Archives of the Prussian State Library in Berlin in the collections of the Jelenia Góra department of the State Archives in Wrocław

In the Jelenia Góra department of the State Archives in Wrocław is stored a small part – consisting of 60 archival units – of the current records Registratur) of the Prussian State Library in Berlin (Preußische Staatsbibliothek) from the years 1939–45. It is a remnant of the office of the Berlin library: catalogue and acquisition departments which operated in the foothills of the Karkonosze mountains in the last months of the Second World War. The first main group of files contain correspondence regarding the mandatory copy (5–14, 23, 24, 27, partly 25 and 28). Along with the transfer of the acquisition department to Jelenia Góra, correspondence regarding the mandatory copy was sent as well. Files preserved in Jelenia Góra can be divided into three groups: concerning the official prints from 1936–1944, correspondence with the military authorities, bulletins and newspapers published in prisoner-of-war camps. The second main group consists of files illustrating the process of obtaining by the Berlin library of manuscripts and prints during the war apart from the mandatory copy (numbers 15–22). These files can be divided into two categories: correspondence with civil institutions as well as military and police authorities of the German state. The aim of this article is firstly to present the archival fonds “Prussian State Library Department in Jelenia Góra” and to indicate its historical value; secondly, to discuss issues that complement our knowledge on the Berlin library’s war activities in the field of acquisition; thirdly – perhaps most importantly – to show clues for further archival searches.