Union of Armed Struggle: The lost strongholds in the wester borderlands
Union of Armed Struggle - the predecessor of the Home Army

On 13 November 1939, the Union of Armed Struggle, or ZWZ [Związek Walki Zbrojnej] was established at the newly established seat of the Polish government-in-exile in Paris. The Union was the first underground army in what would soon be occupied Europe. The task of the Union was to fight the two occupying forces. When thinking...

Across the Dniester: The Texture of Contact in the Seventeenth-Century Polish-Moldavian Borderland
Polish-Moldovan relations in the seventeenth century

The course of the boundary between Moldavia and the Polish Crown was, on the surface at least, quite clear, especially in comparison with a fuzzier Polish-Ottoman demarcation further to the east. For most of its course, it ran along the rivers of White Cheremush, Kolachin and the Dniester, extending from the hilly and forested landscape...

A chilly refuge in Spain
The Miranda de Ebro concentration camp

“The regime in the camp was not as tough and inhumane as in the Nazi camps. But one cannot say it was gentle.” With these words Henryk Vogt summarized his stay in the Miranda de Ebro concentration camp in the Spanish province of Burgos. Although some of the brightest Polish artists, scientist and soldiers passed...

The Victors and the Polish Cause at the End of the Great War
102st anniversary of the Polish independence

When exactly 102 years ago, on 11 November 1918, the military operations ceased and the armistice ended the Great War the world was waiting for the accords of the peace conference which was to be held soon to determine the future of the world. A question remains: what did the main victorious powers offer Poland?...

We want Solidarity!
40th anniversary of The Supreme Court acknowledge for the Constitution of "Solidarity”

It was a breakthrough for the whole of Central and Eastern Europe. On 10 November 1980, Polish Supreme Court approved the legalization of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union ‘Solidarity’. It was the first truly independent labor union in a Soviet bloc country. by Tomasz Kozłowski   In the summer of 1980, the greatest wave of...

The power of radium
Franciszek Łukaszczyk and Tadeusz Koszarowski: the successors of Maria Skłodowska-Curie in Poland’s fight against cancer

The radium discovered by Maria Skłodowska-Curie soon began to be used to treat cancer. The development of Polish radiology, and later also oncology, was possible thanks to her students, the researchers and physicians, Franciszek Łukaszczyk and Tadeusz Koszarowski. by Ewelina Szpak At the beginning of the 20th century, tumors were recognized as a serious condition...

How potatoes conquered Poland
Potatoes and change in our dietary habits

Potatoes are among the most popular crops in the world. They were brought from America to Europe following the expeditions of Christopher Columbus, but they did not appear on tables until the 18th century. This was the same time that they also came to Poland, and poor peasant families played a surprisingly important role here....

What Prof. Jan Grabowski Doesn't Tell Us About the German-Jewish-Polish Relations in Occupied Poland
An essay by Hanna Radziejowska

In his works discussing the role played by the Poles in the Holocaust, Jan Grabowski fails to utilize some important documents which Communist Poland handed over to West Germany in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. These materials have been recently re-discovered by the Pilecki Institute and considered as essential for providing a more accurate picture of German-Jewish-Polish relations in occupied Poland. The sources...

My name was Czesława Kwoka
Nazi-German policy towards Polish children during World War II

Look at the photo carefully. The face of a Polish girl dressed in the camp’s striped uniform is symbolic of Nazi policy towards children whose lives were considered unnecessary.   The German Generalplan Ost was created on the basis of the assumption that  a “living space” (“Lebensraum”) in the territories of Central and Eastern Europe...

The Central Industrial District: the industrial heart of the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic and its path to moderization

“A great thing is being created right before our eyes. Thousands of people sacrifice the work of their minds and muscles for the greatness of their homeland. We must not remain indifferent. And we also have to contribute to the Central Industrial District with our heart and our generosity” – thus stated the authors of...

On the foundations of reconciliation
the 55th anniversary of the Polish bishops address to German bishops

“We have written this not only to the German nation, but to our own nation as well. What we have written is (truly) devoid of cheap historical lies. We believe that an opportunity has presented itself – an opportunity to bring about a turning point in the current situation. We implore you, do not turn...

Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops
the 55th anniversary of the Polish bishops address to German bishops

Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council in 1962, its aim being adaptation of the Church to the contemporary world situation and conditions. The Polish Catholic clergy was focused at the time on a pastoral programme called the Great Novena, which was supposed to prepare Poles in the Polish People’s Republic to the 1000th...
short news_
Check out all the articles on our website Check out all
the articles > >
featured_ > > SEE ALL

Statement from the Polish government

102nd anniversary of the Interim People’s Government of the Polish Republic programme announcement

The Interim People’s Government of the Polish Republic run by Jędrzej Moraczewski, was established by Józef Piłsudski on 18th November 1918. In political terms, it partly continued the policies of the Lublin-based government led by the Prime Minister Ignacy Daszyński. Moraczewski’s Government declared the establishment of a Legislative Sejm, to be elected through a secret,...
interviews_ > > SEE ALL

Would Poland have regained its independence without the help of the fighters from the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party in 1905-1907?

An interview with the writer Wacław Holewiński

‘Undoubtedly, this revolution shaped a different type of Pole. The one who already spoke their own language and was able to fight for workers’ rights’ says Wacław Holewiński about the 1905 revolution in Poland.   Mateusz Balcerkiewicz: History plays an important role in your work. Would you say you are a historical writer? Wacław Holewiński:...
essays_ > > SEE ALL

Across the Dniester: The Texture of Contact in the Seventeenth-Century Polish-Moldavian Borderland

Polish-Moldovan relations in the seventeenth century

The course of the boundary between Moldavia and the Polish Crown was, on the surface at least, quite clear, especially in comparison with a fuzzier Polish-Ottoman demarcation further to the east. For most of its course, it ran along the rivers of White Cheremush, Kolachin and the Dniester, extending from the hilly and forested landscape...
reviews_ > > SEE ALL

Dom pisarzy w czasach zarazy. Iwicka 8a [House of Writers In the Time of Plague. Iwicka 8a]

review of the book by Tomasz Jastrun

On Iwicka Street in the Czerniaków district of Warsaw, an unusual house was built which was distinguished by its inhabitants – writers. Among them were Mieczysława Buczkówna and Mieczysław Jastrun, the parents of the author of the book Dom pisarzy w czasach zarazy. Iwicka 8a, which was released in autumn 2020 by the Czarna Owca...

VIDEOS

The Battle of Warsaw 1920-2020

17 August 2020
polishhistory
WATCH
The Battle of Warsaw 1920-2020
The Second World War and its Consequences from the Perspective of 75 Years since its End. Panel 2
The Second World War and its Consequences from the Perspective of 75 Years since its End. Panel 1
CLICK HERE FOR MORE VIDEOS

MEETINGS

About

Polishhistory is an online project of the Polish History Museum in Warsaw. It is primarily addressed to all those interested in Polish and Central European history. Our aim is to build a community consisting of those professionally involved in research and of those interested in the outcomes of research, essentially, all lovers of history. The...
> > READ MORE