History

EXCLUSIVE: Holocaust survivor tracks down family of Polish woman who saved her from WWII death camp with the help of Facebook

The youngest daughter of what might be the only nuclear family to have survived the Warsaw ghetto and the deportations to Treblinka has miraculously discovered the relatives of the Polish woman who saved her after a desperate last-minute appeal on Facebook. Aviva Landau/Gal Stern family archive/Public domain

Aviva Landau was due to visit Poland from Israel this month for the first time since leaving just after the end of the war and was keen to contact the family of her rescuer she remembers as Anna. But all she had was an old address scribbled on the back of an envelope…

New Netflix production based on shocking true life story of secret police operation to track down homosexuals

VIDEO: ‘Operation Hyacinth’ is named after the police operation of the same name which was conducted by the Communist Citizen’s Militia (MO) between 1985-87 and led to information being collected on around 11,000 gay men and a record of their sexuality being kept on police record.

Harrowing artefacts of those exiled to Siberia, including a child's 'dead teddy bear', go on show at new museum in Białystok

Opening to coincide with the anniversary of Stalin’s invasion of Poland on 17 September, 1939, the Sybir Memorial Museum is the largest and most important institution dealing with deportations to Russia and later the Soviet Union.

Monument to Polish WWII victims to be erected in Berlin – dep FM

A monument dedicated to the Polish victims of German Nazi occupation during World War Two will be built in the German capital, Poland's deputy foreign Minister announced on Wednesday.

Engrossing exhibition explores role of graphic art in supporting 1980’s Solidarity movement

Forced to conduct much of its operations underground, the movement created a rich visual culture of resistance through designs and logos that spoke to people from all walks of society.

Lithuania’s ‘Battle of Grunwald’ by 19th century master Jan Styka goes on show in Warsaw

The huge canvas which goes by the lengthy title ‘Vytautas swears revenge on the Teutonic Knights against the background of burning Kaunas’ has come to Poland on temporary loan to mark the 30th anniversary of the renewal of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

My father ‘The Pianist’. The true story

Eminent Polish-Jewish composer and pianist Władysław Szpilman was a household name in pre-WWII Warsaw, but it was his miraculous story of survival during the war that would later form the basis for the Oscar-winning film ‘The Pianist’.

Otwock: A living museum, a town generously sprinkled with architectural gems and little hidden treasures

Set a stone’s throw south-east of Warsaw, Otwock is an oversight that demands to be corrected.

On 8 September, 1968, accountant Ryszard Siwiec set himself on fire to protest against Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia

Before dowsing himself in a flammable solvent, Siwiec had distributed protest leaflets, and held a banner saying “For our freedom and yours.” In the days that followed, any news on the incident was censored and the secret police spread rumours that the 57-year-old accountant was drunk and mentally unstable in an effort to discredit him.

Is 10 year hunt for missing WWII airmen finally over? Wrocław University teams up with US govt. after remains found at American bomber crash site

In 2019, specialists managed to locate the crash site of the WWII US Airforce Flying Fortress in Jordanów Śląski where they have now discovered human remains thought to belong to the aircrew.

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