UK restricts access to files of 250,000 Polish veterans
The British government is restricting access to the personal files of over 250,000 soldiers from the Polish Armed Forces who served in the West. Relatives of these veterans are petitioning the authorities for greater access.
What do you need to know?
- Restricted access to files: The personal files of more than 250,000 soldiers from the Polish Armed Forces in the West are being restricted by the British government. These files are held in the archives of the UK Ministry of Defence.
- Petition movement: A petition addressed to the UK government has garnered over 1,700 signatures. Should the petition reach 10,000 signatures, a government response will be mandatory. Signatures will be collected until 17 October 2025.
- Importance to veterans' families: These documents are vital to veterans' families, but obtaining them is challenging. The response time exceeds a year, and only those who can prove kinship are granted access.
Why is access to the archives restricted?
The petition has already been signed by more than 1,700 individuals. If it amasses 10,000 signatures, the UK government will be required to provide an official response. People can continue to sign the petition until 17 October 2025.
The service records of up to 250,000 Polish military personnel are housed within the British Ministry of Defence's archives. These records are stored on a military base, inaccessible to the public, with contact limited to electronic means only.
Dr Aneta Hoffman, president of the Remembering Signs Foundation, has highlighted through the newspaper that the response time for requests exceeds a year. Access is limited to veterans and their relatives, who must first demonstrate their familial connection to the veteran.
Dr Hoffman explains that she was not able to access such documents herself. Nonetheless, she emphasizes that these records, written in Polish and continuously updated during service, offer valuable information.
She notes that veterans were previously provided with only short certificates summarizing their records. Still, more recently, families have begun receiving scanned images or photocopies of registration cards from members of the Polish Armed Forces.
Can Polish archives access these records?
The absence of comprehensive lists of Polish Armed Forces personnel makes the British-held records a particularly valuable resource for information and documentation regarding the service of thousands of Poles during the Second World War.
