The Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) is a Polish state institution dedicated to studying and popularizing Polish XX century history. We are the largest institution of this kind in the world, employing over 2000 people. Our headquarters are placed in the capital city of Warsaw. There are 11 branch offices in all larger cities around the country.
The Institute consists of six basic units:
- Archives which gather files of the Communist state security services and documents produced by Nazi-German occupation authorities and make them available to the victims of repressions, researchers and journalists
- The National Education Office dedicated to education and developing most recent didactic tecniques and methods
- The Office of Search and Identification which aim is to find and identify the remains of victims killed by the Communist authorities in the 1940s and 1950s.
- The Chief Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes Against the Polish Nation which conducts investigations on Communist and Nazi crimes committed from 1939 to 1990
- The Vetting Office which verifies vetting declarations of people running for public office in Poland.
- The Historical Research Office that carries out historical research projects and coordinates national and international coonferences on variuos subject concerning Polish and European History of the XX century.
We will be more than happy to share our experience with you.