Hieronim Dekutowski “Zapora” feared most that the communists would manage to destroy the memory of the heroic struggle of the Cichociemni – tells Mirosław Widlicki, president of the Warsaw-East District Board of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers. Have they succeeded? Who were the “Cichociemni” and why are they often called the elite of…
Philologists are relatively rarely sentenced to death in absentia. Nor do they always (although somewhat more often) become Chevaliers of the Legion of Honour. This alone shows how remarkable was the fate of Zdzisław Najder, who died on 15 February 2021. by Wojciech Stanisławski In the mid-20th century, it seemed that – comparing with…
Although the Polish literary language began to develop much earlier, it is Mikołaj Rej who is considered ‘Poland’s Dante’ as the father of national literature and the creator of an original Polish style. Mikołaj Rej, the Renaissance writer, poet, and translator, was born in Żurawno in Red Ruthenia [eastern Galicia] on 4 February 1505. by…
An alchemist known all over Europe, he was diligent in his research and performed many complex physical and chemical experiments. In his writings he often described the life-giving “philosophical salt” hidden in the air, which is why he is considered one of the discoverers of oxygen and thus a pioneer of modern chemistry. by Piotr…
On 1 February 1944, the Polish resistance carried out the assassination of Franz Kutschera, known as ‘the executioner of Warsaw’. The assassination of this SS officer and police commander in the Warsaw District of the General Government was one of the most spectacular operations in the history of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa), because never…
The end of World War I in November 1918 made it necessary to conclude peace treaties that would define the borders of the states that emerged after the fall of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire. The natural representative of the Polish people were the circles gathered around Roman Dmowski and the Polish…
