Archiwum Księży Chrystusowców w Kurytybie
Archives of the Christ Fathers in Curitiba

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the resource of the Archive of The Society of Christ for Polish Migrants in Curitiba, which is poorly recognized in Poland. The text also presents the work done during the stay in Brazil in the spring of 2023 by KUL professors Tomasz Nowicki and Piotr Rachwał. It discusses the outstanding role of the Polish clergy in providing pastoral assistance to our compatriots in Brazil, and attention was drawn to the special role of The Society of Christ in securing valuable documentation after the activities of institutions, organizations created by Polish immigrants in Brazil, private persons who donated their collections to the archives in Curitiba. The materials that have been successfully inventoried and digitized have been divided into 12 series, and among the most valuable ones, there are fragments of archival fonds of the Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Curitiba, the Parana Colonization and Trade Company, as well as the legacies and collections from Dom Feliciano, private archives of Professor Ruy Christovam Wachowicz and Kazimierz de Vautour Sienkiewicz. In addition, there are stored archives created before 1939, which The Society of Christ saved from loss and destruction. This documentation has been created in the course of activities of several Polish organizations and schools in Brazil, namely the Kazimierz Pułaski Polish Association Society in Saõ Mateus, the Society of the Nicholas Copenicus Secondary School in Mallet, the Society of Physical Education “Junak” or the Association of Students “Sarmacja.” The Curitiba archive also contains post-war documentation of other Polish-Brazilian organizations operating before the Second World War (e.g., materials from the activities of Sociedade União Juventus or the Polish Cultural Charity Society in Brazil). Moreover, the article emphasizes that further searches for documentation produced by Polish immigrants to Brazil should also involve other archives and collections, including those that are stored outside Curitiba itself.

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