An image of genocide
An interview with Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, head of the Research Center of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

14 June 1940 the first mass transport to the German Concentration Camp in Auschwitz took place. The vast majority of the 728 men were Polish political prisoners. Overall, the group consisted of members of the resistance movement; social and political activists arrested under AB Aktion, Catholic clergy, and a small group of Jews. Every one...

Władysław Anders: A defiant officer and powerful commander
The 53rd anniversary of Władysław Anders’ death

General Władysław Anders was a great patriot, an ambitious commander, a victor of many battles, and a man who saved thousands of his countrymen from Soviet prisons. He was also a powerful politician who opposed the will of foreign powers. He died on 12 May 1970 in London. by Piotr Bejrowski Władysław Anders was born...

Jack Fairweather: It has been a privilege to follow in the foosteps of Pilecki
An inteview with Jack Fairweather

Jack Fairweather, author of a best-selling biography of Witold Pilecki – “The Volunteer” – tells about the Polish hero’s life. Describing Pilecki’s fate, he tells a story of remarkable, brave man living in hard times, whose message is still important and still inspires.   Witold Pilecki is currently widely known in Poland, although his story...

Józef Poniatowski: “Greater than the king, this prince”
Prince Józef and the Battle of the Nations

He died on 19 October 1813 in the Battle of Leipzig – the decisive Battle of the Nations. The battle decided the fall of the First French Empire, and destroyed many hopes and dreams of reestablishing a sovereign Polish state in Europe. Józef Poniatowski, until the final days of his life, refused even the thought...

The Constitution of 3 May 1791: the dawn of a better future
An interview with Professor Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski

The Constitution was the dawn of a better future. After 3 May 1791, there was time for supplementary laws to be passed, institutions to get to work, and for a new kind of politics to bed down during the last year of the Great Sejm. On the whole, the indications are very promising. On the...

How the Constitution of 3 May 1791 was passed
the 234th anniversary

The passing of the Government Act was possible because an understanding had been reached between members of the enlightened opposition and the King, Stanisław August Poniatowski. by Piotr Ugniewski The turning point had been a long discussion between the leader of that opposition, Ignacy Potocki, and the monarch, at the Royal Castle, on 4 December...

Henryk Dobrzański: A Crazy Major
The first partisan of World War II

Henryk Dobrzański lived and served in the Polish army according to the motto: “I will not lay down my arms, I will not take off my uniform. So help me God.” Henryk Dobrzański, aka Major Hubal, was taken by surprise and killed by the Germans on 30 April 1940. by Piotr Bejrowski He was born...

Jan Sehn. Poland’s forgotten Nazi hunter
An interview with Dr. Filip Gańczak, author of the book Jan Sehn. Tropiciel nazistów (Jan Sehn – Tracking the Nazis)

Jan Sehn (1909-1965) was a Polish lawyer and professor at the Jagiellonian University. Shortly after the war, he conducted research at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and also participated in preparing accusations against several dozen German war criminals who had worked at the camp. Additionally, he published a number of scientific papers on the functioning...

Helena Modrzejewska. The brightest theater star
(12 October 1840 – 8 April 1909)

Helena Modjeska (or rather: Modrzejewska) became a theater legend during her lifetime. An outstanding actress and Polish patriot, she was widely esteemed and her talent admired. by Piotr Bejrowski   Born on 12 October 1840 in Krakow, Jadwiga Helena Mise was the illegitimate daughter of the wealthy widow Józefa Benda. From an early age, she...

Karol Szymanowski: the father of 20th-century Polish music
A man who invented a musical language

‘Let it be “national” but not “provincial”,’ – this is what Karol Szymanowski wrote in 1920 (‘Uwagi w sprawie współczesnej opinii muzycznej w Polsce’, trans. ‘Remarks on contemporary musical opinion in Poland’), referring to the desired shape of new Polish music and weaving it into the space of widely understood universal humanism. During the inter-war...

Who Was the Famous Stańczyk from Jan Matejko’s Painting?
A masterpiece by a 24-year-old painter

At the court of Queen Bona Sforza, the party is in full swing. The royal jester is the only one to see the approaching disaster… by Michał Haake   Jesters bring pleasure, jokes, fun and laughter to others, ‘as if this is what the grace of God sent them here for, to cheer up the...

'We Demand the Truth about Katyn!'
the Katyn Massacre as a Subject Taken up by the Opposition in Post-War Communist-Ruled Poland

Recalling the Katyn Massacre was an important aspect of the activities of the democratic opposition in the Polish People’s Republic (PRL), one of the reasons being the subject’s high importance for society back then. by Grzegorz Majchrzak   This is best exemplified by the fact that a booklet by Ryszard Zieliński entitled ‘Katyń’ was the...

The baptism of Mieszko I: the issue that generated an avalanche
An interview with Professor Andrzej Buko

The beginnings of the Polish state have received a lot of attention, and this period still raises many questions and doubts. How did people live in Poland a thousand years ago? How could Krakow become the cradle of the Piast state? What was the role of Mieszko I’s baptism? And what do we actually know...

August 1920: how Poland saved Europe from Bolshevism
The Battle of Warsaw 1920

The end of World War I was greeted with relief throughout Europe, but in most countries this was accompanied by profound disillusionment with the political and social establishment which had brought it about. Such feelings led to revolution in Russia, Germany and Austria, and violent unrest in France, Great Britain, Italy and elsewhere as many...

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....
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The Frederic Chopin statue was blown up by the Germans in 1940

Tourists visiting the Royal Łazienki in Warsaw could never imagine what dramatic event is behind the monumental statue of Frederic Chopin standing there. by Piotr Bejrowski   The Royal Łazienki, a palace and gardens currently located in the heart of Warsaw, was founded by Stanisław II August Poniatowski. It was established as a private summer...
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An image of genocide

An interview with Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, head of the Research Center of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

14 June 1940 the first mass transport to the German Concentration Camp in Auschwitz took place. The vast majority of the 728 men were Polish political prisoners. Overall, the group consisted of members of the resistance movement; social and political activists arrested under AB Aktion, Catholic clergy, and a small group of Jews. Every one...
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August 1920: how Poland saved Europe from Bolshevism

The Battle of Warsaw 1920

The end of World War I was greeted with relief throughout Europe, but in most countries this was accompanied by profound disillusionment with the political and social establishment which had brought it about. Such feelings led to revolution in Russia, Germany and Austria, and violent unrest in France, Great Britain, Italy and elsewhere as many...
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Józef Beck. Biografia [Józef Beck. Biography]

review of the book by Marek Kornat and Mariusz Wołos

In historiography, he is usually shown as a politician and diplomat. He himself felt most of all a soldier who on Piłsudski’s orders assumed responsibility for Poland’s foreign policy. Unlike Piłsudski, Józef Beck lost the most important battle – for the historical memory of his countrymen. Will this book by Marek Kornat and Mariusz Wołos...

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The Battle of Warsaw 1920-2020

17 August 2020
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The Battle of Warsaw 1920-2020
The Second World War and its Consequences from the Perspective of 75 Years since its End. Panel 2
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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...
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