As part of the Foreign Affairs Service Week, which took place between 14 and 18 November 2022, the Polish Institute published one photo per day, illustrating the diplomatic relations between Poland and Belgium since 1919.
The highlight of the week is 16 November. It is a particularly important day for Polish diplomats and employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and coincides with the anniversary of the telegram sent on 16 November 1918 by Józef Piłsudski to world leaders informing them of the creation of an independent Polish state.
Monday 14th November
Copy of a note from Belgian Foreign Minister Paul Hymans to Alexander Riedl, delegate of the KNP, 6 March 1919. ©Archiwum Akt Nowych
Tuesday 15 November
Photograph of Polish Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Belgium Jan Szembek (third from left) accompanied by Polish diplomats and a Belgian general before presenting credentials to King Albert I of Belgium, 11 November 1924 © Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe
Wednesday 16 November
Georges Vaxelaire – Honorary Consul General of the Polish Consulate in Brussels. Photo posed in diplomatic uniform, 1937 © Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe
Thursday 17 November
Photo of the propaganda stand of the National General Exhibition at the Brussels Fair. Visible from the right in front of the pavilion: the honorary consul general in Brussels Georges Vaxelaire, the consul of the Republic of Poland in Belgium Feliks Chiczewski, the vice-consul of the Republic of Poland Roman Kwiecień and Senator Tadeusz Szułdrzyński, April 1929 © Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe
Friday 18 November
Building located on Avenue des Gaulois 29 in Brussels, built in 1912. At that time, during the Second Republic of Poland, it was the seat of the Polish Legation in Belgium. After the Second World War, it became the Polish Embassy in Brussels. Today, the house and its magnificent interior house the Embassy’s salons and the offices of the Polish Institute in Brussels. Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe, photo of 1925 © Polish Institute Brussels, photo of 2022
