Chamber of Remembrance of the Polish Police Library of the Police Academy in Szczytno
Department of Academic Information
www.wspol.edu.pl/biblioteka
ul. Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego 111
12-100 Szczytno
Tel. (47) 733 58 46
Free admission
Opening times:
Mondays – Fridays: 8 am – 4 pm
Guided tours only (advance booking is essential). (Tours can be arranged for larger groups at other times – advance booking is essential).
Director of the Library: Małgorzata Książek MA
Custodians of the Chamber, Library staff: Aleksandra Szczęsna MA, Joanna Brzozowska MA, Marzena Kuciejczyk MA

The Chamber of Remembrance of the Polish Police at the Police Academy in Szczytno began operating on 15 November 2007. Originally it was located in the Community Centre of the Police Academy. Thirty illuminated display cabinets were installed, with mannequins, information boards, maps and boards with photographs, a television and DVD
player to screen documentary lms. There were also a Visitors’ Book, stands with brochures, chronicles and other exhibits which visitors could touch and even try on. Prof. Piotr Majer was custodian of the exhibits. The exhibition is now on display in a modern room in the new Library building of the Police Academy. It has been reorganized – the cabinets have been replaced and there are more exhibits on display. The exhibition now contains items related to the history and tradition of the academy. The objects on display in the Chamber of Remembrance are mainly from the Library’s collections. The most valuable items are the materials from the so-called Ostashkov Archives. The remaining exhibits are on loan from private individuals.
The exhibits have been divided into thematic groups, i.e.:
– The beginnings of the Polish police force: there is a commemorative book entitled Dziesięciolecie Polski Odrodzonej (10th Anniversary of the Rebirth of Poland) dating from 1928 and the Journal of Laws (Dziennik Praw) with the Act of 24 July 1919 on the State Police. Personal documents of pre-war policemen are on display such as certificates of citizenship, certificates, diplomas, personal photographs and publications on this period of history.
– Interwar police training – the display cases contain textbooks, course completion certificates, photographs of the staff and students of the Police School in Mosty Wielkie and Łódź.
– Objects related to the camp in Ostashkov and the Katyn Massacre. The most poignant items in this part of the exhibition are copies of letters written by people interned in Ostashkov. They are a personal and authentic testimony of that time and always provoke the interest of visitors. There is also a map showing the location of the PoW camps as well as places of execution and mass graves. There is photographic material of the exhumation in Mednoye where 25 mass graves were found. Also on display are the Mednoye Cemetery Books which were donated by Andrzej Przewoźnik, Secretary General of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites (Polish: Rada Ochrony Pamięci Walk i Męczeństwa) and a piece of a birch tree from the Cemetery in Mednoye – a gift of the Warsaw ‛Police Family Association 1939’. Another moving highlight in this group is the display case in which there is a photocopy of the report
of the work and photographs of the exhumation in Katyn in 1943, on which the bodies of those murdered are visible. An important part of this exhibition are the publications on this subject by scholars connected with the Police Academy because the Academy in Szczytno has for years given an important place to research into the history of the Polish Police.
– Photographic materials documenting the exhumation work in Katyn.
– Documents illustrating the fate of policemen and their families in the postwar period: letters, applications, photographs. Letters from the Polish Red Cross informing families that it has not been possible to establish the fate of a missing family member – a policeman – also draw the attention of visitors. Here visitors can also find the most significant Polish publications on research in this field.
– History of the School: there are photographs of all the academy’s commanders, photographs of their stamps and signatures, as well as photographs and souvenirs related to the functioning of the academy and the academy’s banner. There is a short publication related to the Remembrance Chamber of the Polish Police, which briefiy presents the history of the Polish Police force from the perspective of the exhibits on display. This idea of the organizers is much appreciated by many visitors. Students of the Police Academy, and schoolchildren from Szczytno and the surrounding area also visit the site.