Krasiński Library

During the German invasion and occupation of Poland, part of the building was destroyed and its collections were stolen, redistributed, or burned.

In September 1939, during the German invasion, the central part of the building was destroyed by bombs, damaging the museum, reading room, and reference collection.

There was a brief period when librarians tried to recover what they could, despite the owner, Count Edward Krasinski, being sent to a concentration camp.

At this point, the Krasinski library had the largest collection of musical scores in Warsaw, along with several thousand maps and almost 60,000 prints and drawings.

During the redistribution, its collections were moved to the Staatsbibliothek Warschau, the University Library, SGH and the National Museum.