Custodian of a parish archive discovered a wardrobe filled with forgotten documents in the church of St Joseph at Podgórze, Kraków, Poland. Among the documents is a 16th cent. Bible, census of population, promissory notes, old photographs, banner of a railway guild, and a marriage contract of a famous vodka distillery owner.

The custodian is now working with a historian to sort out and study all the documents that were kept in the wardrobe for 70 years. The man is also a local history enthusiast who studied the old parish archives. He was pointed to the old wardrobe by the parish priest, who said there’s some old correspondence in there, but the initial study proved otherwise.

The oldest documents can be dated to the 16th century. One of the examples is a Bible by Jan Maryszat dated to 1531. The collection is said to have been created by father Marcin Leśniak, who was the vicar in 1826. He collected old documents from antique shops and was aided by a famous antiques dealer Ambroży Grabowski. Later parish priests are also said to have been gathering old prints.

Within the wardrobe municipal documents have been also found, including marriage contracts, of which oldest date to 1816. One particular dating to 1858 was signed by Adam Baczewski, owner of a vodka distillery in Lviv with Wiktoria Rozencweig, living at the Podgórski Market Square 11. The documents are scheduled to undergo conservation and digital documentation. They are said to be put on display next year.

(after Joanna Orszulak & Radio Kraków)