The AGAD was founded in 1808. granting to
Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł the title of
Lithuanian Chancellor A large portion of the AGAD's holdings were intentionally destroyed by
Nazi Germany during
World War II in 1939 and in 1944. In the aftermath of the suppression of the
Warsaw Uprising of 1944, the archives were not only deliberately set ablaze, but the
Nazi German troops also entered each of the nine accessible fire-proof vaults in the underground shelter and meticulously burned one after another (the entrance to the 10th was blocked by rubble, thus saving its contents).
Official names The archive went through several name changes: • National General Archive () (1808-1816) • Central Archives of the Polish Kingdom () (1816-1889) • Warsaw Central Archive of Historical Records of the Polish Kingdom () (1889-1918) • Central Archives of Historical Records () (since 1918)
Archive Directors • Walenty Skorochód Majewski (1808–1835) • Feliks Bentkowski (1838–1852) • Walenty Hubert (1853–1875) • Adolf Pawiński (1875–1896) • Teodor Wierzbowski (1897–1919) •
Stanisław Kętrzyński (1919–1920) •
Józef Siemieński (1920–1939) • Adam Stebelski (1939–1953) • Michał Wąsowicz (1954–1976) • Kazimierz Krzos (1976–1979) • Mieczysław Motas (1979–1981) •
Edward Potkowski (1981–1986) • Władysław Stępniak (1986–1997) • Hubert Wajs (from 1997) ==See also==