Archive of Warsaw Reconstruction Office
Documentary heritage submitted by Poland and recommended for inclusion in the Memory of the World Register in 2011.
© The State Archives of the Capital City of Warsaw
After reconstruction: entrance to Old Town Market Square
The reconstruction of Warsaw the capital city of Poland, in the years 1945-1953, was an outstanding achievement by architects, conservators, artists and workers, and also a meaningful social phenomenon. As a result of the rebuilding, Warsaw, a city doomed to disappear and suffering programmed destruction for ideological and political reasons in times of Nazi occupation, became the symbol of an “invincible city”.
It also showed the significance of heritage for the shaping of social identity and creating a new meaning to monuments preservation. In this sense, the reconstruction of Warsaw became a precedent that was constantly discussed and affected decisions on similar actions undertaken in a lot of countries until today.
The “Archive of Warsaw Reconstruction Office” (“BOS Archive”) kept at the State Archives of the Capital City of Warsaw is a testimony of a nearly complete destruction of the city and its rebuilding.
It encompasses a collection of documents depicting the reconstruction of Warsaw and the destruction of the city in the period of World War II (1939-1945), as a result of warfare in 1939, during the Ghetto Uprising in spring 1943, and Warsaw Rising in August-September 1944, as well as the intentional burning and demolition of the city by special forces of the German army in the period of October-December 1944.