Alfred Wielopolski was belonged to a close group of people involved in creation of the beginnings scientific and cultural life in Western Pomerania. In Szczecin, with which the final connected his life after World War II, he was known above all as a devoted lecturer, inquisitive archivist, selfless social worker and activist of most scientific societies and institutions. An interesting information is that, he performed a number of important state functions in during the interwar period – such as holding the deputy chief of Wieluń, managing the Civil Secretariat of the President of the Republic of Poland or acting as the director of the Senate Office. Because of his birth, he was belonged to the strict elite of the landed gentry. In addition to diaries, from this period of his activity remained family correspondence located in the team of the Myszkow ordination of the State Archives in Kielce. It is a very valuable and interesting addition to the above memories. Reading epistolary allows us to see, what worries accompanied the young aristocrat during his studies, studies, military service and work. The materials describe happy and sad moments, they do not hide youthful weaknesses to alcohol or tobacco. They also describe love, often complicated in these difficult Times. In most cases, young Alfred shared his insights with his father, asking him for tips and advice. Description of military service and work in the state administration apparatus allows the reader to see the image, that has gone forever. This article is an attempt to quote the main content of letters interested in this period.

“A Bourgeois” in the Land of the Soviets. Georges Le Fèvre’s impressions of a journey to the Soviet Union

The text is dedicated to G. Le Fèvre, a French journalists and his account of his travel across the USSR in 1929. “Le Journal”, a popular Paris newspaper, published it under the title “Un Bourgeois au pays des sovièts”.

Senate of the interwar period in Republic of Poland and Czechoslovakia

The article is an attempt to compare the constitutional position of the second chambers of parliament in the interwar period in Poland and Czechoslovakia. It was the time of shaping the post-war order. The article shows differences and similarities between the two systems in regard to Senates, bearing in mind the similar political situation at that time, as well as the similarity of drawing patterns from the constitutional order of the Third French Republic.

Territorial self-government as a pillar of the democratic state – reflections on the idea of local self-government in the light of the self-governing traditions of the Second Republic of Poland

Territorial self-government has been widely analyzed in Polish literature of the interwar period. At that time, its three theories were formulated: naturalistic, state and political. The first one contrasted the self-government with the state, stressing that municipality is historically older than the latter and, as a result, independent; it is the state that derives its powers from the municipality, and not conversely. The second theory advanced a thesis that state power is exercised by state authorities, including through local communities with a separate legal status. Self-governance was thus to be expressed in the idea of decentralizing public authority. Although it identified self-government with state administration, the third theory demanded that self-governmental powers be exercised by independent officials, regarding their independence as a guarantee of effective exercise of the powers attributed to self-government. Investigations made at that time into the essence, nature, and form of self-government remained valid until the present day, determining democratic values as the basis for territorial self-government’s status in the current Constitution of Poland.