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Alexander Potocki

Silent witness: The incredible tale of a 60s supermodel, a German aristocrat, a plot to kill Hitler and a crumbling 300-year-old palace

Silent witness: Set deep in the heart of the Polish lake district of Mazury and originally called Steinort, for 300 years the palace had been a seat of splendour for an aristocratic East Prussian family called von Lehndorff-Steinort. Kalbar/TFN

Behind the walls of this dilapidated old palace in a remote corner of Poland, lies one of the lesser-known intrigues of the 20th century. Left to ruin after WWII, the race is now on to save Sztynort palace. TFN’s Kirsty Hardial and Dagmara Leszkowicz go on the trail of the place that time forgot.

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History

EXCLUSIVE: 'My mum was kidnapped by Hitler's SS!'

During WW II, the Germans kidnapped up to 200,000 ‘racially suitable’ Polish children for adoption by senior Nazis. In a harrowing, exclusive interview, TFN speaks to the son of one of the ‘Lebensborn’. What makes his story unusual though, is that with no real family of her own in Poland, Dariusz Dziekan’s mother quickly got back in contact with her German adopted mother after the war and Dziekan grew up knowing this woman simply as Grandma.

The first report:

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Vanishing lives: Descendants of 17th century bearded radicals who fled to Poland from Russia to avoid religious persecution are now facing a new crisis as their numbers slowly dwindle out

It is easy to miss their presence - the three-barred crosses, the wooden banyas and the modest churches – unless you know what to look for. TFN travelled to the regions of Mazury and Suwalszczyzna in north-east Poland to track down the Old Believers, a minority which has almost disappeared, yet which still lingers among the hills, fields and virgin forests in the land of a thousand lakes.

Dan Session
Today we take a look at the Polish musicians who have been recording for ECM.

Why So Serious?
Sergiusz takes a look at two of Poland’s phenomenal female writers.

Events

27/09 - 15/12 Interwar architecture exhibition showcases five themes in five cities
05/11 - 14/01 Fascinating story of Vasa kings brought to life at Warsaw’s Royal Castle
27/01 Royals, world leaders to attend Auschwitz liberation anniversary
21/04 March of the Living to be held on April 21
29/07 - 15/11 Epic Polish painting to be exhibited at National Gallery in London

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