The council and executive were responsible for all public matters not reserved for the state administration—the Starosty Office. The council operated through its presidium and committees. Bolesławiec had the following permanent committees: finance and budget, education, and social control. From 1948, the Municipal National Council had a departmental structure. These departments were: general affairs, finance and municipal economy, social affairs, and technical affairs. The Act of 20 March 1950 abolished Municipal Executives, transferring their powers to the Presidiums of Municipal National Councils. The records contain considerable information about the city's development. They include lists of Polish and German street names. Interestingly, many streets later changed their Polish names. There are lists of associations operating in the city; in 1946, for example, there were eighteen, ranging from political parties, through trade unions and the Women's League, to "Caritas" and the Association of Polish Merchants. There are also lists of members of these organizations.
4. District Liquidation Office, 1948–1951, 1 1 archival unit. The office was established on 1 September 1945 as the Temporary State Administration, subordinate to the superior authority in Świdnica. The RUL's task was to safeguard and secure former German property and collect rent arrears from private residences and commercial enterprises. While initially it fulfilled its statutory duties, as Stalinist terror grew in the country and the state increasingly followed the Soviet model, it also became part of the system. The records contain lists of former German property, including industrial plants as well as small craft workshops. From 1950 onward, successive lists document the taking over of small businesses from private owners.
The RUL also took over property confiscated by court judgments. Consequently, the records also contain verdicts handed down in political trials concerning city residents. The latter are certainly very incomplete. The RUL's methods of operation left much to be desired. Evidence of this can be found in the office's reports. A confidential report for 1945–1948 (from 1949) contains descriptions of the office's first two heads: ... The first report submitted by Deputy Head Citizen Mieczysław Węglicki on the RUL's activities from its establishment until the date mentioned above was not accepted by the District National Council, which strongly criticized the administration of the former heads.
1. Citizen Burkiewicz, with whom it was difficult to reach an agreement on any official matter.
2. Citizen Kościelski, who could almost never be found in the office; when he was on duty, he was in a state of complete intoxication, thereby entirely undermining the authority and dignity of the Liquidation Office." (Collection no. 57, archival unit 5, p. 13). The report also contains substantial information about cooperation with the Citizens' Militia and the Security Office, as well as about the personal benefits derived by the heads of these institutions. From the minutes of 5 April 1949, we learn about abuses by the head of the Security Office in Bolesławiec, Władysław Ciastoń, who, for this reason, was probably transferred to the Security Office in Wrocław in mid-1948. (All data according to the aforementioned minutes.) The RUL records list real estate transferred to the National Council. The council then transferred it to various institutions. To this day, the location of some properties can be traced back to those difficult times.
5. District Commissioner for the Land Tax, 1947–1955, 55 archival units. The commissioner's task was to collect the land tax. Therefore, the office's documents will mainly interest economic historians. They include work plans, minutes of inspections of municipalities, minutes of meetings with village heads, tax assessments, and a considerable number of land-tax collection ledgers.
The source base for the history of the region is substantial. The archive in Lubań does not hold documents produced directly by the Security Office and the Citizens' Militia, nor by political parties and religious associations. These institutions have their own archives, separate from the state archival service. The records of the State Repatriation Office in Bolesławiec are held at the State Archives in Wrocław. The PZPR records from 1975–1989 are currently being organized and will be made available at the State Archives in Jelenia Góra.
In the next part of the publication, I will present archival materials from 1950–1975. In preparing the records of the Municipal National Council and the Municipal Executive, I used the introduction to the inventory of this collection prepared by Danuta Margas.