They did not care for fame, social media posts or likes. At the most horrific time, they quietly did their part: kindness and righteousness needed no publicity – in fact, such things had to be carefully hidden from the evil lurking all around.
This is why today we need the painstaking efforts of the researchers who look through dusty archival files to uncover them. The starting point for our discussion will be the Polish edition of Roger Moorhouse’s book Paszporty życia published by Znak and the Pilecki Institute (original title: The Forgers: The Forgotten Story of the Holocaust’s Most Audacious Rescue Operation). We would like to talk more broadly about the process of discovering the truth about historical heroes, which in many cases has been delayed several decades, usually due to the decisions made by Poland’s communist authorities.
The following guests will talk about their research on Cavalry Captain Witold Pilecki, the Ładoś Group, and the Polish diplomacy during World War II:
- Roger Moorhouse – a British historian and writer, author of monographs on the history of Poland and World War II.
- Dr. Sławomir Dębski – a historian, political scientist, international affairs expert, director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs. Author of books, articles and volumes of sources on the history of diplomacy.
- Jack Fairweather – a British journalist, writer and war correspondent. Author of the biography The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Infiltrated Auschwitz.
- Monika Maniewska – an archivist and researcher working at the Pilecki Institute, co-author of The Ładoś List.
The debate will be moderated by James Jackson (BBC). The debate will be held in English with simultaneous interpretation into Polish available.
The meeting will be streamed on our YouTube channel.
