Papers lost to claim pension in Poland

My dad - a Polish citizen - has 20 years of work in Poland. He currently does not reside in Poland, but is now at the age where he is eligible to claim his polish pension. A few years ago, some relatives in Poland mailed all the required forms and papers to one of the ZUS offices in Poland, so that they could process them and calculate my dad's pension. But what we have just found out is that the ZUS office the relatives send the papers to does not deal with pensions, and it seems as though all the forms and papers have been lost.

Any advice on what we can do now? Yes, we can re-submit all the paperwork again, but the papers and forms the relatives send contained the original papers that my dad received from his work in Poland, and as far as I know you need the original papers from your work with your application. Is that true?

Looking on the ZUS website, it does not specify original papers/documents.
It says that if the claim is directly filed with ZUS, the relevant old age pension claim form has to be completed, with a questionnaire on contributory/non-contributory periods, and documents justifying the right to Polish benefits and enabling calculation of their amount. Documents include national insurance cards, employment certificates, ZUS rp-7 certificates etc. They may just presume that originals would be sent, but it doesn't specify that photocopies are unacceptable.

Did your father photocopy the sent documents?
If I were you I would contact ZUS directly. I doubt anyone on this forum would know for sure.
Their phone number is ( +48 ) 22 560 16 00 from outside Poland, 801 400 987 from within Poland.
Website: zus.pl
Email: (cot@zus.pl), chat and Skype (zus_centrum_obslugi_tel).

I forgot to add that IF your father had the documents photocopied and if ZUS will accept the photocopies, you can now file an application with them online, might save you a bit of time.