Manifesto of the Council of National Unity to the Polish and Allied Nations

The Manifesto to the Polish and Allied Nations, concluding with ‘The Testament of Fighting Poland’, was announced by the Council of National Unity at its last session, held on July 1, 1945. The Council of National Unity was a clandestine political body operating within the structures of the Polish Underground State. Participating within the Council…


Sławomir Mrożek: Cowboy and Dadaist

His prose was more difficult to translate than the poetry of the most hermetic poets, because he referred to the fabric of wit, of local absurdities and peculiarities. Despite this, he hit the stages around the world, becoming one of the most famous Polish writers of the 20th century. Bitter, ironic, and ruthless to himself…


“Genocide as a Crime under International Law”

Rafał Lemkin (1900–59) was an outstanding criminal law expert of Polonised-Jewish descent. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the John Casimir University (Uniwersytet Jana Kazimierza) in Lwów. He contributed to the codification of the Polish penal law, and analysed criminal legislations of the totalitarian regimes of Italy and Soviet Russia. In 1933, he…


Henryk Dobrzański: A Crazy Major

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…


Adam Zagajewski (1945-2021): Canvass that Turned into a Shroud

On Sunday, 21 March 2021, the great Polish poet Adam Zagajewski passed away. In his poetic heyday, he would write poems critics called ‘classicising’, showing the world’s hidden beauty as well as emphasising the mysteriousness and uniqueness of human fate. And still, for a poet who defended the categories of beauty, mindfulness and detail, he…


Ernest Malinowski: the engineer who designed the Central Trans-Andean Railway

‘Ernest Malinowski 1818-1899. Polish Engineer. Peruvian Patriot. Hero of the Defence of Callao in 1866. Builder of the Central Trans-Andean Railway.’ Such an inscription adorns one of the monuments in the Peruvian Andes. Adam Ernest Malinowski was a Polish emigrant who designed and built the world’s highest railway line in Peru. by Piotr Bejrowski  …


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