The Letter of 34

In October 1956, when Władysław Gomułka became the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, PZPR), the society started to hope for the liberalisation of the communist system and more social freedom. Such hopes, expressed mainly by the intelligentsia, proved to be vain. In the autumn of 1957, the relations… Continue reading The Letter of 34

Non possumus! Memorial of the Polish Episcopate to the communist authorities

As a result of the Second World War, Poland found itself within the sphere of influence of the USSR. After defeating legal political opposition in 1947, the communist authorities started a fight against the Catholic Church, claiming that it was allied with class enemies and that it hampered the creation of a new socialist society.… Continue reading Non possumus! Memorial of the Polish Episcopate to the communist authorities

Jan Nowak-Jeziorański’s speech

The “Long Telegram” by the American Ambassador in Moscow, George Kennan, which was sent on 22 February 1946, heralded a reorientation of the war alliances. The position of the Soviet Union as the main enemy was clear and obvious in this arrangement but the Americans did not know how to treat its satellite states. Introducing… Continue reading Jan Nowak-Jeziorański’s speech

Raphael Lemkin, “Genocide as a Crime under International Law”

Rafał Lemkin (1900–59) was an outstanding penal/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… Continue reading Raphael Lemkin, “Genocide as a Crime under International Law”

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… Continue reading Manifesto of the Council of National Unity to the Polish and Allied Nations

Order to dissolve the Home Army given by Home Army Commander-in-Chief General Leopold Okulicki

The first underground groups in German-occupied Poland began to be established as early as in the autumn of 1939. The Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK), an underground army subordinate to the Polish government in exile and the Commander-in-Chief, took its final shape in February 1942. Its Commanders-in-Chief in chronological order were: Stefan Rowecki ‘Grot’ (arrested… Continue reading Order to dissolve the Home Army given by Home Army Commander-in-Chief General Leopold Okulicki

Note addressed to the Governments of the United Nations by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edward Raczyński, regarding German crimes in occupied Poland

The double attack on Poland by Nazi Germany and the USSR in September 1939 led to the effective dissolution of the Polish state. Although Poland lost its sovereignty, its legal authorities continued to function, organising the Polish armed forces in France and later in Great Britain. Under these circumstances, the primary aim of the Polish… Continue reading Note addressed to the Governments of the United Nations by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edward Raczyński, regarding German crimes in occupied Poland

Protest!

“Protest!” is a leaflet written by Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, a Polish novelist, social activist and co-founder of the underground Catholic organisation Front for the Rebirth of Poland (Front Odrodzenia Polski, FOP). Illegally distributed on 11 August 1942, the pamphlet called for solidarity with the Jews who were subjected to brutal terror. On 22 July 1942, the… Continue reading Protest!

Władysław Sikorski’s appeal to the Polish People

The appeal from 6 October 1939 was made in one of the most dramatic moments in the Polish history. The Polish Army had been completely defeated over the previous month. Poland was being attacked from the west, north and south by the Third Reich and from the east by the Soviet Army, which made it… Continue reading Władysław Sikorski’s appeal to the Polish People

Speech made by Józef Beck, the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the Sejm

In 1918, after 123 years of captivity, Poland was reborn as an independent state. Its largest neighbours – Germany and the Soviet Union – were adverse to it. Both of these countries made it their goal to reclaim part of the territories they had lost as a result of the war. German efforts to bring… Continue reading Speech made by Józef Beck, the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the Sejm