Forming Oneself of Aid Institutions in Poland to 1990

Abstract

Assistance activities took different forms and has evolved from a long time and took different forms: fraternal assistance, philanthropy, charity, organized assistance. The first institutionalized forms of assistance to the poor and needy are associated with the Catholic Church assistance. Hospitals were the first aid institutions, which were run by religious communities. Developing ecclesial communities followed the Council of Trent. Governments began to create the structure of aid institution in the fourteenth century. The seventeenth and eighteenth century was the best time of charitable activities in Poland and after that Polish partitions then stopped the development of charity in Poland. The revival of the church and charitable activities of lay people was between nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Activities of social organizations in Poland were banned during the German occupation. The only legal organization was The Main Social Council. Many religious and secular aid organizations was reactivated after the second world war. In the Stalinist period (1948-1956) there was a total destruction of the social welfare system. In 1957-1972 was revising the approach to social problems. The period of 1990 was a crucial year, when Parliament passed the law on social assistance. Then have been set up welfare centers as the primary specialized local government. The next step was the process of creating a system-intensive institutions and non-governmental organizations.