Rozmowa z Katarzyną Królczyk, dyrektor Archiwum Państwowego w Koszalinie
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00:00 Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Our guest today is Katarzyna Królczyk,
00:05 the Director of the Koszalin State Archive. Good morning.
00:09 Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
00:11 Director, Archivist Day is a closed event in the Koszalin State Archive.
00:17 However, it is a good opportunity to ask what the profession of an archivist is really about.
00:23 Is there a stereotype that an archivist sits in a cellar and catalogues documents? Is there something like that?
00:32 The Archivist Day that is ahead of us, which we will celebrate on 30 September,
00:37 but due to the fact that it is Saturday, we moved the celebrations to Friday, i.e. 29 September,
00:43 is one of the three most important holidays celebrated by the State Archives.
00:47 The first is the International Archive Day, which we celebrated in June.
00:51 The second is the Archivist Day, and the third is the Dachshund Day.
00:55 These three holidays, set by the Chief Director of the State Archives,
01:00 are very important for the State Archives, for the network of State Archives,
01:05 and we pay special attention to celebrating and celebrating in the right way.
01:11 This year, our events are addressed to the factory archivists,
01:17 people who are involved in the daily management of the factory archives and the components of the Act.
01:22 This is the first meeting we invite this professional group to.
01:27 Usually, our meetings were more aimed at family archivists,
01:32 i.e. private individuals who are also interested in history and want to know
01:37 how to protect their family monuments.
01:41 Here we want to put a focus on the factory archivists,
01:46 who do an extremely difficult and responsible job every day,
01:51 and unfortunately, I must say, they are often underrated.
01:56 So, under the slogan "The Archive Unites Us", we want to integrate this environment a little more,
02:04 so that the people who do this job every day
02:10 know that they always have support in the State Archives.
02:16 The editor-in-chief asked if this profession is associated with people working in the cellar.
02:24 Well, the cellar is not a place to store documentation,
02:28 but it still happens that the attic and the cellar are rooms
02:33 where we collect documentation that is not needed for current activities,
02:37 so the period of storing this documentation has not yet passed.
02:42 But for years we have been trying to cast a spell on this, let's say, bad image of an archivist.
02:51 I think that for people who deal with archivists every day,
02:56 it requires constant training, constant acquiring new knowledge.
03:01 In the 1980s, archivists were a completely different profession,
03:07 at the time of digitalization and electronic documents.
03:13 It is required by people who run the archives,
03:17 or who also supervise the management of documentation in the institutions where they work every day.
03:24 It requires constant training and acquiring new knowledge.
03:28 So it is certainly a demanding profession, I think not for everyone,
03:33 but I also think that it gives a lot of satisfaction and the possibility of continuous development.
03:39 Well, continuous development, but also a lot of documents, also electronic.
03:45 Someone might ask themselves the question, why collect so much?
03:49 There are so many documents, maps, both in paper and digital form.
03:54 What is the purpose of all this?
03:58 You don't collect everything.
04:01 Here is the wisdom and skill of people dealing with the management of documentation,
04:06 to skillfully value this documentation,
04:10 that is, to select from the entire produced documentation,
04:15 to choose what is the most important and the most important.
04:19 State archives are engaged in the acquisition, collection, storage,
04:23 and distribution of the most important documents,
04:27 that is, those that have a historical meaning,
04:30 that will never be subject to lack or destruction.
04:33 An institution that produces a given documentation,
04:37 can be said to produce such files in 80%
04:41 or after the passage of some periods of storage, they can be destroyed, missing.
04:45 These 20%, the most important documentation,
04:49 are the archival materials that go to the state archives,
04:53 and the state archives have the duty to secure and share them.
04:57 So what these 20% mean in a given institution,
05:01 whether state or self-government,
05:04 it also results from the work of archivists in the state archives.
05:07 We, through the approval of the so-called office-archival regulations,
05:12 indicate which part and what exactly from the documentation
05:17 produced in this institution will be considered archival material
05:21 and will have to be stored forever.
05:24 Therefore, we also require such knowledge
05:27 about the tasks performed in a given subject,
05:31 the type of documentation produced in this subject,
05:34 the knowledge of regulations regulating the rules of procedure,
05:40 often with such specific documentation,
05:43 whether medical or court documents.
05:46 That is why I say that this archivist is a person
05:49 who cannot be classified in this way.
05:52 I think it is unambiguously that it is only a person,
05:56 an employee who sits, translates documents,
05:59 because there are really a lot of tasks
06:02 that an office archivist must perform,
06:05 starting with the knowledge of the organizational structure
06:10 of a given subject or the regulations that apply there,
06:14 until such documents can be removed
06:18 or transferred to the state archives.
06:22 Among the thousands of collections that you have here
06:26 in the Koszaliński Archive,
06:29 are there any that you can particularly boast about,
06:32 which are especially valuable to you?
06:35 It is difficult for me to say which ones are especially valuable,
06:38 because it is known that we have all valuable ones.
06:41 This is the effect of the selection I mentioned earlier.
06:44 Only priceless materials come to us.
06:47 But certainly, when it comes to the history of our city,
06:50 and of course, because it has a reflection
06:53 on the history of our archive,
06:56 there are two pre-war groups,
06:59 the Koszalin City Act and the Koszaliński Agency.
07:02 Here, very often, on the basis of these archival materials,
07:05 exhibitions or publications are presented,
07:08 which the archive publishes.
07:11 And of course, the Polish record,
07:14 which is passed on after 1945.
07:17 Here, depending on what interest there is,
07:20 for example, some historical anniversaries,
07:23 we also reach for this resource.
07:26 It is difficult for me to say which ones are the most important.
07:29 Family souvenirs are also very valuable,
07:32 which our residents bring to our archives.
07:35 For some time now, the State Archives have been carrying out
07:38 a project called the Independent Family Archive.
07:41 Its aim is to draw attention to the particular value
07:44 of these family souvenirs.
07:47 We teach how to properly secure,
07:50 archive and describe our family albums.
07:53 On the other hand, we encourage people
07:56 to pass on such materials
07:59 to the State Archives.
08:02 We believe that they are extremely important
08:05 and it would be worthwhile to secure them.
08:08 We sign a gift agreement and take over such materials.
08:11 On the archive wall,
08:14 which surrounds our archive,
08:17 on the outside, there is an exhibition
08:20 which was created based on this type of document,
08:23 the Independent Family Archive.
08:26 I also encourage you to watch and follow this exhibition,
08:29 because it is still available to the residents
08:32 and there are also extremely interesting documents
08:35 from our resource.
08:38 Now let's move on to less obvious paths,
08:41 which are not so obvious for the viewers and the residents.
08:44 Namely, the film paths.
08:47 In Gdynia, a festival was recently held
08:50 "The Unwilling, the Unbreakable, the Cursed"
08:53 under the patronage of the IPN.
08:56 But contrary to appearances, institutions such as the State Archives
08:59 are needed by the film makers.
09:02 Recently, there was also an exhibition
09:05 of historical films,
09:08 which was held in the virtual reality.
09:11 This is another film path, less obvious, it would seem.
09:14 But what is the role of the State Archives
09:17 to establish contact with these creators,
09:20 to cooperate and contribute to the fact
09:23 that what these film makers propose
09:26 is simply better, more interesting and more mandatory?
09:29 The film festival, which Mr. Editor mentioned,
09:32 the NNW, is just ahead of us.
09:35 The film festival in Gdynia has just ended.
09:38 We are now before the international
09:41 15th NNW festival,
09:44 which will take place from Thursday
09:47 for three days until Saturday.
09:50 This year, the State Archives are an institutional partner
09:53 of this festival.
09:56 A big highlight for our Koszany Archive
09:59 was the invitation of our Archive
10:02 to participate in the festival.
10:05 In addition, my colleagues from the State Archives
10:08 will also participate in the debate.
10:11 We will share our experience
10:14 in the field of presenting
10:17 or cooperating with the media.
10:20 We will talk about our experiences
10:23 in which film materials
10:26 our archival materials
10:29 from our archive were used.
10:32 We will discuss whether it is a cyclical cooperation
10:35 or an occasional one.
10:38 What materials from the archive's archive
10:41 are most popular?
10:44 For example, a film about Jan Kustawisiński
10:47 was made in our Koszalin.
10:50 In this film, materials from our archive's archive
10:53 were also used.
10:56 We wanted to show our screenwriters
10:59 that it is worth reaching for the sources
11:02 because these materials are stored
11:05 in the State Archives' resources.
11:08 We want to show that this is nothing new
11:11 and that the archives have been doing this for a long time.
11:14 As I mentioned, this is a big highlight
11:17 for our three archives,
11:20 but we represent the network of State Archives
11:23 and we are the main source of information.
11:26 Is it worth reaching for?
11:29 As I mentioned earlier,
11:32 the most important document
11:35 that should be stored in the archive
11:38 does not necessarily have to be a document of a document.
11:41 We have different forms of these materials
11:44 and they can also be films, recordings,
11:47 electronic documents mentioned earlier.
11:50 The most important thing is the information
11:53 that is stored in the archive's material.
11:56 The carrier is not important,
11:59 but the information it contains.
12:02 That is why very often in the recorded film materials
12:05 we use fragments of films
12:08 stored in the State Archives' resources.
12:11 We also use sound recordings,
12:14 but also photographs and documents.
12:17 What will be offered to the residents?
12:20 What events, exhibitions
12:23 will the State Archives in Koszalin prepare for in the near future?
12:26 I think you should like our offer.
12:29 I would like to invite you to come.
12:32 The nearest one will be in October.
12:35 At the end of October,
12:38 in the Koszalin Public Library,
12:41 we will present our latest book,
12:44 "Maps of Koszalin. Before 1945".
12:47 It is a beautiful album edition,
12:50 where we will also present
12:53 an extremely valuable fragment of archival material
12:56 from our resources.
12:59 These are cartographic materials,
13:02 because it is also archival material,
13:05 not documentation, but cartographic materials.
13:08 It is a beautiful album edition.
13:11 We are already cooperating with the Koszalin artist,
13:14 graphic designer Mariusz Król.
13:17 He will also be responsible for the composition
13:20 and graphic work of this publication.
13:23 You will be able to follow how such a space in Koszalin
13:26 changed before 1945.
13:29 This is at the end of October.
13:32 The third important event,
13:35 which I mentioned earlier,
13:38 is the celebration of our archival Christmas.
13:41 These are people who privately
13:44 give us materials.
13:47 Not those official, but those in their possession.
13:50 On this day, we will be especially grateful
13:53 to all our archival Christmas gifts
13:56 and encourage other people
13:59 who would like to express their consent
14:02 to give extremely valuable souvenirs
14:05 to the archive.
14:08 It will be a signal that the archive
14:11 is also engaged in such activities.
14:14 Thank you very much for the interview.
14:17 Thank you.
14:20 [BLANK_AUDIO]