Blog

February 1, 2026
Karnawał – the Polish Carnival in full swing

Karnawał has traditionally been a whirl of parties throughout this carnival season, making winter in Poland the most festive time of the year. It is winter's glittering rebellion and continues...

December 22, 2025
From apples to baubles – Polish Christmas ornaments

As Christmas lights bounce off shiny baubles — or bombki, as they’re amusingly called in Polish — it’s worth pausing for a moment. Not just to admire our decorating skills, but...

October 31, 2025
Terror in Poland’s northern lands during World War II

These portraits are of Polish citizens from Pomorze Gdańskie (Gdansk Pomerania), forcibly conscripted to fight in the German Army during the Second World War. The course of the war was...

August 31, 2025
Dziewięćsił – the nine forces of Polish Góral nature

Have you ever heard of this mysterious plant? Its Polish name, Dziewięćsił, literally means “nine forces.” In English, it’s known as the short-stemmed Carline Thistle. I’ve never seen one in...

July 26, 2025
A Polish suitcase of memories – Valizka exhibition

A cardboard suitcase, once a common companion for many, evokes memories of movement. Although the materials from which a Valizka - Walizka - Suitcase is made have evolved, its purpose...

April 21, 2025
Polish troops battle for Bologna – a home far from home

"Other soldiers were here in transit and had a 'return ticket' home. The Poles acted as if they had come home. Why? Because they had no home. Poland had been...

March 29, 2025
The poetry of a Polish Spring

Finally everything is coming to life. In Polish culture, spring is a time to reawaken in ourselves the poet, the artist. Polish poets of the 20th century used spring to...

February 2, 2025
Honouring the memory of the Sybiracy – Polish deportees to Siberia

It is 85 years since the first of four mass deportations to Siberia and other areas, carried out by the NKVD of the Soviet Union. They began on 10 February...

December 15, 2024
Polish Books translated into English – Gift ideas

The twelve dishes of Wigilia are a wonderful mix of savoury and sweet delights some with a hint of spice. So here are twelve books variously seasoned to keep you...

November 29, 2024
Your future is revealed on St Andrew’s Eve – Andrzejki

Often on Andrzejki (St Andrew's Eve), when the nights are dark, according to Polish tradition I gather a group of young girls and amongst hoots of laughter and hysterics they...

October 27, 2024
Maczek’s 1st Polish Armoured Division – without defeat, to liberation

What do you do when after two weeks of fighting one enemy (Germany), your country is stabbed in the back by another (Russia). Your troops are shielding retreating infantry troops...

September 29, 2024
What links our “dożynki”- harvest festivals with harvest time in Poland?

Each August or September the harvest takes place, according to the laws of nature. Our traditional dances and processions often now taking place in October are based on this end...

August 24, 2024
Why young people fought in the Warsaw Uprising

Why the people of Warsaw were ready to risk their lives in the August 1944 Uprising against German occupation?  To answer this we must first look at the youngest members....

July 21, 2024
Sue Ryder inspired by bravery of the Polish S.O.E in World War II

"No British person loved Poland more than Sue Ryder. She saw your pain as her pain, your resistance as her resistance" Sir Nick Young recently recounted during his talk about...

June 30, 2024
In Polish summer, nature rules

As temperatures soar and official summer has begun, Polish life is very much grounded in nature and the outdoors. All the traditional and christian feasts take place in the fresh...