attaché at the Polish Embassy in London. | 1937-1937 |
| 26 | Diary 1939-1940 and press clippings related to the warfare in Europe. | 1939-1940 |
| 27 | Symposium Morale and Sabotage in the Occupied Territories held in the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia in 1941, July 3 - shorthand. | 1941-1941 |
| 28 | Observations and proposals on the Polish issue with reference to the debates in the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia in 1941. | 1941-1941 |
| 29 | Certification of the employment in the Inter-Allied Information Center in New York. | 1942-1942 |
| 30 | Notebook in alphabetical order - notes related to the political issues and representatives of the Polish emigration in USA; press clippings; letters. | |
| Correspondence | ||
| 31 | Letters received from The Anglo-Polish Society, The New York Times, Columbia University, New York University. | 1938-1957 |
| 32 | Letters by Roman Michalowski. | 1941-1957 |
| 33 | Letters received from correspondents whose surnames start with A-K. | 1928-1936 |
| 34 | Letters received from correspondents whose surnames start with M-S and from unrecognized senders. | 1933-1956 |
| Materials by Other People | ||
| 35 | Stanislaw Onufrowski’s complaint about the Polish General Consulate in Paris. | 1934-1934 |
| 36 | Text of Anthony Eden’s speech at the Foreign Press Association Dinner - copy. | 1937-1937 |
| 37 | Article: ‘Malta in the Past and in the Present’ by Henry C. Curmi. | 1941-1941 |
| 38 | Article: ‘Party and State’ by T. Zawadzki. |