This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Third Silesian Uprising. On the occasion, we would like to remind our members and supporters that the Institute has been keeping the personal records of the Silesian Insurgents for almost eighty years. Our collection no. 8 contains 12 running meters of files (839 archival units).
The aforementioned documents are adequately prepared and secured in the archives of the Institute. Before the war, the personal files of the Silesian Insurgents were kept in Warsaw and later saved during the September Campaign. Afterward, they were taken to the USA via Portugal and found their way to the Piłsudski Institute, reborn in New York in 1943. The collection consists of thousands of documents: name records of insurgents with an account of their division into individual battalions and companies; records of officers and non-commissioned officers, doctors, paramedics, telephonists, clerks; as well as reports, orders, and maps. Letters and books of the sick, wounded and killed have also been preserved. Between the years 2002-2008, the Piłsudski Institute in America and the General Directorate of State Archives in Poland undertook the conservation of the collections, microfilming, and digitization. Currently, some of the materials are available online.
The Third Silesian Uprising
On the night of May 2 to the 3rd of 1921, Poles living in Silesia, led by Wojciech Korfanty, took up arms for the third time as they did not want to accept the unfair division of Silesia that the plebiscite carried out on March 20, 1921. The fights lasted two months - the insurgents managed to take over almost the entire plebiscite area. The most significant battles took place near the Św. Anna mountain. As a result of this upheaval, the Council of Ambassadors decided on a more favorable division of Silesia for Poland: 29 percent of the land and 46 percent of the population, Additionally, the industrial cities: Katowice, Świętochłowice, Pszczyna as well as 53 mines and 9 steel plants were awarded to Poland.
Let's remember the participants of the Silesian Uprisings!