Voivodeship Department in Olsztyn as an element of the post-war local regional government (1946–1950)

Abstract

In the Masurian district, Polish administration was not recreated; rather, it was organised anew. In the new legal system, especially regarding the establishment of national councils which were alien to the traditional Polish system, the delineation of individual competencies of organisations was not always completely clear. Indeed, there were occasions when the actions of components of the administration were not always firmly rooted in the prevailing laws. The absence of a clear division between these elements of the administration was not only considered unproblematic, but rather was presented in propaganda as a sign of the democratisation of public life and as a more just form of exercising power. In the first five post-war years, the Voivodeship Department was an executive arm of the Voivodeship National Council in Olsztyn. Sometimes, it was also labelled a Voivodeship level local government organisation, although such a label was not fully adequate to its role. This lack of clarity was the result of the intermixing and connecting of competencies and activities of three divisions: general administration, national councils and the Voivodeship Department „local government”. In addition, regional and county leaders, as area representatives of the national authorities, found themselves in the local governmental structure leading the Voivodeship Department and county departments. The Voivodeship Department held „administrative authority” over the president of Olsztyn and the mayors of individual towns in the region, over members of town and borough councils and also over county executive departments.