Instytut Pilsudskiego

The Jozef Pilsudski Institute was born from a desperate, high-stakes mission during the Second World War. Its founders were Polish political and intellectual leaders who fled their country to escape Nazi occupation and, eventually, Soviet control. These individuals arrived in New York City carrying vital historical documents they had risked their lives to protect. They formally established the institute on July 4, 1943, at a meeting in the George Washington Hotel, determined to create a permanent home for the history of a nation that was then being systematically erased by foreign powers.