Institute of National Remembrance

This article is about the Polish institute. For other uses, see Institute of National Memory (disambiguation).

Institute of National Remembrance
Instytut Pamięci Narodowej
AbbreviationIPN
Formation18 December 1998 (25 years ago) (1998-12-18)
PurposeEducation, research, archive, and identification. Commemorating the Struggle and Martyrdom. Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation.[1]
HeadquartersWarsaw, Poland
Location
  • 1 Kurtyki Street
Region served
Republic of Poland
Membership
Staff
Official language
Polish
President
Karol Nawrocki
Main organ
Council
Affiliations
Staff
Several hundred
Websitewww.ipn.gov.pl
RemarksThe IPN Headquarters in Warsaw co-ordinates the operations of eleven Branch Offices and their Delegations

The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (Polish: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state research institute in charge of education and archives which also includes two public prosecution service components exercising investigative, prosecution and lustration powers. The IPN was established by the Polish parliament by the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance of 18 December 1998[2] through reforming and expanding the earlier Main Commission for the Investigation of Crimes against the Polish Nation of 1991, which itself had replaced the General Commission for Research on Fascist Crimes, a body established in 1945 focused on investigating Nazi crimes established in 1945.[3][4]

In 2018, IPN's mission statement was amended by the controversial Amendment to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance to include "protecting the reputation of the Republic of Poland and the Polish Nation".[5] The IPN investigates and prosecutes Nazi and Communist crimes committed between 1917 and 1990, documents its findings, and disseminates them to the public.[6] Some scholars have criticized the IPN for politicization, especially under Law and Justice governments.[7][8]

The IPN began its activities on 1 July 2000.[9] The IPN is a founding member of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience.[10] Since 2020, the IPN headquarters have been located at Postępu 18 Street in Warsaw. The IPN has eleven branches in other cities and seven delegation offices.[11]

  1. ^ Remembrance, Institute of National. "Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation". Institute of National Remembrance. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference IPNabout was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Tismaneanu, Vladimir; Iacob, Bogdan (2015). Remembrance, History, and Justice: Coming to Terms with Traumatic Pasts in Democratic Societies. Central European University Press. p. 243. ISBN 978-9-63386-092-2.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hackmann was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Full text of Poland's controversial Holocaust legislation". The Times of Israel. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Nauka polska: Instytucje naukowe – identyfikator rekordu: i6575". Archived from the original on 16 May 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
  7. ^ Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, Jolanta. "The uses and the abuses of education about the Holocaust in Poland after 1989.", Holocaust Studies 25.3 (2019): 329-350.
  8. ^ Goddeeris, Idesbald (2018). "History Riding on the Waves of Government Coalitions: The First Fifteen Years of the Institute of National Remembrance in Poland (2001–2016)". The Palgrave Handbook of State-Sponsored History After 1945. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 255–269. ISBN 978-1-349-95306-6.
  9. ^ Instytut Pamięci Narodowej (12 June 2015). "15 lat Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej w liczbach". Komunikaty. Archived from the original on 22 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  10. ^ Czech Prime minister Petr Nečas (14 October 2011). "The years of totalitarianism were years of struggle for liberty". Platform of European Memory and Conscience. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  11. ^ Remembrance, Institute of National. "Branch Offices and Delegations". Institute of National Remembrance. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.