UNRRA mission in Poland 1945-1947: successes and failures of the international humanitarian effort

The article is devoted to the activities of the mission of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in Poland. The history of UNRRA characterizes the development of humanitarian activity on truly international basis, it also allows us to trace the tasks and priorities of post-war planning and reconstruction process. The main efforts of the organization were concentrated on the situation at the European continent. Providing assistance to Poland as one of the hardest-hit countries in the war whose fate has also caused political controversy, was a serious test for the UNRRA. The article is based on American and Soviet diplomatic documents, as well as materials from the UN archive; sources give us reason to conclude that the main difficulties of the organization included agreement on the deployment of the mission, as well as planning supplies. The authors characterize the main directions of the mission’s activities in 1945-1947, present information on the volume and structure of humanitarian aid supplies to Poland. Archival documents of UNRRA provided a basis for studying the activities of the organization aimed at stimulating the process of repatriation to Poland. Humanitarian aid and funding of programs through the organization made it possible to stabilize the situation and minimize the negative consequences of war in Poland. UNRRA’s international approach has been both a strength and a weakness of the organization. On the one hand, the international approach contributed to an effective response to political challenges and logistical problems. On the other hand, the interaction of the USSR and the USA in one organization inevitably led to an aggravation of political contradictions regarding the goals and objectives of the organization’s activities in a particular region.