Blog

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

To truly understand why the people of Warsaw were prepared to risk their lives in the Uprising against German occupation in August 1944, it's worth looking at the youth. Young...

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...

May 17, 2024
The birth of ‘Czerwone Maki’, the ‘Red Poppies of Monte Cassino’ song

Czerwone Maki (Red Poppies) was written in the night of 17 - 18 May 1944, whilst the author watched the artillery fire on Monte Cassino. It was inspired by being...

April 30, 2024
From the Katyń massacre to Monte Cassino – one boy’s tragic loss

Whilst the massacre of 22,000 Polish officers in 1940 at Katyń is commemorated every year in April, it was just the beginning of further horror - deportation and exile for...

March 27, 2024
“The Sweet Polish Kitchen” and Ren’s Easter delights

Our heritage is often formed or rekindled in the kitchen. We find great pleasure in creating traditional Polish cakes, evoking memories of childhood when delicious scents emanated from the oven,...

February 28, 2024
Spring Clean like a Pole

In Poland it’s difficult to consider Lent and preparations for Wielkanoc (Easter), without also thinking of the annual 'spring clean' at home. The aim of course, is for your house to gleam...

January 31, 2024
The January Uprising which spurred on Polish Independence

Many people say that it would be impossible to establish an independent Polish state in 1918 without the sacrifices made during the Powstanie Styczniowe (January Uprising)of 1863.  Józef Piłsudski, like many...