Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century - Instytut Pileckiego

Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century
Research / Conferences Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century

International Academic Conference: “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)”

Date: 8–10 July 2026

  • Venue: Pilecki Institute Branch – Augustów Roundup Memorial House, Augustów, 16 3 Maja Street, conference room, first floor
  • Organizer: Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor
  • Co-organizers: University of Białystok, Institute of Women’s Studies

The conference is held under the honorary patronage of Marta Cienkowska, Minister of Culture and National Heritage. 

Accompanying events:

  • Pre-release of the second episode of the documentary audioseries “Courtroom 600. Witnesses of Nuremberg”, which is dedicated to Seweryna Szmaglewska (8 July, 8 p.m., Augustów Roundup Memorial House). The project is implemented in cooperation with the Reportage Studio of the Polish Radio.
  • Tour of the permanent exhibition “For You, Poland. A Tale From the Heart of the Forest” at the Augustów Roundup Memorial House (10 July, 2.30 p.m.).

Media patronage over the conference: “Forum Akademickie” and forumakademickie.pl, Polish Radio Białystok

About the conference and funding

The international scientific conference devoted to women’s opposition engagement in the authoritarian and totalitarian systems of the 20th century is the second edition of a series of debates centered on scholarly reflection on the presence and agency of women in the realities of nondemocratic states. The main purpose of this three-day undertaking is to provide a detailed analysis of the multidimensional strategies of women’s resistance, ranging from official and formalized political activity, through actions within underground structures, to manifestations of so-called “soft resistance” carried out in the fields of culture, education, religion, and social life. By situating the main line of inquiry in the Polish realities of 1919–1989 and comparing them with a broad European context, the organizers seek to engage with stereotypes entrenched in the public sphere and to address research gaps that have so far been evident in the field of social history.

A special place in the conference program will be given to the analysis of individual lives and the experiences of entire women’s circles, with particular attention to the attitudes of those women active in public life who initially functioned within structures connected to the apparatus of power before subsequently choosing the path of open resistance to the system. An equally important element of the debate will be an examination of the functioning of the apparatus of repression itself, as well as the specific methods of surveillance, administrative pressure, and violence used by regimes against women. The lasting and tangible result of the planned proceedings, summarizing the interdisciplinary dialogue among invited researchers from Poland and abroad, will be a peer-reviewed academic monograph published by the Pilecki Institute Publishing House.

  • Conference Project Coordinator: Prof. Małgorzata Dajnowicz.
  • Conference Secretary: Dr. Joanna Nikel.

Project Funding Details

  • Program name: Wektory Nauki
  • Project number: WNK/SN/0155/2025/01
  • Total value: PLN 283,500.00
  • Value of funding from the state budget: PLN 226,500.00

The project is financed from the state budget funds awarded by the Minister of Science and Higher Education under the “Wektory Nauki” program.

The conference is held under the honorary patronage of Marta Cienkowska, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

The conference is held under the honorary patronage of Mirosław Karolczuk, the Mayor of Augustów.

Honorary patronage

Media partnership