Powojenne losy księgarzy lwowskich w świetle akt... Komisji Weryfikacyjnej Związku Księgarzy Polskich
The post-war fate of Lviv booksellers in the light of the files of the Verification Commission of the Polish Booksellers Association

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the study is the fate of Lviv booksellers who were dispersed across the whole Poland within its new borders as a result of repatriation. Some of them went to the Recovered Territories (mainly to Wrocław, Bytom, Gliwice, Gdańsk, and Opole), while others went to Łódź, Cracow, and Warsaw. The end of the Lviv bookmaking era began during the Soviet occupation when large companies were nationalised and replaced with state-owned companies based on publishing houses, bookstores, and printing houses taken from their owners. Well–deserved establishments disappeared from the market. Under the German occupation, there were only four legal publishing houses offering books in Polish. In post-war Poland, the situation of Lviv booksellers who tried to reactivate their activities was difficult. Limitations on the amount of property possible to carry along meant that only a few managed to take scarce book collections, while the rest had to start from scratch. They established small bookstores and stationery stores and undertook publishing activities. Some of them took jobs in state institutions, encouraged by good financial conditions and managerial positions. Those who wanted to remain in the profession had to undergo verification by the Polish Booksellers Association. The preserved documentation of the work of the Commission is a valuable source for research on the beginnings of the reconstruction of the publishing and bookkeeping movement in post-war Poland and the fate of Polish booksellers during World War II.

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