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Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska The Katyn Massacre refers to the mass execution of over 20,000 Polish military officers, police officers, and intellectuals, carried out by the Soviet NKVD in 1940. This atrocity occurred after both Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland in September 1939: Germany attacked from the west on September 1, while the Soviets invaded […]
By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska On April 13, 1943, the whole world heard about the crime committed by the Soviets. On that day, the Germans announced the discovery of the graves of Polish officers in the forest near Katyn. Three years earlier, in the spring of 1940, nearly 22,000 prisoners of war captured after the Red Army’s […]
Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska In the heart of Warsaw, a unique institution is dedicated to saving a forgotten piece of history: neon signs. The Neon Museum is more than just an exhibition space—it’s a tribute to Cold War-era electro-graphic design and an effort to preserve the remnants of the state-driven ‘neonisation’ campaign that once illuminated the […]
Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska Located in the basements of the Ministry of Justice at Al. Ujazdowskie 11 in Warsaw, the Cells of the Security Service (Cele Bezpieki) form an essential part of Poland’s historical narrative, highlighting the oppressive tactics used by the Communist regime in the aftermath of World War II. The exhibition, a branch of the […]
By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska Grzegorz Przemyk (17 May 1964 – 14 May 1983) was an aspiring Polish poet whose untimely death became a powerful symbol of resistance against the Communist regime in Poland. His brutal killing at the hands of the Milicja Obywatelska (Citizens’ Militia) exposed the systemic violence and impunity of the communist authorities during […]
By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska On October 19, 1984, Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, the chaplain of the Warsaw “Solidarity” movement and a human rights defender in the Polish People’s Republic, was brutally murdered by officers of the Security Service. His death shocked Poland and became a symbol of the repression inflicted by the communist regime on both the […]
Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska The Polish Round Table Talks started on February 6 in the Namiestnikowski Palace in Warsaw and lasted till April 5 1989. The government initiated the discussion with the leaders of opposition in order to weaken social unrest. 29 representatives of the government, 26 representatives of the opposition, including members of banned “Solidarność” […]
By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska On November 11, 1918, Józef Piłsudski (Poland’s Chief of State) took over the authority over the Polish army from the Regency Council (in Polish: Rada Regencyjna or Rada Regencyjna Królestwa Polskiego. It was a semi-independent and temporarily appointed highest authority, head of state, in partitioned Poland during World War I). He […]
By Beata Bruggeman-Sękowska On September 19, 1940 Witold Pilecki, a member of the Secret Polish Army, let himself get caught and arrested by German policemen in Warsaw in order to be sent to Auschwitz death camp. His intention was to infiltrate the camp, set up a resistance network there and gather information about the death […]
By Beata Bruggean-Sekowska On September 17 about 1 million troops of the Red Army crossed the eastern borders of Poland starting the red invasion of Poland. It was sixteen days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. The invasion ended on 6 October 1939 with the two-way division and annexation of the entire […]
By Beata Bruggeman-Sękowska On September 8, 1968, Ryszard Siwiec committed suicide by public self-immolation in protest against the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. He set himself on fire during the nationwide harvest festival at the Stadion Dziesięciolecia (stadium) in Warsaw, Poland in the presence of the leaders of the Polish United Workers’ Party, diplomats and 100,000 spectators. […]
By Roger MOORHOUSE September 1 is the conventional start date for the European war. But little in life is set in stone. Of course, a pedant might want to point out that the British and French only declared war on Germany on September 3, so that date marks the expansion of a German-Polish war […]
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