1938 in Poland

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Incumbents

On May 15, 1936, president of Poland Ignacy Mościcki designed the government under prime minister Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski. The government was dissolved on September 30, 1939 and it was the last government of the Second Polish Republic which resided in Warsaw.

Members of the government

President of Poland - Ignacy Mościcki,
Prime Minister - Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski,
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Treasury - Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski,
Minister of Foreign Affairs - Józef Beck,
Minister of Justice - Witold Grabowski,
Minister of Military Affairs - Tadeusz Kasprzycki,
Minister of Agriculture - Juliusz Poniatowski,
Minister of Communication - Juliusz Ulrych
Minister of Industry and Trade - Antoni Roman.

Other personalities

Primate of Poland - August Hlond,
Eastern Orthodox Church Archbishop of Warsaw - Dionizy (Dionisij, real name Konstantyn Waledynski),
Chief Rabbi of Warsaw - vacant,
Marshall of the Sejm - Waclaw Makowski,
Marshall of the Senat - Boguslaw Miedzinski.

Events

January

January 1. In Tarnopol, a process of 51 members of the Communist Party of Western Ukraine ends. Izrael Wuhl is sentenced to 8 years in prison, Himmelstein Szapse - to 6 years. Altogether, 37 persons are sentenced. According to the government's statistics, as for January 1, 1938, there are 44 200 motor vehicles in Poland, including 9876 motorcycles. In 1937, 194,000 tourists visited the Eastern borderlands of Poland, with 66,000 of them visiting Wilno,
January 3. The Polish Road Congress begins at the Warsaw University of Technology. In Daugavpils, the 18th anniversary of the city's capturing by forces of the Polish Army under Edward Rydz-Smigly is celebrated (see: Battle of Daugavpils),
January 11. General Stanislaw Skwarczynski officially becomes leader of the Camp of National Unity,
January 13. Minister Jozef Beck leaves Warsaw for the session of the League of Nations in Geneva, via Berlin,
January 15. Launching of the submarine Orzel in the Dutch port of Vlissingen,
January 17. German military delegation visits Poland,
January 22. Professor Edmund Bulanda becomes chancellor of the Jan Kazimierz University in Lwów. On the same day, a meteorological observatory is opened on the Kasprowy Wierch,
January 26. General Tadeusz Kutrzeba, while presenting a plan of possible military conflict with Nazi Germany, emphasizes that the Wehrmacht is three times stronger than the Polish Army,
January 28. Jozef Beck gives a speech at the League of Nations session in Geneve,
January 29. Empress of Iran, Tadj ol-Molouk, comes to Poland. In southern Poland, in Drohobycz and Boryslaw, violent hurricane destroys several oil rigs,
January 30. General Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski tours northeastern Poland - counties of Braslaw, Swieciany, Dzisna, and Postawy,
January 31. First Congress of Polish Muslims begins in Wilno.

February

February 5. Miklós Horthy comes to Kraków, then goes hunting to Białowieża,
February 9. Miklós Horthy visits Warsaw,
February 12. Economic Council of Eastern Lesser Poland is opened in Lwów by voivode Alfred Biłyk,
February 15. Snowstorms across Poland make railroads impassable,
February 18. Three members of the Wilno branch of the National Party are incarcerated and sent to the Bereza Kartuska prison,
February 23. Hermann Göring comes to Poland, and goes hunting to Białowieża,

March

March 2. In Kowel, a process of 19 members of the Communist Party of Western Ukraine begins,
March 5. A ten-day strike in the Warsaw Opera ends,
March 6. Jozef Beck comes to Rome. On the same day in Berlin, Congress of the Union of Poles in Germany begins,
March 7. In Zloczow, a process of 9 members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists begins. The defendants are accused of killing two Poles. In Rome, Jozef Beck dines with Benito Mussolini and Galeazzo Ciano,
March 10. Herbert Hoover comes to Poland,
March 11. Herbert Hoover visits the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. A soldier of the Border Defence Corps is killed on the Polish - Lithuanian border by Lithuanian troops,
March 13. Jozef Beck leaves Rome. On the same day in Lutsk, meeting of Association of Reserve Officers takes place,
March 14. Authorities of the Stanisławów Voivodeship close local branches of Ukrainian organizations Sokil and Prosvita,
March 16. In Warsaw's Royal Castle, Edward Smigly-Rydz, Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, and Jozef Beck meet to discuss Polish - Lithuanian conflict,
March 17. Polish ultimatum to Lithuania. On the same day, textile workers of Łódź and surrounding towns declare a warning strike,
March 18. In Wilno and Warsaw, thousands of inhabitants take part in anti-Lithuanian demonstration. Among Polish officials present at the demonstration in Wilno, is commander-in-chief of the Polish Army, Edward Smigly-Rydz, who had come to the city by train at 7:45 a.m.,
March 19. The government of Lithuania accepts Polish ultimatum,
March 24. In Brzeżany, five members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists are sentenced to several years in prison,
March 26. Christian merchants of Warsaw present to the Polish Army 40 heavy machine guns (see: National Defence Fund),
March 27. In Lwów, 27 members of the Communist Party of Western Ukraine are sentenced to several years in prison. Sara Bryn is sentenced to 10 years, Rybka Malinowitzer and Gerdie Zimmer to 7 years, and Dora Eichenbaum to 5 years,
March 27. In Lwów, and other cities of southern Poland, hundreds of Jewish refugees from Austria arrive (see: Anschluss),
March 28. Franciszek Charwat arrives in Kaunas as the first Polish diplomatic representative in Lithuania,
March 30. President Ignacy Moscicki grants amnesty to 134 criminal prisoners. On te same day, Association of Poles in Czechoslovakia issues a statement in which it demands autonomy for Polish minority of Czechoslovakia. First telephone conversation between Poland and Lithuania takes place,
March 31. Poland and Lithuania establish diplomatic relationships,

April

April 1. Territorial reform of Poland, in which borders of several Western and Central Voivodeships change considerably,
April 4. A process of 39 Communist activists begins in Warsaw. Prime minister Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski, together with voievode of Lwów, Alfred Biłyk, tour southern Poland - counties of Mielec, Kolbuszowa, Dabrowa Tarnowska, Brzesko, and Tarnów,
April 5. Rail communication between Poland and Lithuania is initiated, along the connection Landwarow - Vievis,
April 10. In Rawa Ruska county, the police arrest around 70 members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. Several handguns are confiscated,
April 11. Demonstrations of Maritime and Colonial League in Polish cities, in which overseas colonies for Poland are demanded,
April 12. Near Wieluń, a train from Gdynia to Kraków derails, with no casualties,
April 13. In the Upper-Silesian settlement of Lagiewniki, a Polish streetcar crashes with a German streetcar,
April 14. Henryk Jozewski becomes voivode of the Łódź Voivodeship, while Aleksander Hauke-Nowak becomes voivode of the Wołyń Voivodeship,
April 18. In Rome, Andrzej Bobola becomes a saint,
April 19. Inhabitants of Wilno celebrate the 19th anniversary of city's liberation from the Soviets. Dar Pomorza returns to the port of Gdynia, after a 216-day cruise,
April 20. Outbreak of epidemic of typhus in the area of Jaworów. In Wilno, eight students of Jewish high schools are sentenced for membership of communist organizations,
April 21. Polish mass-media inform that population of the country is 34,534,000,
April 23. In Warsaw, 39 communists are sentenced to several years in prison. South of Muszyna, Czechoslovak border guards shoot a Polish balloon Moscice,
April 24 A general meeting of Camp of National Unity takes place in Katowice,
April 25. Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski visits Polish Upper Silesia. Local authorities in Wilno allow publication of Lithuanian minority newspapers and magazines,
April 26. A group of Hitlerjugend attacks a meeting of The Association of Poles in the Free City of Danzig. Airborne and Antigas Defence League has 1,630,000 members,
April 27. A Polish - British Sea Treaty is signed in London,
April 30. To prevent street clashes during the International Workers' Day,temporary prohibition is introduced in Warsaw. Across the Nowogródek Voivodeship, construction of 100 Marshall Jozef Pilsudski elementary schools begins,

May

May 1. Street clashes during celebrations of the Labor Day in such cities, as Kielce, Lwów and Warsaw,
May 2. Opening of the Poznań International Fair,
May 9. Gauleiter Albert Forster comes to Poland. He talks with Jozef Beck, visits Warsaw, Lwów and Wilno,
May 10. After resignation of professor Wladyslaw Szafer, professor Tadeusz Lahr-Splawinski becomes new chancellor of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków,
May 11. Opening of telephone lines and mail service between Poland and Lithuania,
May 13. Poland celebrates third anniversary of the death of Marshall Jozef Pilsudski,
May 15. In Legionowo, balloon "Toruń" sets off to a stratospheric flight,
May 17. Prime minister Slawoj-Skladkowski meets all Polish voivodes,
May 19. General meeting of the Camp of National Unity begins in Warsaw,
May 20 Romanian prime minister, Patriarch Miron Cristea, comes to Poland. A transport of bears from Soviet Union comes to Białowieża Forest. Some of Josephine Baker's possessions are stolen during her stay in Lwów,
May 21. Minister Jozef Beck leaves Warsaw for Stockholm,
May 22. A Ukrainian Congress, planned in Lwów to commemorate 70th anniversary of creation of Prosvita, is banned by the Polish government. Romanian prime minister visits Kraków. In Warsaw, Polish lawyers present to the army six anti-aircraft guns,
May 25. Large fires destroy about 100 buildings in two villages near Wilno. In Stockholm, Jozef Beck meets Gustaf V. A meeting of Polish Gymnastic Society Sokol, planned in Lwów, is called off,
May 26. Meeting of Reserve Officers takes place in Lwów, attended by Marshall Edward Smigly-Rydz. Prime Minister Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski tours Greater Poland,
May 31. A new ambassador of Romania comes to Warsaw. Works on the Warta - Goplo canal begin in Kujavia.

June

June 1. Fire in the biggest Polish glass manufacturer, Kara, in Piotrków Trybunalski. Polish minority parties win local elections in Zalozie, garnering almost 11,000 votes,
June 3. Boleslaw Wieniawa-Dlugoszowski, new ambassador of Poland in Italy, comes to Rome. Ten people die in a fire near Olkusz. Iron ore deposits are found near Zdolbunow,
June 7. Extraordinary session of the Sejm begins in Warsaw. A hydrobiological station is opened in Pinsk, as the third one in Poland, after stations in Hel, and at lake Wigry,
June 8. A Polish delegation flies to Kaunas, to discuss opening of an air line between Poland and Lithuania,
June 9. Two planes of the Luftwaffe enter Polish airspace near Katowice,
June 10. Whole village of Zaklikow near Janów Lubelski is burned in a fire,
June 11. A train with remains of Saint Andrzej Bobola comes to the border station of Zebrzydowice, greeted by thousands of faithful,
June 14. Jozef Beck visits Tallinn, where he dines with Estonian minister of foreign affairs, Karl Seiter,
June 15. Jozef Beck has breakfast with President of Estonia, Konstantin Pats. First customs office is opened in Landwarow, on the Polish - Lithuanian border,
June 19. Marshall Edward Rydz-Smigly visits Polish Pomerania,
June 20. A hailstorm destroys crops in Tarnopol Voivodeship. A funeral of Marshall of the Sejm, Stanislaw Car, takes place in Warsaw,
June 21. School year ends in Poland. Five peasants drown while crossing the Bug in the village of Orla, Brzesc County,
June 22. Colonel Walery Slawek is elected Marshall of the Sejm. According to the government statistics, there are 279,799 registered unemployed in Poland. President Moscicki leaves for vacation in Opatija,
June 24. A train from Kraków to Lwów derails in Biezanow in the outskirts of Kraków, 25 people are injured. Gdynia is reported to be the biggest port of the Baltic Sea,
June 28. General Waclaw Stachiewicz comes to Riga, on invitation of Chief of Staff of the Latvian Army, General Marins Hartmanis. According to unofficial sources, there are about 30,000 Gypsies in Poland,
June 30. General Stachiewicz arrives at Tallinn.

July

July 1. Opening of the Polish Radio Station in Baranowicze. A direct air connection between Warsaw and Budapest is opened jointly by LOT Polish Airlines, and Hungarian Airline Malert. A Polish scientific trip sets for Spitsbergen,
July 2. A new trade treaty between Poland and Germany is signed in Berlin,
July 3. Marshall Edward Smigly - Rydz is named honorary citizen of Wilno,
July 4. Polish Ministry of Education announces that it plans to open a university in Torun,
July 6. A Museum of Crimean Karaites is opened in Troki,
July 8. A group of Polish parliamentarians demands delegitimization of several pro-Nazi German minority organizations,
July 9. In Radom, several buildings burn to the ground after a violent thunderstorm,
July 10. Snow in the Tatras,
July 11. A train with coffin of King Stanislaw August Poniatowski arrives at the Polish - Soviet border station in Stolpce,
July 13. Jozef Beck comes to Riga, on a plane from Wilno, with a 20-minute break at Kaunas. Flood warning in southern Poland,
July 14. Jozef Beck visits Jelgava, where he dines with Karlis Ulmanis. Five people die when a car crashes with a train in Sosnowiec. Secret funeral of Stanislaw August Poniatowski takes place in his hometown of Wolczyn,
July 15. The number of bicycles in Poland exceeds one million. Direct air connection between Warsaw and Kaunas is opened. In Zaolzie, Czechoslovak police arrest a number of Polish-minority activists,
July 16. Government-sponsored destruction of Orthodox churches in the eastern part of the Lublin Voivodeship is terminated,
July 17. Marshall Edward Smigly-Rydz visits Zamosc,
July 20. Jozef Beck visits Free City of Danzig, and Gdynia. Two escapees from a State Political Directorate prison in Minsk cross Polish - Soviet border in the area of Stolpce,
July 21. Near Pinsk, a skirmish between local police and a group of communists takes place. The communists wanted to illegally cross Polish - Soviet border,
July 22. In a crash of a Polish Airlines plane near Cernauti, three crew members die,
July 25. Association of Ukrainian Merchants in Tarnopol announces a project "Ukrainians buy only at Ukrainian stores",
July 28. After a two-week delay, Polish government officially informs the public about funeral of Stanislaw August Poniatowski, which took place on July 14,
July 29. Opening ceremony of Biały Słoń, campus of the Polish Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory, takes place on the peak of Pop Ivan,
July 30. Polish press announces that between mid-1935, and mid-1938, only 107 kilometers of concrete roads were built in the whole country,
July 31. Jozef Beck comes to Copenhagen

August

August 1. Near Sambor, oil layer is discovered,
August 2. Three customs offices are opened on the Polish - Lithuanian border. Jozef Beck comes to Oslo,
August 4. Violent thunderstorms attack several counties in Nowogrodek Voivodeship,
August 5. Three Czechoslovak Airforce planes enter Polish airspace near Zywiec. Jozef Beck returns to Warsaw after a trip to Scandinavia,
August 6. Poland celebrates Day of the First Cadre Company,
August 7. Seventeen people are injured in a rail crash near Sochaczew,
August 8. Union of Poles in Germany protests against questionnaries, suggested by the Nazi Germany government for the German census. The questionnaries exclude possibility of stating one's nationality. In Lodz, 1600 tailors go on strike,
August 9. A delegation of officers of the French Navy comes to Warsaw. In Gdynia, Jozef Beck meets with Duff Cooper,
August 10. Edward Smigly-Rydz visits Poznan. Polish press informs that Soviet authorities still have not released three young Polish gliders, who had mistakenly landed in Soviet Union during a storm on June 26, 1938. The whereabouts and the fate of the gliders are unknown,
August 11. Meeting of General Council of Camp of National Unity begins in Warsaw. Seven children from Kowel county, Volhynia, aged 8–11, die after an explosion of a World War I bomb, found by them in the ground. A fire in the town of Losice destroys 25% of the buildings,
August 12. A delegation of three French destroyers, Chacal, Jaguar, and Leopard, leaves Gdynia,
August 15. The Day of the Polish Soldier is celebrated across the country.
August 16. The Komintern dissolves the Communist Party of Poland,
August 17. Polish media inform that Czechoslovak government closed Polish-Czechoslovak border,
August 18. Works on the Royal Canal begin in Kobryn,
August 19. Polish press informs that total cost of Gwiazda Polski's stratospheric flight is 360 000 zlotys. A record number of tourists comes to Hel for summer vacation,
August 20. A delegation of Polish Air Force, with General Ludomił Rayski, visits Sofia. Polish government announces plan of construction of a highway from Sandomierz, the capital of the Central Industrial Area, to Warsaw,
August 22. Polish destroyers Grom and Blyskawica leave naval base in Oksywie for a visit in Copenhagen,
August 23. Mass anti-German demonstrations in Gdynia, Torun, and other cities of Polish Pomerania, after a group of Nazi activists from Free City of Danzig threw a Polish railwayman Tadusz Winnicki under a train, and as a result the victims' legs were amputated. Sixteen passengers are seriously injured in a bus crash in Ozarow,
August 24. Polish Government confiscates a letter of Bishop Andrzej Szeptycki, which criticizes destruction of Orthodox churches,
August 25. Konrad Libicki becomes general manager of Polish Radio. 200 000 pilgrims come to Jasna Góra Monastery for traditional Black Madonna of Częstochowa holiday,
August 25. MS Sobieski is launched in Newcastle,
August 30. Two people die when a passenger train derails on the Lublin - Kowel line

September

September 1. Two checkpoints are opened along the border with Lithuania. Charles Lidbergh with wife land in Krakow, on his way from Moscow to Prague,
September 3. Annual Eastern Trade Fair is opened in Lwow,
September 5. According to the government statistics, Gdynia is the most expensive of Polish cities, while Wilno is the cheapest,
September 7. Jozef Beck leaves Warsaw, and via Berlin goes to Bern, for a session of the League of Nations,
September 8. Street clashes between Poles and Jews in Lida,
September 10. Polish press informs that construction of the new rail line, between Polish Upper Silesia, and Volhynia, has already started. The 400-kilometer line will go from Tarnowskie Gory to Lutsk, via Sandomierz, and Stalowa Wola. Three people die in a motorcycle accident near Lwow,
September 12. Albert William Stevens comes to Zakopane, to witness stratospheric flight of Gwiazda Polski balloon,
September 13. Dissolution of the Polish Parliament,
September 14. In Czortkow, a new steel bridge over the Seret is opened,
September 15. Marshall Edward Smigly-Rydz visits the Polish Army manoeuvres in Volhynia,
September 19. In Lutsk, a military parade takes place, to mark the end of the manoeuvres,
September 20. Additional units of the Polish Army secure Polish-Czechoslovak border,
September 21. Polish envoy to Prague, Kazimierz Papée, demands from government of Czechoslovakia solution of the problem of its Polish minority in the same way as the problem of German minority was solved,
September 22. In Zaolzie, local Poles fight with Czechoslovakian police and army during street manifestations which demand cession of the area to Poland. On the same day in Warsaw, 250 000 people demand cession of Zaolzie. It is the biggest demonstration of the Second Polish Republic,
September 23. Soviet government states that if Polish troops enter Czechoslovakia, Moscow will void the Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact,
September 24. At Warsaw's Royal Castle, the meeting of key Polish figures (Jozef Beck, Edward Rydz-Smigly, Ignacy Moscicki, Felicjan Slawoj-Skladkowski) takes place, during which the situation in Czechoslovakia is discussed,
September 25. In Zaleszczyki, a bridge over the Dniestr, connecting Poland and Romania, is opened,
September 26. A LOT plane from Warsaw to Budapest is not allowed to fly over Czechoslovakian territory. A clash between Czech soldiers and Poles from Zaolzie takes place near Zebrzydowice,
September 27. A demonstration in Cieszyn, during which local Poles demand cession of Zaolzie. Construction of a car factory begins in Lublin,
September 28. Land communication between Poland and Czechoslovakia is closed,
September 30. Polish government demands cession of Zaolzie.

October

October 1. Czechoslovakian government agrees to Polish demands, and Zaolzie is ceded to Poland, and demonstrations take place in several Polish cities,
October 2. Units of the Polish Army's Independent Operational Group Silesia, under General Władysław Bortnowski enter Cesky Tesin,
October 4. Polish Army enters Trzyniec and Jablonkow,
October 6. Polish press speculates about possible creation of Zaolzie Voivodeship, which besides Zaolzie, would include counties from Lesser Poland and Polish Upper Silesia,
October 7. Annual Wine Harvest Festival ends in Zaleszczyki,
October 8. Polish Army enters Frysztat,
October 10. Polish Army enters Bogumin and Karwina. Minister Jozef Beck visits Zaolzie. Ten new elementary schools are opened in Polesie,
October 11. Upon decree of President Ignacy Moscicki, Zaolzie becomes part of Poland's Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship. Polish press speculates about annexation of Spis, and Orava - altogether 2,400 km²., with 120 000 inhabitants.
October 12. Jozef Beck is awarded Order of the White Eagle, by President Ignacy Moscicki. Marshall Rydz-Smigly visits Zaolzie,
October 13. In Lwow, Ukrainian rally takes place, followed by Polish counter-demonstration,
October 14. Unsuccessful stratospheric flight of the Gwiazda Polski balloon. Plans of construction of a motorway Warsaw - Lodz are announced,
October 29. Nazi Germany government expels some 12 000 - 17 000 Jews with Polish citizenship to Poland,

November

November 1. Upon decree of the President of Poland, Jaworzyna and parts of Spisz become part of Poland,
November 3. A new, concrete road between Pinsk and Kobryn is opened, after four years of construction,
November 4. Due to lack of passengers, all domestic LOT Polish Airlines are closed for the winter, except for the connection Warsaw - Poznań,
November 5. In Prague, a joint Polish-Czechoslovak commission draws the new border between the two countries, in the area of Jaworzyna,
November 6. General election in Poland,
November 8. Rail communication between Poland and Czechoslovakia is reestablished. Sun eclipse in Kraków,
November 8 to November 11. Polish legislative election,
November 11. Independence Day in Poland. Patriotic demonstrations take place across the country, including Zaolzie and Lwów,
November 12. Local floods in Kaszuby and in the area of Nowogródek,
November 15. Polish press informs that construction of main west - east rail line (Upper Silesia - Volhynia) proceeds according to plan,
November 16. In Warsaw, leaders of Jewish minority in Poland declare a month of mourning, protesting against persecution of Jews in Germany,
November 17. SS Pulaski returns to Gdynia from a cruise to South America,
November 19. Residents of Lwów celebrate 20th anniversary of Battle of Lwów (1918),
November 23. Around 6,000 Jewish refugees, expelled from Nazi Germany, are housed at a transit camp in Zbąszyń, a town on the Polish - German border. Council of Ministers of the Republic of Poland accepts construction of two rail lines, Tarnowskie Góry - Zawiercie, and Skierniewice - Łuków,
November 24. All Freemasons Lodges in Poland are closed by the President of Poland. Prime Minister Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski hands his resignation to president Ignacy Mościcki, and Mościcki does not accept it,
November 26. Joseph Stalin reaffirms the Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact. Polish envoy to Czechoslovakia, Kazimierz Papée protests against attack of armed Czechoslovak citizens on Polish soldiers establishing new border in the area of Čadca,
November 27. Polish Army troops seize Jaworzyna,
November 28. Sejm and Senate convene in Warsaw for the first time after the election,
November 29. Opening of a 22-kilometer rail line Żory - Pszczyna,
November 30. Polish press informs that only 30 citizens of Poland own their own private aeroplanes.

December

December 2. Speaking in Sejm, Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski describes a plan of development of Poland for the years 1939 - 1954,
December 5. Speaker of Polish Parliament, Vasyl Mudry of Ukrainian minority demands in his parliamentary speech autonomy for the Ukrainians. In the port of Danzig, Polish ship SS Tczew sinks and two people die,
December 8. Three people die in a car crash near Gniezno,
December 9. In Warsaw, a delegation of Polish civil servants and bank workers presents to the Army a PZL.37 Łoś, purchased with the money collected by them,
December 10. Deposits of copper are found in Podolia, near Zaleszczyki and Horodenka,
December 12. A movie theater burns down in Gdynia,
December 13. Papal Nuncio Filippo Cortesi comes to Lwów. A seismic observatory of Warsaw University is opened in Warsaw,
December 16. According to Polish press, there still are around 5,700 Jews, camping in Zbąszyń on the Polish - German border. A cold wave sweeps over Poland, the temperature in Lwów goes down to minus 21 degrees C,
December 18. Local elections in several Polish cities,
December 19. Three miners die in coal mine Kazimierz in Sosnowiec. A new rail and road bridge over the Vistula is opened in Płock,
December 21. Tatra Park of Nature is opened in Jaworzyna,
December 22. Polish ambassador in Berlin, Józef Lipski, meets with Joachim von Ribbentrop,
December 24. Fire in the left wing of the Nieśwież Castle. Primate of Poland August Hlond addresses the nation through the radio,
December 27. SS Tczew, which sank in Danzig on December 5 is raised and transported to Gdynia for overhaul. Residents of Greater Poland celebrate 20th anniversary of Greater Poland Uprising,
December 28. Four people die hit by a train on a railroad crossing in Żyrardów,
December 29. Construction of rail line Tarnobrzeg - Kolbuszowa - Rzeszów begins,
December 30. Flu epidemic in Poland; in Warsaw 130,000 people are sick. Archbishop Aleksander Kakowski dies in Warsaw,

Arts and literature

Books

Bunt Rojstów by Józef Mackiewicz,
Ład serca, a novel by Jerzy Andrzejewski,
first edition of Witold Gombrowicz's Ferdydurke, even though published in October 1937, is dated 1938,
Iwona, księżniczka Burgunda', by Witold Gombrowicz, published in parts in 1938 in literary magazine Skamander,
Krzyk ostateczny, a poetry bundle by Władysław Broniewski, published in Warsaw,
Równanie serca, a poetry bundle by Julian Przyboś,
Rozmowa z Apollinem, a poetry bundle by Anatol Stern.

Film

Florian, directed by Leonard Buczkowski, based on a book by Maria Rodziewiczówna. Released October 28, 1938,
Granica, based on a book by Zofia Nałkowska, directed by Józef Lejtes. Featuring Mieczysława Ćwiklińska and Elżbieta Barszczewska, the movie was released October 29, 1938,
Kościuszko pod Racławicami, directed by Józef Lejtes and released January 1, 1938,
Paweł i Gaweł, based on Aleksander Fredro's tale, featuring Eugeniusz Bodo and Adolf Dymsza, directed by Mieczysław Krawicz. Released September 15, 1938,
Ostatnia brygada, based on a book by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz. Directed by Michał Waszyński, and released September 20, 1938,
Profesor Wilczur, based on a book by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz. Directed by Michał Waszyński, released October 18, 1938,
Rena, directed by Michał Waszyński, released December 22, 1938,
Zapomniana melodia, a music comedy directed by Konrad Tom and Jan Fethke, with music by Henryk Wars and Ludwik Starski.

Sports