News

Yesterday, after more than two months of conservation works at the Warsaw based Gorek Restauro company, 78 archival units of Wehrmachtauskunftstelle für Kriegerverlusteund Kriegsgefangene (WASt, or Wehrmacht Information Office for War Losses and Prisoners-of-War, established in Berlin in 1939) ensemble returned to the Museum.

Archives from the stalags: V B Villingen, IV B Mühlberg, V C Offenberg, V C Wildberg, V D Strassburg, V E Mülhausen and VI A Hemer were undergoing conservation treatments aimed at securing them from further deterioration and inhibiting destruction processes. Their mechanical strength was also increased (through structural reinforcement and raising the pH level of the paper), while aesthetic qualities were restored, and the historic character of the documents preserved. The works involved, among other things, elimination of surface soiling and deformation, removal of old repairs, mass deacidification, repair of mechanical damage, and making of protective packaging.

The conservation of documents, together with the simultaneously developed digital data base at the Museum, are often the only source of information thanks to which Polish families can learn about the wartime fate of their POW relatives. It is an essential part of our documentation work.

These activities were co-financed from funds of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.