Krzysztof Stryjkowski

A vast majority of entities, not only economic ones, operate in the private sector. In Poland, there are several million of them. They also produce documents, and in the future, some of these documents may become a valuable contribution to the national archival fonds. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the situation of these registries and to the way these documents are kept. Relevant consultations should be offered as part of these actions

France was the first country to establish a system of modern archives. The functioning of such facilities was supported by legal provisions to regulate both their organisation and the process of sharing the archival materials. The French solutions have been used by many archival services all around the world. The echoes of French provisions can also be found in the Polish Act on National Archival Resources and Archives. The current French law on archives was included in the Heritage Code, which encompasses other provisions regulating the protection and handling of cultural assets.

At present, banking documentation is a subject of interest for many parties. The practical value of this documentation has always been of prime importance, both for the bank and for its clients. With time, it also became a subject of interest for historians, particularly those specialized in economy. It turns out, though, that materials created by banks and their administrative bodies can also be of value for other researchers. Researchers interested in the final period of the Second World War and battles for Poznań will find this document informative, as it not only sheds new light on the situation in the city, but will also enable them to feel the atmosphere of those days. The document also shows the problems related to reconstructing the banking system and introducing the new currency, the Polish złoty (which replaced the German mark used until that point), in the capital of Greater Poland.