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In 1892, missionaries preached in the Poland and Prussia area. Among the several congregations established in the area, one in Wroclaw saw rapid growth. The congregation, established in 1909, grew to become three congregations by 1921. In 1928, Selbongen (renamed Zelwagi after the Second World War) became the home of a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse and congregation. Selbongen was ceded to Poland from Germany after World War II. Elder Ezra Taft Benson, then a Church apostle and later United States secretary of agriculture, visited Zelwagi soon after the war. More than 100 members and friends gathered to sing, share testimonies, pray and listen to his counsel. In 1947, authorities ordered Zelwagi meetings discontinued because Polish was the only language the government allowed to be spoken at public meetings. (As former citizens of Germany, the members conducted their meetings in German). After two years, members started meetings anew in the Polish language. The Church was registered officially in 1961. Because of emigration of members the only branch of the Church in the country was discontinued in 1971, and the former meetinghouse serves now as a Catholic chapel. In the mid-70s a number of members in western Poland, baptized in neighboring Germany, re-established the Church in the country. Official registration took place in May 1977, and Church President Spencer W. Kimball visited in August of that year.

The first Polish missionary, Sister Urszula Adamska, was called in 1989.

In June 1989, ground was broken for a meetinghouse in Warsaw, with more than 200 people in attendance. A Church apostle, Elder Russell M. Nelson, spoke at the event and met with Poland's minister of internal affairs, who shared copies of a new law guaranteeing freedom of conscience and belief. In June 1991, the Warsaw meetinghouse was dedicated, with more than 400 people in attendance. Subsequently, branches in other cities were established, and the number of members gradually grew to 1,100 by the end of 2003.

Currently there are operating branches in Warsaw, Lodz, Bialystok, Lublin, Gdansk, Bydgoszcz, Poznan, Wroclaw, Katowice and Krakow.

For Journalist Use Only

Marcin Kulinicz
Public Affairs, Poland Warsaw Mission
ul. Polczynska 50/5
01-337 Warszawa,
Poland
Phone:  +48 22 6496154
Fax:  +48-22-666 33 24
Mobile:  +48 607 916736