Dr Józef Korpała. Nieznane fakty w biografii zasłużonego organizatora krakowskiego bibliotekarstwa

Abstract

With the onset of the People’s Poland, pre-war democratic or sanatian activists were regarded as potential enemies of the political system. Dr Józef Korpała, the director of the City Public Library in Cracow, did not belong to the organized anti-Communist opposition but, due to his extensive connections, was constantly induced to co-operate with the Third Voivod Office of the Public Security. Preserved documents show that he refused such co-operation, however, it does not mean that he managed to protect his personal independence in such tough times. As an expert of librarianship and a civil servant he wrote negative opinions on the private profit-making libraries and participated in purifying the Cracow libraries from books that were damaging to the Communist government. His professional career accelerated only when he joined the Party. Then he gained the opinion of an accolade-worthy person and no one from the Ministry of Public Security dared to remind him of his pre-war political stances.