The Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile 1939–1990: A State Without Territory

For over half a century, Poland had two governments. One ruled in Warsaw, the other, unrecognized by most of the world, operated in Paris, at a castle near Angers, and later in London. The Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile was established in 1939 when the country was occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union. During the war, it directed the army, the underground state, and intelligence, and after 1945 it lasted for another 45 years as a symbol of the continuity of an independent state. It ceased operations only in December 1990, when its last president handed over the insignia of power to the president elected in free elections.

This guide explains how the government in exile was formed and on what legal basis, what it directed during the war, what changes were brought by Tehran and Yalta, who recognized it and for how long, whose money it operated on after the war, what real powers it had and which were merely symbolic, how the authorities of the People's Republic of Poland fought against it, and how the insignia were handed over at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Where sources differ or something could not be confirmed, we state this directly.

How the Government in Exile Was Established

On the night of September 17-18, 1939, after the entry of the Red Army, President Ignacy Mościcki, the government, and the Commander-in-Chief crossed the Polish-Romanian border near Kuty on the Czeremosz River. They were supposed to continue to France and conduct the war from there. Romania decided otherwise: the president, ministers, and Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły were interned. The head of a state that was still fighting under Warsaw was stuck abroad without the ability to act.

It might have seemed that this was the end of the state. Meanwhile, a story began that would last until December 1990.

Article 24, or the Safeguard of the System

The April Constitution of 1935, written with a strong presidential power in mind, contained a provision for wartime. Article 24 stated that in the event of war, the president's term would be extended "until three months after the conclusion of peace," and the president would designate a successor in a separate act, published in the government newspaper, in case the office became vacant before peace was concluded.

This seemingly technical provision turned out to be the foundation of the entire emigration statehood. Thanks to it, power could pass from hand to hand legally, without breaking continuity with the Second Polish Republic. Therefore, the Allies spoke not with a committee of refugees but with the legal organs of the state with which they had signed treaties before the war.

Four Days of General Wieniawa

Mościcki's first choice, however, was someone other than the later president. He designated General Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski, a former aide to Józef Piłsudski, then the ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Rome, as his successor. The act was announced in "Monitor Polski" on September 25, 1939. The nomination met with opposition from the anti-sanation opposition, centered in Paris around General Władysław Sikorski, and the French government, on whose territory the Polish authorities were to operate. Wieniawa renounced the succession, and on September 29, the decision to appoint him was revoked. Sources vary in counting the time of his "presidency": some say four days (from September 25 to 29), others one day. According to Polish studies, Mościcki's orders from those days were backdated to September 17 and indicated Kuty as the place of issuance – so as to maintain the continuity of state power.

Wieniawa's fate wrote a sad ending to this story. After the fall of France, he made his way through Portugal to the United States, and in the spring of 1942, he was appointed the envoy of the Republic of Poland in Cuba (sources indicate March or April), and on July 1, 1942, he died after falling from the terrace of a house on Riverside Drive in New York.

The President from Kutaisi

The second candidate was Władysław Raczkiewicz – born in 1885 in Kutaisi in present-day Georgia, a former Marshal of the Senate, several times Minister of Internal Affairs and Voivode, and since 1934 the President of the World Association of Poles Abroad. In September 1939, he arrived in Paris via Romania (he reached there on September 27), intending to go to the USA, where he was to organize aid for the country. Instead, on September 30, 1939, he took an oath in Paris as the President of the Republic. On the same day, he entrusted the mission of forming a government to General Władysław Sikorski.

Shortly thereafter, the president did something that the constitution did not require of him. On November 30, 1939, in a radio address, he announced that the powers that allowed him to act independently would be exercised "only in close consultation with the Prime Minister." This declaration, called the Paris Agreement, was announced on December 9, 1939, in "Monitor Polski." Lawyers still debate whether it was constitutional. This compromise, with later amendments, lasted essentially until the end of the existence of the emigration authorities. Raczkiewicz also designated his successor – General Kazimierz Sosnkowski.

Paris and the Castle near Angers

The first seat of the government was Paris. From November 1939, the authorities moved to Angers on the Loire, and the president resided in the neoclassical Pignerolle Palace near the city. According to Polish studies, the residence had extraterritorial status, so for several months, a piece of French land was formally treated as Polish territory.

The state also needed some equivalent of a parliament, and elections abroad could not be held. By decree on December 9, 1939, the president established the National Council – an advisory body, a semblance of parliament. It was headed by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a world-renowned pianist and statesman. The vice-chairmen were Tadeusz Bielecki, Stanisław Mikołajczyk, and Herman Lieberman. Paderewski died in New York on June 29, 1941. His coffin was placed in the crypt of the USS Maine monument at Arlington Cemetery – his remains returned to Warsaw only in 1992.

In France, the army was also being reconstituted. The Polish Army in France numbered, according to various estimates, from about 75,000 to 85,000 soldiers. The Allies – France and Great Britain, followed by other countries – recognized Raczkiewicz and Sikorski's government as the only legal authorities of Poland. They were not recognized by Germany and its allies, and until 1941, also by the USSR.

Escape to London

On May 10, 1940, Germany struck France, and after a few weeks, its army was defeated. Just before France signed an armistice (June 22), Raczkiewicz, at the invitation of the British government, sailed to Great Britain aboard a Royal Navy cruiser. By the end of June 1940, the president, the government, and the National Council began their official duties in London. The military fared worse: only part of the soldiers were evacuated – estimates range from about 19,000-20,000 to 35,000 people.

The early days in London were not calm. In July 1940, Raczkiewicz attempted to replace Sikorski with August Zaleski. Under pressure from the British, he withdrew from this decision on July 20 – the crisis lasted only a few days. On August 5, 1940, Sikorski and Winston Churchill signed a Polish-British military agreement that defined the status of the Polish Armed Forces in the Isles. The evacuated troops were stationed in Scotland, and Polish pilots soon distinguished themselves in the Battle of Britain.

A State That Functioned Without Territory

From 1939 to 1945, the government in exile was something much larger than a group of politicians in London offices: a state with an army, diplomacy, intelligence, treasury, schools, courts, and administration – with the difference that its main institutions operated in a foreign capital, while in the country they functioned underground.

The Military Abroad

The Polish Armed Forces in the West grew throughout the war. According to English-language estimates, by the end of 1944, they numbered about 165,000 soldiers (including about 20,000 in the air force and 3,000 in the navy), and by July 1945 – around 228,000. Polish studies provide slightly different numbers, e.g., 200,000-210,000 by the end of May 1945. In total, over 250,000 people passed through the ranks of the PSZ according to one estimate. After the agreement with the USSR in 1941, the army of General Władysław Anders emerged from Soviet camps and exile, forming the 2nd Polish Corps.

The Underground State as Part of One Whole

The least obvious, yet most important, was that the government in London had its counterpart in the occupied country. The Polish Underground State began on September 27, 1939, with the establishment of the Service for the Victory of Poland. The Home Army was formally part of the Polish Armed Forces, subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief in London. It grew rapidly: by the fall of 1941, the ZWZ had about 40,000 soldiers, by the end of 1942 about 200,000, and at its peak, the AK numbered around 400,000 soldiers according to estimates. However, the armament was modest – according to the same studies, the conspirators had about 53,000 pieces of weapons at that time, of which only 6 percent were automatic weapons.

Alongside the military, a civil administration operated: the Government Delegation for the Country. The Government Delegate (from 1944 in the rank of Deputy Prime Minister) led it, and under him worked departments corresponding to ministries – internal affairs, justice, labor and social welfare, and many others. The first delegate was Cyryl Ratajski, followed by Jan Piekałkiewicz and Jan Stanisław Jankowski. The underground had its own police (State Security Corps), courts whose verdicts were announced in underground press, secret secondary and higher education, and a press with the monthly "Rzeczpospolita Polska" at the forefront. Interestingly, nearly 30 percent of the Delegation's expenditures were consumed by the department of labor and social welfare – the underground state was largely engaged in simply helping people. On July 26, 1944, the National Council of Ministers was established in the country.

Communication between the country and London was maintained through radio and couriers. One of them, Jan Karski, visited the Warsaw ghetto in 1942, and in December of that year reported in London what he had seen, including to Szmul Zygielbojm.

Intelligence That Counted Among the Allies

Intelligence was one of Poland's most valuable contributions to the war. The most famous was the involvement of Polish cryptologists in breaking the Enigma code. On July 25, 1939, at a center in Pyry near Warsaw, the Poles shared their results with the French and British. The intelligence information obtained later from this source was called Ultra by the British. Less known are the numbers: according to studies, about 48 percent of the reports that British services received from continental Europe between 1939 and 1945 came from Polish sources – a total of about 80,000 reports. On the night of July 25-26, 1944, in Operation Most III, a RAF aircraft took key parts of the German V-2 rocket from occupied Poland, which had fallen over the Bug and was seized by the AK. The parts were sent to Great Britain.

The Gold That Traveled Half the World

One of the most extraordinary operations in the first weeks of the war was the evacuation of the gold reserves of the Bank of Poland. Sources provide different weights for the evacuated gold, most often around 75-80 tons. The total reserves of the Bank of Poland are also estimated differently: at about 77 tons or even 95 tons, with some of it already abroad before the war. In September 1939, the gold was transported from Warsaw, among other ways, by bus through Łuck to Śniatyn at the Romanian border. The evacuation was directed by, among others, Colonel Ignacy Matuszewski and Major Henryk Floyar-Rajchman. From the Romanian Constanța, the gold was shipped by British tanker "Eocene" to Istanbul, then by train through Turkey and Syria to Beirut, and from there by French ships to Toulon. By early October 1939, it reached the branch of the Bank of France in Nevers.

This was not the end of the journey. In June 1940, the French transported the gold to Dakar, and then about 800 kilometers inland to Fort Kayes in present-day Mali, under the control of the Vichy government. Only after the Allies landed in North Africa did the French admit where the gold was, and in 1944 it was handed over to Polish officials. Some went to New York, some to London, and some to Ottawa. One study indicates that the inventory in Dakar showed a shortfall exceeding 10 percent, which was never explained – this information could not be confirmed in another independent source. It is worth remembering that the gold was formally the property of the Bank of Poland, not the government as such.

Diplomacy, Passports, and a Degree from Edinburgh

The government maintained a network of embassies, legations, and consulates. One of the lesser-known episodes concerns the Polish legation in Bern. A group of Polish diplomats – envoy Aleksander Ładoś, consul Konstanty Rokicki, counselor Stefan Ryniewicz, and attaché Juliusz Kühl – in cooperation with Jewish organizations illegally produced passports of Latin American countries, mainly Paraguay, for Jews threatened with deportation. At least 1,056 Paraguayan passports were issued, covering at least 2,100 people. In 2019, the Pilecki Institute presented a list of 3,262 names of passport holders issued by the group. Estimates of the number saved by this action vary among researchers.

The government in exile also conducted education. Under an agreement with the University of Edinburgh, the Polish Medical Faculty was opened there on March 22, 1941. It was inaugurated by President Raczkiewicz, who was awarded an honorary law doctorate by the university on the same day. By its closure in 1949, 336 students had been enrolled, 237 completed their studies, and 227 obtained a medical degree (MBChB).

The Radio That Pretended to Broadcast from Poland

According to the biography of Stefan Korboński prepared by the IPN, from September 10, 1942, the radio station "Świt" (other studies date its broadcasts to 1943-1944) was heard on the airwaves. Listeners in occupied Poland had the impression that it was broadcasting from the country. In reality, the transmitter was located in England, near Bletchley. Current news was provided by the Civil Resistance Directorate of Stefan Korboński, which sent it to London via its own radio station, and from there it returned to the country as a "national" broadcast. Initially, only the Korbońskis and their radio telegraphers knew the truth about "Świt" in the country.

The Agreement with Moscow and Katyn

On June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the USSR, and Stalin, previously bound by a pact with Hitler, suddenly became an ally of Great Britain. On July 30, 1941, Sikorski and Soviet Ambassador Ivan Maisky signed an agreement in London that restored diplomatic relations, declared the Soviet-German treaties of 1939 regarding territorial changes in Poland null and void, provided for the creation of a Polish army in the USSR, and an "amnesty" for Polish citizens in camps and prisons. The agreement did not explicitly confirm the Curzon Line, which caused an uproar in the government. Among those who resigned were Foreign Minister August Zaleski, General Kazimierz Sosnkowski, and Marian Seyda, while President Raczkiewicz refused to sign it. The first National Council, opposed to the agreement, was also dissolved. In the new one, established in February 1942, sat, among others, Szmul Zygielbojm from the Bund, who committed suicide in London on May 12, 1943, as a sign of protest against the world's inaction regarding the extermination of the Jews, writing in a letter to the president and prime minister that he could no longer live and remain silent.

On April 13, 1943, German radio announced the discovery of mass graves of Polish officers in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk. On April 17, the Polish government appealed to the International Red Cross to investigate the matter. Stalin considered this cooperation with the Germans, and on April 25, 1943, the USSR severed diplomatic relations with the Polish government. Moscow only admitted to the crime on April 13, 1990. Preserved Soviet documents speak of 21,857 executed.

Gibraltar, July 4, 1943

Two months later, the government lost its leader. On July 4, 1943, at around 23:06 local time, shortly after taking off from Gibraltar, the RAF Liberator AL523, heading to London, crashed into the sea with General Sikorski on board. Among those who died were the prime minister, Chief of Staff General Tadeusz Klimecki, and British liaison officer Victor Cazalet. Only Czech pilot Eduard Prchal survived.

The British commission in 1943 found no evidence of sabotage and concluded that the cause was a blocked elevator control, but did not determine why this occurred. The Polish emigration commission also did not prove an assassination. Many hypotheses arose – from the aircraft being overloaded to sabotage – none were proven. In 2008, the IPN initiated an investigation, exhumed Sikorski's remains, and the autopsy ruled out gunshot, stab wounds, and strangulation, confirming injuries typical of a disaster. Experts neither confirmed nor excluded sabotage, and the investigation was closed in December 2013. Thus, the cause of the disaster was never definitively explained.

Mikołajczyk and Arciszewski

Stanisław Mikołajczyk became prime minister, leader of the People's Party (officially from July 14, 1943), and General Kazimierz Sosnkowski became the Commander-in-Chief. Mikołajczyk tried to negotiate with Moscow and in October 1944 heard from Molotov – in the presence of Stalin and Churchill – about the agreements made in Tehran regarding the eastern Polish border. He refused to agree to the Curzon Line and on November 24, 1944, submitted his resignation.

On November 29, 1944, 67-year-old Tomasz Arciszewski, a veteran of the Polish Socialist Party, became prime minister. His biography reads like a novel: in 1908, he participated with Józef Piłsudski in the action at Bezdan, during the occupation he led the underground PPS-WRN, and escaped from the country on the night of July 25-26, 1944, as part of Operation Most III (some biographies state July 17, which does not match the date of this operation), reaching London via Cairo on August 7.

Yalta and the Withdrawal of Recognition

Tehran: Decisions Without Poles

At the turn of November and December 1943, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met in Tehran. They discussed, among other things, the future borders of Poland – and this was done without the participation of representatives of the Polish government. According to reports, Roosevelt requested that the agreements regarding the Polish border not be disclosed to the Poles, as he was concerned about securing votes from Americans of Polish descent before the presidential elections in 1944.

The Lublin Committee Established in Moscow

In the summer of 1944, the Red Army entered the territories of Poland west of the Bug River. Stalin then created his own Polish authority. The Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN), led by Edward Osóbka-Morawski, was established in Moscow, and its manifesto was announced on July 22, 1944, by Radio Moscow and also printed in Moscow. For decades, the propaganda of the People's Republic of Poland claimed that the manifesto was announced in Chełm – in reality, the first members of the committee arrived there only on July 27 or 28. From August 1, 1944, the headquarters of the PKWN was in Lublin, hence the colloquial name "Lublin Committee." It was recognized only by the USSR. On December 31, 1944, it was transformed into the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.

Yalta, February 1945

From February 4 to 11, 1945, the leaders of the Big Three met at the palace in Livadia near Yalta in Crimea, where they determined that the eastern border of Poland would essentially follow the Curzon Line, and Poland would receive compensation in the west at the expense of Germany. The Provisional Government operating in Poland was to be expanded by including politicians from the country and from emigration, and then conduct free elections. On February 13, 1945, Arciszewski's government condemned these decisions as made without Poland's participation. The term "Yalta betrayal" became entrenched in independence circles. On March 21, 1945, the president dissolved the National Council.

Underground civil structures in the country lasted for several more months. The National Unity Council and the Delegation dissolved on July 1, 1945, which is considered a symbolic end to the Polish Underground State.

Provisional Government of National Unity

The implementation of the Yalta agreements took place in Moscow during talks from June 17 to 21, 1945. On June 28, 1945, the Provisional Government of National Unity (TRJN) was sworn in. The Prime Minister was Edward Osóbka-Morawski from the PPS, the first Deputy Prime Minister was Władysław Gomułka from the PPR, and the second was Stanisław Mikołajczyk, a former Prime Minister from London who returned to the country. At the time of the swearing-in, the cabinet consisted of 20 ministers. Mikołajczyk's peasants received only a few portfolios, while key ministries, including public security and national defense, were held by communists from the PPR.

July 5, 1945: The Day London Lost Recognition

The recognition of the TRJN came swiftly. France and Sweden recognized the new government on June 29, 1945. On July 5, 1945, the United States and Great Britain did the same, simultaneously withdrawing recognition from the government of the Republic of Poland in London. Other countries followed suit.

However, President Raczkiewicz did not resign. According to the 1935 constitution, he decided to continue the activities of the legal authorities of the Republic of Poland in exile. His successors upheld this decision until 1990.

Who Else Recognized the Government in London

Not everyone followed Washington and London. According to Polish sources, the TRJN was refused recognition by, among others, the Holy See, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Cuba, Lebanon, and El Salvador. Some compilations mention a broader group of countries that maintained contacts with the authorities in London even after 1947, but the nature of these relations varied greatly and did not always imply full diplomatic relations. Three cases are best documented.

• The Holy See. The ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Vatican was Kazimierz Papée from July 1939. After the death of Pius XII in 1958, the new pope, John XXIII, refused his accreditation, and Papée directed the mission as the Administrator of the Affairs of the Polish Embassy in the rank of chargé d’affaires ad interim from the end of 1958. The Holy See withdrew recognition from the government in exile only on October 19, 1972 – as the last state. In some studies, this day is considered the moment when the government in London ceased to be a subject of international law.
• Spain. It is commonly believed that Francoist Spain maintained relations with the government in London until 1968. Historian Jan Stanisław Ciechanowski demonstrated that the matter was more complex: Madrid did not withdraw recognition, but from 1945 to 1968 maintained semi-official contacts with the Polish legation, and its representatives did not appear on the official diplomatic corps list. He calls the belief in full diplomatic relations a myth. Interestingly, from 1955 to 1961, two Polish legations operated in Madrid.
• Ireland. A consulate general operating in Dublin was subordinate to the government in London. According to documents stored at the Hoover Institution, it was officially closed in March 1958 (in some studies, the end of recognition is noted as 1957). According to the same sources, there was even consideration of relocating the government in exile to Dublin, but nothing came of it.

Lebanon and Cuba also maintained contacts with the London government for some time after 1945, but the dates of the end of this recognition differ in various studies, and we have not been able to confirm them unequivocally in primary sources.

What Happened to the Embassies, Assets, and Gold

The withdrawal of recognition had immediate practical effects. Countries that recognized the TRJN closed their missions to the government in London, and the émigré authorities had to vacate the embassy building on Portland Place. The most important address for the emigration remained the president's residence at 43 Eaton Place, known as "the Castle," which served this function until 1990.

The assets of the London government were taken over by the Interim Treasury Committee established by the British. In October 1945, the British government informed the House of Commons that the committee had closed the Polish ministries in London, ended their political activities, and took control of all assets of the former government. At the same time, it took over the care of refugees, pensions for the disabled and widows, and the maintenance of Polish hospitals and schools in the United Kingdom.

The gold of the Bank of Poland deposited in New York, London, and Ottawa came under the control of the authorities in Warsaw after the change of recognition. According to reports, it never physically returned to Poland: in June 1946, a settlement was made with Great Britain regarding part of the pre-war and wartime obligations, and the remaining portion was sold or used by the People's Republic of Poland as collateral for loans over time. However, the exact fate of the entire asset is not fully researched, and the numbers in various sources do not match.

In 1946, it was time to dissolve the Polish Armed Forces – on May 24, 1946, President Raczkiewicz issued a message to the soldiers regarding their dissolution. Most of them did not return to communist Poland. According to the IPN, about 600,000 Poles found themselves in the West after the war, who became the support for the émigré authorities for the following decades.

Archives That Escaped Warsaw

Finally, the least spectacular but invaluable for historians: documents. A large part of the documentation of Polish authorities and institutions from the wartime period was sent shortly after the war to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California – precisely to prevent it from falling into the hands of Moscow-dependent authorities. The ambassador in Washington, Jan Ciechanowski, decided to secure the archival collections of the embassy after the withdrawal of recognition by the USA, transferring them to the Hoover Institution. According to the Hoover Institution, between 1999 and 2001, the contents of 18 such archival collections were transferred to Poland. From 1599 rolls of microfilm donated by Hoover, digital copies were made, and today over one and a half million pages are available online in the National Digital Archive.

In London itself, in 1945, the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum was established, now located at 20 Prince’s Gate. Its archive occupies about 2 kilometers of shelves and contains, among other things, documents of the government, military, and diplomacy from the wartime period.

Emigration after 1945

In the summer of 1945, the government in London lost what is most important for any government: the recognition of its allies. France withdrew its recognition on June 29, and Great Britain and the United States on July 5, 1945. It seemed that this was the end. Meanwhile, the president, government, and a semblance of parliament operated in London for another 45 years, until December 1990. They sustained themselves with the money of emigrants, gathered in ordinary London tenements, and argued among themselves so fiercely that for 18 years there were, in practice, two competing centers of power. Nevertheless, until the end, they considered themselves the only legitimate authority of the Republic.

The backbone of this state without territory became hundreds of thousands of Poles who remained in the West after the war (we discuss their numbers above) – its taxpayers, voters, readers of the press, and members of organizations.

Legal Basis: Article 24

The entire structure was based on the aforementioned Article 24 of the April Constitution of 1935: "In the event of war, the term of office of the President of the Republic of Poland is extended until three months after the conclusion of peace," and the president appoints a successor "in the event of the office becoming vacant before the conclusion of peace." Since from London's perspective, the war for Poland's independence had not ended, and no peace restoring Poland's sovereignty had been concluded, successive presidents appointed successors and thus passed on the office. Over time, even the formula was changed: in 1988, Kazimierz Sabbat appointed Ryszard Kaczorowski as his successor "in the event of the office of the President of the Republic becoming vacant before Poland regains independence." This was the legal theory. In practice, after 1945, the London authorities had no influence on what was happening in the country, and their significance was primarily political and symbolic.

Presidents: from Raczkiewicz to Kaczorowski

Władysław Raczkiewicz died on June 6, 1947, in Ruthin, Wales. The previously agreed successor was to be Tomasz Arciszewski from the PPS, but in his political testament, Raczkiewicz indicated August Zaleski, a pre-war minister of foreign affairs. This change triggered the first major split: the PPS left the government, and the independence emigration divided for years.

Zaleski took office on June 9, 1947. His seven-year term ended in 1954, but the president did not resign. Some studies note that this had "no legal basis in the provisions of the April Constitution." Zaleski invoked a state of higher necessity related to the so-called Berg affair – a scandal surrounding the cooperation of some emigration politicians with the CIA in 1952. On June 3, 1954, he rejected the Act of National Unity, which was supposed to reconcile the warring factions.

The response was the Council of Three, established in London in June 1954. The full powers of the president were formally granted to it only in 1956 by the Provisional National Unity Council. Its first members included General Władysław Anders, Tomasz Arciszewski, and Ambassador Edward Raczyński. The Council declared itself the collective head of state, while alongside it operated the Executive of National Unity, acting as the government. Zaleski's "government" and parliament remained on his side. For the following years, Poles in London thus had two competing authorities, and various figures such as General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Roman Odzierzyński, Alfred Urbański, and General Stanisław Kopański also joined the Council of Three in different years.

The dispute only subsided after Zaleski's death, who passed away on April 7, 1972, in London, after nearly 25 years in office. A year earlier, on February 24, 1971, he appointed Stanisław Ostrowski, a doctor and pre-war president of Lviv, as his successor. The Council of Three recognized this nomination and dissolved itself, with sources providing different dates: April 1972 or, as the IPN states, July 1972. According to the IPN, the unification of political centers of emigration was Ostrowski's most significant achievement.

Ostrowski then did something his predecessor did not: on April 8, 1979, after seven years, he handed over the office to Edward Raczyński. Raczyński held it until April 8, 1986, after which Kazimierz Sabbat took over, having previously served as prime minister for ten years. Sabbat died suddenly on July 19, 1989. On the same day, his previously appointed successor, Ryszard Kaczorowski, took the oath – the sixth and last president in exile.

Prime Ministers and the National Council

There were thirteen prime ministers after the war (counting Arciszewski, who took office in 1944), from Tomasz Arciszewski (until July 2, 1947) and General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1947–1949) to Edward Szczepanik (1986–1990). Some cabinets lasted a few weeks, while others – like the government of Antoni Pająk (1955–1965) or Kazimierz Sabbat (1976–1986) – lasted a decade. The professional biographies of emigration politicians are also interesting: Sabbat started his own plastic manufacturing company after the war, while Kaczorowski worked as an accountant for about 35 years.

The National Council served as the parliament. After the war, its successive compositions were convened by the president, and their names and formulas changed with the conflicts. In December 1953, the name of the National Council was changed to the Council of the Republic of Poland, whose members were elected on November 7, 1954. From 1971 to 1972, a transitional Council of State operated, and Ostrowski convened the V National Council in 1973 "for the time until Poland regains independence." The last, VIII National Council met for the first time on June 10, 1989, and dissolved itself in 1991.

Where it all took place

The government in exile had no government buildings. The president's residence, referred to by emigrants as the "Castle," was located during the war, among other places, at Bryanston Court at 56 Great Cumberland Place. After the withdrawal of recognition, the president and government moved to the former private residence of the president, a tenement at 43 Eaton Place – a plaque on the building indicates the years 1945–1990. It was there, in July 1989, that Ryszard Kaczorowski was photographed in his office. The center of social life for the emigration became the Polish Social and Cultural Center (POSK), opened in 1974 at King Street in the Hammersmith district. The Polish Institute and the General Sikorski Museum collected memories and documents.

Whose money was it

Without recognition, there was no state budget. Emigration therefore created its own: the National Treasury. According to some studies, it was established by a decree of President Zaleski on October 14, 1949, while historian Czesław Nowiński writes that the government created it as early as the end of 1948 under the official name "Polish Contribution." According to Nowiński, the name "National Treasury" was avoided to evade taxes and not irritate the British authorities. The first president was General Władysław Anders.

Poles around the world voluntarily "taxed" themselves for their state by purchasing bricks and making contributions. According to data from Edward Sołtys, cited by Professor Jacek Gołębiowski, from 1949 to 1958, $575,281 was collected: the most in Europe ($301,288, including $181,528 in Great Britain alone) and $176,349 in the United States. This money was used to maintain political, diplomatic, educational, and cultural institutions. Nowiński points out that revenues decreased over time, and the fact that the fund was registered under General Anders's private name raised doubts among some members of the Polish diaspora.

What this authority could really do

It is crucial to distinguish between theory and practice. In theory, the president in London was the head of the Polish state, issuing decrees, appointing governments, and announcing acts in the emigration's Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland, which was still published until the late 1980s. In practice, his decisions were binding only on those who voluntarily recognized them.

International recognition gradually dwindled until October 19, 1972, when the Holy See was the last to withdraw it (we discuss which countries recognized the London government longer above). According to "Rzeczpospolita," the London authorities maintained offices in Spain, Portugal, Lebanon, and Latin America for a long time and an informal network of over twenty delegates. Great Britain, although it did not recognize the government, did not sever contacts with it: the same newspaper reports that consultations with Poles took place, among others, before and after Margaret Thatcher's visit to Poland in 1988.

The most tangible competence was the awarding of decorations and promotions. Presidents in exile conferred orders, including the Order of the Rebirth of Poland. According to available compilations, from 1940 to 1990, a total of 6,160 Virtuti Militari orders were awarded in the Polish Armed Forces in the West, the vast majority of which were Silver Crosses. In the Third Republic, the Chapter of the Virtuti Militari Order, supplementing the lists of awardees, also recalled those awarded by the government of the Republic in exile. Presidents also promoted officers to higher ranks, although the army they could command no longer existed.

And passports? We have not found a credible source describing the systematic issuance of passports by the London authorities after 1945. In countries that did not recognize the government, such a document would not have any validity. Therefore, we do not resolve this issue.

How the PRL treated them

For the authorities in Warsaw, London was a hostile center that needed to be fought against and dismantled. On September 26, 1946, the Provisional Government of National Unity stripped General Władysław Anders of Polish citizenship and his general rank. The formal reason was the acceptance of "without the consent of the relevant Polish authorities" of an office in a foreign state, i.e., co-founding the Polish Corps of Preparation and Deployment. On the same day, citizenship was revoked from 75 other officers. The general was covered by a separate resolution when Deputy Prime Minister Stanisław Mikołajczyk pointed out that he was missing from the prepared list.

The PRL services operated among the emigration throughout its existence. The most well-known documented cases concern two prime ministers. Hugon Hanke, a member of the Labor Party, according to the findings of Professor Krzysztof Tarka (author of the book "Mackiewicz and Others. PRL Intelligence towards Emigrants"), cited by "Rzeczpospolita," voluntarily reported to the military attaché of the PRL in London in 1952, offering cooperation. He became prime minister on August 8, 1955, and in September, still as the sitting head of government, secretly traveled to Poland. On September 10, he was replaced by Antoni Pająk. His predecessor, Stanisław Cat-Mackiewicz, landed at Okęcie on June 14, 1956. According to documents from the IPN, cited by the dzieje.pl service, while negotiating his return, he maintained contact with PRL intelligence agent in London Jerzy Klinger and received from him £1,085 and $300 as "advances" for books. He did not want to become a formal agent, although reports from his interlocutor indicate that he willingly provided information.

Radio Free Europe and Polonia

An important channel of communication with the country was the Polish Broadcasting Station of Radio Free Europe, directed from 1952 to 1975 by Jan Nowak-Jeziorański. It was not a mouthpiece for the London authorities, and its director considered himself a partner rather than an official of the American management. According to dzieje.pl, the government and president in exile supported successive directors, and under Nowak, broadcasts were prepared by people associated with the emigration's PSL and PPS. The Americans, in turn, did not want conflicts with the emigration, "especially with the American Polish Congress."

The American Polish Congress was established in 1944 in Buffalo, and its first president, Karol Rozmarek, publicly condemned the Yalta agreements regarding Poland. Rozmarek met in London with President Raczkiewicz and General Bór-Komorowski, as documented by a photograph described in the Internet Polish Biographical Dictionary. Contacts continued until the end: KPA President Alojzy Mazewski received the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland from the authorities in exile in 1972, and after his death in 1988 – posthumously the Grand Ribbon of this order. However, we have not found a source that describes the formal position of the KPA regarding the recognition of the London authorities, so we do not attribute any official declaration to it.

Payments from America, Canada, Australia, and Africa to the National Treasury show that "Polish London" was for many emigrants something more than just an address in London. It was proof that the Polish state, which was no longer recognized by the powers, still existed – if only in a few rooms at Eaton Place.

Symbolic Return to Poland in 1990

The year 1989 changed everything, but not immediately. On July 19, 1989, the National Assembly elected General Wojciech Jaruzelski as president of the PRL. On the same evening, in London, President Sabbat died, and Ryszard Kaczorowski took office. Kaczorowski thus had a "competitor" in Warsaw, whom the London authorities could not recognize.

Changes accelerated in the country. On December 29, 1989, the Sejm restored the name Republic of Poland and the crown in the coat of arms, and the provision regarding the leading role of the party was removed from the constitution. Nevertheless, the government in exile stated in a statement on January 8, 1990, that "the structure of the state still rests on communist premises," and referred to Jaruzelski as an "all-powerful dictator." It demanded the swift conduct of free parliamentary and presidential elections. As historian Krzysztof Tarka notes, Poland entered 1990 with two presidents – in London and in Warsaw.

Election and Decision of London

The first general presidential elections took place on November 25 and December 9, 1990. In the second round, Lech Wałęsa defeated Stanisław Tymiński, gaining 74.25 percent of the votes. For London, this was the moment awaited since 1945. The IPN exhibition emphasizes that Kaczorowski recognized these elections as a manifestation of the freedom and democracy achieved by Poland and therefore decided to end the activities of the authorities in exile.

On December 20, 1990, Kaczorowski concluded the activities of the government and appointed a liquidation committee chaired by Prime Minister Edward Szczepanik. According to available studies, the committee completed the liquidation of emigration agencies by December 31, 1991. On December 21, the president delivered a speech in London. In it, he wrote that none of his predecessors "betrayed their oath of loyalty to our Republic," and concluded with the words: "Handing over the office of the President of the Republic from London to Warsaw, we confidently call out: Long Live the Most Serene Republic of Poland!"

December 22, 1990, at the Royal Castle

A special government Tu-154 flew to London for the president, his wife, and representatives of the independence emigration. At Okęcie, soldiers welcomed Kaczorowski with the shout "Hail, Mr. President." On December 22, 1990, Lech Wałęsa took the oath before the National Assembly, and then at the Royal Castle in Warsaw – the pre-war residence of the presidents – received the presidential insignia of the Second Republic from Kaczorowski. The transfer was documented in a protocol. Wałęsa said at that time: "The President of the Republic in Exile, the symbol of our sovereignty, is again at the Castle, in his residence."

What exactly was handed over? Sources list slightly different sets. Polish Radio mentions the presidential seals of the Republic, the Banner of the Republic, and state documents, including the original constitution of April 23, 1935. The IPN Przystanek Historia portal lists presidential seals, the Order of the White Eagle, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland, the banner of the President of the Republic of Poland, and state documents, including the original April Constitution. According to the IPN exhibition, these were presidential insignia saved by Ignacy Mościcki in September 1939.

What it meant

Legally, the situation was unusual. As the IPN points out, Kaczorowski handed over the insignia despite the lack of appropriate provisions in the April Constitution. Wałęsa was already sworn in before receiving the insignia – his authority stemmed from the elections and the constitution in force in the country. Therefore, the act at the Castle had primarily symbolic and political significance. According to the IPN, it emphasized the role of the emigration government in preserving the continuity of the sovereign Polish state from the Second to the Third Republic. The publication "Rzeczpospolita Polska," the organ of the London government, wrote at that time: "The Birth of the Third Republic." In the official protocol of the transfer of insignia, both presidents wrote: "The aspirations of several generations of Poles to ensure Poland's independent existence have been realized."

Not everyone believed that the state properly appreciated this moment. The author of a commentary published years later on the RMF24 service wrote that the authorities treated this act "in a manner disproportionate to its historical significance." This is an opinion, not a historical determination. The same author noted that today the date is remembered by "a handful of constitutional legalists." Kaczorowski himself said that the insignia were for London "both our legal asset" and a symbol of faith in the country's reconstruction.

What remains of the state in exile

The archives of the "Castle" at Eaton Place were taken over in 1991 by the Polish Institute and the General Sikorski Museum in London, which are still cataloged today. Some documents eventually made their way back to the country: in 2017, the Archive of New Records showcased about 50 boxes of materials transferred by the Institute, including original files from the Civil Chancellery of the President and the government of the Republic in exile, emigration Journals of Laws, and documents of the National Council. At the Royal Castle in Warsaw, a Cabinet of Polish Authorities in Exile was established with portraits of the six presidents and some furniture and memorabilia from the office at 43 Eaton Place.

The act of May 30, 1996, granted Kaczorowski the rights and privileges of a former president. On November 12, 2022, the remains of Presidents Raczkiewicz, Zaleski, and Ostrowski were brought from the cemetery in Newark and laid to rest in the Mausoleum of the Presidents of the Republic in Exile at the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw. Ryszard Kaczorowski, who spent much time in Poland after 1990, died on April 10, 2010, in a plane crash near Smolensk, on his way to the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre.

Interesting Facts

• Oldest President. Edward Raczyński took office at the age of 87 and resigned as a 94-year-old. He died in London on July 30, 1993, at the age of 101 years and 7 months, which according to the IPN makes him the oldest and longest-living president of the Republic of Poland in exile.
• The President Who Gave Away the Palace. At the end of 1990, Raczyński established the Raczyński Foundation in Poznań and donated the palace and park in Rogalin, as well as the rights to the Rogalin Gallery, which contains over 300 paintings. He was buried in the family mausoleum in Rogalin.
• Death on the Way to the Subway. President Kazimierz Sabbat left his residence at Eaton Place on July 19, 1989, around 7:00 PM and collapsed on his way to the Sloane Square subway station around 7:20 PM. The cause of death was a heart attack, confirmed at Westminster Hospital. This occurred on the day when General Jaruzelski was elected president in Warsaw.
• A Grave That Did Not Return. Sabbat is buried in Gunnersbury Cemetery in London, near the Katyn Memorial. In the Warsaw Mausoleum of the Presidents of the Republic of Poland in Exile, he has only a symbolic grave.
• Virtuti Militari for the Victims of Katyn. By decree issued in London on November 11, 1976, President Stanisław Ostrowski posthumously awarded the Virtuti Militari War Cross collectively to all soldiers and police officers murdered in Katyn. The cross was placed on the Katyn Memorial in London.
• Two Treasures in One. During the split, General Anders subordinated the Main Commission of the National Treasury to the Council of Three. President Zaleski dissolved it and established a new one, so for a time there were effectively two commissions collecting money for the same state.
• Dispute Over Orders. In a statement from March 11, 1969, published in the émigré Journal of Laws, the government in London accused the Council of Three of unlawfully awarding the Order of the Rebirth of Poland, as according to the 1921 law, this right belonged only to the president.
• Tax for Solidarity. A significant portion of the National Treasury's funds went to the National Aid Fund, which was used by, among others, KOR and "Solidarity." During martial law, the emigration organized additional collections.
• Citizenship Given Back Twice. The government of Piotr Jaroszewicz repealed the resolution stripping Anders of citizenship in 1971, but the decision was never published. Formally, the resolution from 1946 was only repealed by the government of Mieczysław Rakowski on March 15, 1989 – nearly 19 years after the general's death, who was buried at Monte Cassino.
• The President Signed General Maczek's Promotion. According to the IPN, Ryszard Kaczorowski never met General Stanisław Maczek, but as president, he signed his last promotion – on November 11, 1990, to the rank of general.
• Carpets from Isfahan. In the Polish Government in Exile Office at the Royal Castle, there are carpets made between 1943 and 1944 in Isfahan by Polish women who escaped from the USSR.
• The Banner That Did Not Return to the Mast. The Banner of the Republic, whose design was established in 1927 and which flew over the Royal Castle, survived in exile and returned to the country in 1990. However, in the Third Republic, it was never restored as the symbol of the head of state, and the banner modeled after it is a military insignia. Petitions to the Senate (including one from 2016) were unsuccessful, and in 2019, its supporters protested about this in Warsaw.
• The Same Plane? According to the dzieje.pl service (PAP), the Tu-154 that brought President Kaczorowski's delegation from London in December 1990 was the same plane that crashed near Smolensk in 2010. This is possible: the aircraft from Smolensk (Tu-154M with serial number 90A837, later with tail number 101) was built in 1990 and entered Polish military aviation that same year. However, we were unable to find a document confirming that it was indeed the one that flew to London in December 1990, so this information remains unverified.