"Stańcie do Apelu” - "stand for the roll call" always sends a shiver through my spine. The silence just before a soldier or scout reads this at 17.00 on the...
May 6, 2020
The official British Victory Parade to celebrate the end of World War II took place on 8 June 1946, once hostilities with Japan had ended. The Parade was a show...
February 9, 2020
It is 80 years since on 10 February 1940, over 1 million people were sent from the Eastern borderlands of Poland to slave labour in Soviet Russia. A few survivors recorded...
January 27, 2020
Which books or films influenced your knowledge of the Holocaust? Although I had heard a little of World War II from my family by the time I was at primary school,...
August 23, 2019
I first saw the sky high grey concrete communist blocks in the district of Wola to the west of Warszawa’s centre as a child. My second aunt and uncle lived...
May 16, 2019
The battle of Monte Cassino, part of the Italian campaign is known as one of the decisive battles of WWII. The battles of the II Polish Corps meant the sacrifice of so...
November 7, 2018
On Saturday 3 November I travelled to Edinburgh for a weekend of 100 year celebrations since Poland regained its independence, yet Saturday itself was all about this forgotten war hero. The...
October 26, 2018
The story of Wojtek the bear conjures up fond childhood memories of reading Lasocki's book about him at Polish Saturday School. It is a unique and remarkable tale, one I...
October 23, 2018
Separated by 6000 km, what do Poles and Indians most have in common? Pierogi and samosas perhaps? More than anything, it’s definitely an overwhelming sense of hospitality. The Polish saying ‘Gość...
September 21, 2018
The internet and genetic testing have truly revolutionised family history and it is astounding what you can find. Books that have rarely seen the light of day are published page...
