The Godsons of Ignacy Mościcki, President of the Second Republic of Poland

Professor Ignacy Mościcki (1867–1946), as President of Poland, publicly announced the first program in independent Poland to support the pro-family policy of the state. It was, however, only in a private statement that the president declared that he will be the godfather of every seventh son in families that were indigenously Polish, Catholic and until then had no criminal record. The president’s profamily program was successfully implemented over the period of 13 years preceding the outbreak of the Second World War (1926–1939). President Mościcki’s godsons were presented with a savings book from the state Postal Savings Bank with a deposit of 50 zlotys. The outbreak of the Second World War put an end to this program, and then the socialist authorities in the Polish People’s Republic discredited it. The godsons and their heirs postponed any claims arising from this program until the 1990s. They primarily demanded the refund of duly revalued savings deposits from the state. They sent letters to successive presidents of the Republic of Poland, speakers of both houses of Parliament (the Sejm and the Senate) and others, but to no avail. In 2005–2006, they also tried to recover their money in court, but their claims were dismissed. It seems that, in the current state of the law, the possible claims of Mościcki’s godsons can be considered in the category of a “debt of honour” incurred by the pre-war president of the Republic of Poland.