Polish Association of the Former Political Prisoners of Nazi Prisons and Concentration Camps (PZBWPHWiOK) was set up in 1946 on the initiative of the former Polish political prisoners of German Nazi concentration camps, prisons other places of confinement during World War II. PZBWPHWiOK was officialy registered in Warsaw on May 31st, 1946.

Three years later, following the decree of Politburo of the Polish United Workers’ Party, our organization, as well as the other Polish veterans associations, was dissolved. There was a new, state-controlled organization: the Society of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy (Polish: ZBoWiD – Związek Bojowników o Wolność i Demokrację), and no independent, non-govermental veterans associations were allowed to exist any more.

The dissolution convention took place on August 31 st, 1949. There were 230 000 members in our association that time. Among them about 50 000 joined ZBoWiD as its autonomous Circle of the Former Prisoners of Concentration Camps. The other former members of PZBWPHWiOK remained unstructured, out of any organization.
All the property of our association was taken by state-controlled ZBoWiD.

Following the ’89 crash of political system and the fall of communism in Poland, we succesfully managed to recreate PZBWPHWiOK. Our association was registered again on January 11, 1990. Four years later, on March 31st, 1994, the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland confirmed the administrative continuity of our association dating from 1946. Unfortunately we didn’t get back all the former properties of PZBWPHWIOK. Nowadays our activity is limited by the lack of money, so all the donations will be apreciated with gratitude and thankfulness.