Emotions sealed in an envelope – letters from Warsaw residents evacuated during the Second World War

Shortly after the end of the Warsaw Uprising, thousands of Warsaw residents were resettled to the south of the country – a significant proportion of the population was then transported to Częstochowa. Our city became a refuge for those forced to leave their homes. This led to the mobilisation of the local community, which helped the capital’s residents with the hardships of daily life. Most of those actively helping the people of Warsaw were involved in the Polish Relief Committee, whose branch operated in Częstochowa. It is within archival collection no. 8/15 of the Polish Relief Committee, Częstochowa Branch, that a treasure trove of documents steeped in a range of emotions can be found – namely, correspondence expressing hope, emotion, fear, anxiety and tenderness. All these feelings accompanied those who were forced to leave Warsaw, as well as their families searching for relatives who had gone missing in the chaos of war. The aim of this paper is to present selected letters from the aforementioned archival collection and to highlight the emotions contained within them.