recover from many locations after the re-establishment of the Order in Europe, and by new purchases and donations. The collection included medieval manuscripts, incunabula, old music prints, collections of the 18th-century maps, rare scholarly and scientific works, academic and school manuals from Jesuit colleges (the oldest from the Jesuit College in Polotsk), from missions (e.g. Minsk) and from Jesuit houses before the suppression of the Society of Jesus. The Chyrów library collection surpassed, by the number of volumes, their value and educational quality, all secondary school libraries in the Austrian Partition of Poland and then those of all educational establishments in the Second Polish Republic, after Poland had regained national independence in 1920. At the time of the Soviet invasion of Poland (1939) the Chyrów Library counted over 50,000 volumes and items of cultural heritage. In 1939 the academy was liquidated by the Soviet authorities and its library with its collections entirely destroyed. Curriculum Although the college curriculum was largely based on that followed in all Polish state high schools, there were at various stages, attempts to extend its scope. For instance in 1890 there was an experiment to teach history in the German language, however the expected results were not attained and the initiative was abandoned. Between 1909 and 1917 aside from core subjects taught in Polish, other language teaching was introduced consisting of Ukrainian, Russian, French and English. To those were added courses in Graphic design and Calligraphy. A music department was developed to teach various instruments and to put on performances. The availability of extra-curricular subjects made it possible for pupils from less privileged backgrounds to attend the college. However, they formed a minority of students. Regimented System The pupils timetable was regimented as was the behaviour expected of them. A former turn of the century pupil recorded his college routines thus: Alumni During its years of operation, 6,000 alumni had passed through its doors. Some notable students included: Roman Abraham Witold Bełza Aleksander Birkenmajer Jan Brzechwa Adam Epler Józef Garliński, army officer, survivor of Auschwitz concentration camp, writer Kamil Giżycki Adolf Hyła Kazimierz Junosza-Stępowski Jerzy Kirchmayer Kazimierz Konopka Adam Kozłowiecki Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, Deputy Prime Minister of the Second Polish Republic Włodzimierz Jung-Mochnacki, bank director before WWII, prisoner of Woldenberg POW camp until 1945 Antoni Halka-Ledóchowski, Juliusz Mieroszewski Edward O'Rourke Zdzisław Peszkowski Ksawery Pruszyński Kazimierz Tomczak Kazimierz Wierzyński Antoni Wiwulski Faculty The school's faculty included: The future