[1] His father, Stanisław Bełza (1849–1929), was a Silesian lawyer and journalist and his mother, Jadwiga née Kobylańska, the daughter of a Warsaw doctor.

[2] Witold, in his early years, was impressed by the strong patriotic feelings of his father and his travels, his social activities: he even attended a rally organized by Stanisław in Opole while aged 7.

There, under the supervision of professor Wilhelm Bruchnalski, Witold wrote his thesis entitled "Wernyhora in Słowacki's poetry", for which he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Lviv.

In August 1920, aged 34, Witold Bełza settled in Bydgoszcz, as a winner of a contest for the library direction launched by the local authorities.

Among the donators there were writers, scientists, artists, among others:[2] painters Franciszek Teodor Ejsmond and Jerzy Mieczysław Rupniewski, Konstanty Laszczka, scholar Rudolf Mękicki, Feliks Nowowiejski, Stanisław Łempicki, Marian Turwid and Kornel Makuszyński.

The director of the library even donated manuscripts he owned from authors like Józef Kallenbach, Aleksander Brückner or from his father's or uncle's works.

Noticeable donator includes Kazimierz Kierski, then president of the General Prosecutor's Office in Poznań,[8] who handed over a collection of almost 2700 documents (privileges, diplomas, nomination letters, etc.)

Another important contributor was Adam Grzymała-Siedlecki, who donated a dozen of books from Vladimir Lenin's Poronin collection, from the period when the soviet leader-to-be used to stay in the Polish Tatra (1913–1914).

In 1933, thanks to the efforts of Zygmunt Malewski, an employee of the Municipal Archives, Witold Bełza launched the first issue of "Przegląd Bydgoski" (Bydgoszcz Review), a scientific journal devoted to the history of the city, to religious and secular art, and literature.

In 1944, when a bomb destroyed the house they lived in, Bełza and his family moved to Ciężkowice near Tarnów, staying there during the last months of the war.

[9] Although Bełza joined the United People's Party and participated in the ideological training, he was no more conveniently considered by the ruling organs.

As a consequence, in April 1951, he had to leave his apartment at 7 Asnyka street, which was soon put at the disposal of the Provincial Public Security Office.

[9] State authorities prevented him to resume any further professional activity, like at the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków or at the City Print House ("Państwowe Zakłady Wydawnictw Szkolnych" or PZWS).

They had a daughter, Halina (1919–1992), who married Jan Harasymowicz, a Polish professor of technical sciences from the Tadeusz Kościuszko University of Technology in Kraków, and a son Stanisław Janusz (1921–1982), lawyer and court expert.

[2] Janusz' daughter, Anna Dzierżykraj-Lipowicz, has been instrumental to keep the memory of her grandfather alive, collecting and sharing family mementoes and other details of his life.

He published his impressions of his journeys in the form of small brochures which he gave to libraries, e.g. "Holandia" (1890), "W kraju tysiąca jezior" (In the country of a thousand lakes (1896), "Obrazy i obrazki z Indii" (Images and Pictures from India) (1912) or "Echa Szwajcarii" (The echoes of Switzerland) (1927).

[12] Witold's uncle, Władysław Bełza (1847–1913), was also a writer, journalist and administrative secretary of the National Ossoliński Institute in Lviv.