Straty wojenne zbiorów bibliotecznych w Polsce widziane z państwowej perspektywy. Pomiędzy organizacją, polityką a etyką

Estimated calculations of the war losses suffered by Poland in the area of cultural goods are about 13,000 paintings, about 1,400 sculptures, about 125,000 manuscripts, 22,000 old prints, 25,000 maps and about 15 million books. Loss of library collections is estimated at around 66%. Many of them were irretrievably destroyed as a result of unplanned and planned actions of destruction and plunder of Polish cultural goods by the German and Soviet invaders. To this day, it is unknown, not only how many goods were lost, but what exactly. The article covers the topic of activities aimed at determining what has been done in this matter so far, starting from 1939 to 2019, broken down into three time periods: 1939-1945; 1945-1989; 1989-2019. Knowledge on this subject has been organized, the most important papers have been pointed out, and published publications. The measurable achievements and neglect of the Polish state in this respect were emphasized. The text focuses on the activities of two institutions: the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, subjecting them to a critical assessment, based on the literature and the report of the Supreme Audit Office. Particular attention was paid to ethical dilemmas related to the registration of cultural goods.