served as the cornerstone for the nascent ambitious project of forming the Institute of National Remembrance envisaged as combining much broader scope of tasks; the commission itself had its powers, previously restricted to conducting investigations, extended also to prosecuting crimes, resulting in its ultimate rename into the contemporary Chief Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation. There are also differences in unofficial translations of the commission name in various sources, with the word Main used instead of Chief, Research(ing) or Examination instead of Investigation, Nazi instead of Hitlerite, and Atrocities instead of Crimes; ex."Main Commission for Researching Crimes against the Polish nation". Activities Upon its creation, it was tasked with the following: investigate crimes committed by Nazi Germany in the years 1939–1945 on Polish territories in general and on Polish citizens in other territories occupied by Nazi Germany and in Germany itself collect and archive materials about said crimes and analyze said materials and publish analysis on this topic. This last aspect of its mission has been described as educational. Polish criminal code also stated that investigations of the commission have equal status to court proceedings. The commission has been instrumental in providing evidence for the war criminal trials carried out in Poland by the Supreme National Tribunal (1945–1948), including for the trials of Albert Forster, Rudolf Höss and Amon Göth. By 1950 the Commission had succeeded in getting approximately 2,000 German war criminals extradited to Poland. Its materials were used in later trials of Ludwig Hahn, Erich Koch and , among others. In 1968 its experts and materials were used to aid the United Nations in drafting of the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. It has also fathered the most comprehensive collection of materials about World War II atrocities in Poland in existence. By 1989 nearly 20,000 Germans were sentenced in Poland for war crimes. Starting in 1946, the Commission has published an academic journal describing its activities and findings. The journal has changed its name several times; since 1995 it is published as ("Memory and Justice"). See also Central Office of the State Justice Administrations for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes References 1945 establishments in Poland Institute of National Remembrance Aftermath of World War II in Poland Government agencies established in 1945 Nazi war crimes trials Decommunization