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…
Two trusted companions, a gun and a determination to revive the nation after the hardships of war and partition were all that Mieczysław Jałowiecki had when he embarked on a seemingly impossible diplomatic mission to Gdańsk. His courageous efforts would help Poland bolster its new found identity in Gdansk and through his vision and drive…
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…
polishhistory: In the spring of 1940, the Soviet secret police committed an unprecedented crime by secretly murdering nearly 22,000 Polish citizens. What place does this tragedy occupy in Polish national memory? Professor Tadeusz Wolsza: The Katyń massacre permanently, painfully, and deeply entered into our national history. Each subsequent anniversary is accompanied by new editions of…
The Roman Catholic Church in Poland was perceived by occupiers, and especially the Germans, as a synonym of Polishness, says Prof. Jan Żaryn, a historian from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw. Polish Press Agency: What was the situation of Christian churches in Poland during the Second World War? Prof. Jan Żaryn: Most…
On 1 March 1951, following a show trial at Mokotów prison in Warsaw, seven members of the WiN independence movement (IV Zarządu Głównego Zrzeszenia – Wolność i Niezawisłość) were shot. The anniversary of this crime has been commemorated since 2011 as the National Memorial Day of the Cursed Soldiers. Tomasz Wiścicki interviews Dr. Tomasz Łabuszewski,…
