In the autumn of 1918 the college served as the quarters for the company of general Stanisław Maczek which he wrote about in his memoire. After Poland regained its independence and the Second Polish Republic came into being, a statute of the Ministry for Religious Faiths and Public Education, which came into force on 5 December 1925, confirmed that the college operated with the full rights of all state secondary educational establishments. During the 1920s the college was known as the "Convent of St Joseph in Chyrów". Since that time, the college was generally referred to as "Chyrów" and its pupils as "Chyrowiacy" (Chyrowiaks). Ownership of the college remained with the Polish province of the Jesuit order. The teaching at the college followed a classical curriculum. In 1926 there were eight forms and fourteen departments, with 471 male pupils. College facilities The college was rated as one of the best in Poland if not in the whole of Europe. The vast buildings comprised airy classes, with the latest teaching aids, ateliers devoted to particular subjects, a library with in excess of 30,000 volumes, comprising collections on geography, history (including archaeology and numismatics). There was a natural science department with its own botanical garden. As in Stonyhurst College, Chyrów's equivalent Jesuit school in Lancashire, there was an astronomical observatory. The sports facilities included gyms with a range of equipment, four tennis courts and eight pitches. The college boasted its own theatre. There was generous space for socialising and boarders had good sleeping accommodation with an enormous dining hall and an assembly chamber. The estate possessed a modern plumbing and waste water system, with an independent electricity generator, an infirmary, a mill with a bakery attached. There was a steam laundry, and engineering workshops for repairs. The estate had its own farm, all in a rural setting with a landscaped park. The original building design was by Antoni Łuszczkiewicz, and later by Jan Zakrzewski. Further extensions were added at the start of the 20th century supervised by Edgar Kovats. The ensemble consisted of a total of 327 rooms and lecture halls to accommodate 400 pupils. The library As committed scholars, the Jesuits, devoted great effort and attention to the development of the academy's library. The nucleus of the collection was formed out of the collection moved from their college in Tarnopol. It was further expanded with the volumes the Jesuits managed to