Pilecki Institute awarded Golden BohaterON prize! - Instytut Pileckiego
Pilecki Institute awarded Golden BohaterON prize!
We received the award in the “Institute” category for the “overall work in 2018 in disseminating the 20th century history of Poland and particularly the individual testimonies of witnesses to the atrocities committed in occupied Poland during World War II.
This year, the nationwide BohaterON – włącz historię campaign handed out the BohaterON 2019 Warsaw Insurgents awards. The awards and distinctions were given in seven different categories to honor those people and institutions whose work in 2018 had a particular effect in promoting the knowledge of 20th century Polish history (1918–1989), and historical and patriotic education.
Our BohaterON award was collected by the director of the Pilecki Institute Wojciech Kozłowski during a ceremonial gala at the National Theater in Warsaw on Wednesday 16 October.
“This is a very beautiful and moving moment for the Pilecki Institute which only began its work three years ago,” said Director Wojciech Kozłowski. “We are grateful that the work of the team, which from the outset has been guided by the belief that there is still so much to say about the fate of Poland during the Second World War, has been given such a great distinction.”
In his speech, the director thanked the jury, the Pilecki Institute’s team, the deputy prime minister and minister of culture and national heritage prof. Piotr Gliński, and the deputy minister prof. Magdalena Gawin for the support they have given the Institute.
The winners were selected by a jury awarding Golden, Silver and Bronze BohaterON awards in each category. An audience award was also presented, the winner having been selected by internet users.
The organizing committee also presented Witold Pilecki’s children Zofia Pilecka-Optułowicz and Andrzej Pilecki with a special award “for perseverance in the struggle for the truth and preserving the memory of Witold Pilecki who has become a symbol of steadfastness and courage for us.”
See also
- Academic conference “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)”
News
Academic conference “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)”
The second academic conference in a series “Oppositional Engagement of Women in Authoritarian and Totalitarian Systems of the 20th Century: Poland in a Comparative European Perspective (1919–1989)” brought together representatives of various fields of the humanities and social sciences from numerous research centers in Poland and abroad.
- Accountability for War Crimes. New book from Pilecki's expert
News
Accountability for War Crimes. New book from Pilecki's expert
It is an expanded English-language edition of the monograph "Problem odpowiedzialności karnej za zbrodnie wojenne w pracach rządu polskiego na emigracji (1939–1945)", which in 2023 was awarded a grant under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education’s “Excellent Science II” program for the translation and open-access publication of the book abroad.
- 12 July | Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Augustów Roundup
News
12 July | Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Augustów Roundup
12 July is celebrated as the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Augustów Roundup. The roundup began 81 years ago on this day – on 12 July 1945, two months after the end of the Second World War.
- The Volhynian Crime: The Pilecki Institute and its scholarly and research activities
News
The Volhynian Crime: The Pilecki Institute and its scholarly and research activities
On the Sunday of 11 July 1943, units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the armed wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Stepan Bandera faction) – a radical fascist organization striving to build an independent Ukrainian state without any national minorities – carried out a coordinated attack on almost a hundred Polish settlements in the German-occupied Volhynian Voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic.
- Announcement
News
Announcement
The Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor, the sole shareholder of Pilecki Institute (USA), Inc., announces that the Board of Directors has appointed Jack Fairweather as the interim President (CEO) of Pilecki Institute (USA), Inc., effective as of 18 June 2026. His task will be to expand the program strategy in line with the statutory mission of the Pilecki Institute’s New York branch.
- The MODEERN FREEDOM exhibition at the Pilecki Institute NYC is now open!
News
The MODEERN FREEDOM exhibition at the Pilecki Institute NYC is now open!
The largest group presentation of Polish contemporary art in New York since MoMA’s legendary “Fifteen Polish Painters” exhibition in 1961.
- The Witold Pilecki International Book Award for historical books. Applications accepted only until the end of June!
News
The Witold Pilecki International Book Award for historical books. Applications accepted only until the end of June!
The Pilecki Institute is accepting applications for the Witold Pilecki International Book Award until the end of June. The competition, now in its sixth year, is organized with the participation of the Patron’s Family and in partnership with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
- On better protection against crimes against humanity: Summary of the international conference “The Roots of Crimes Against Humanity”
News
On better protection against crimes against humanity: Summary of the international conference “The Roots of Crimes Against Humanity”
The international conference “The Roots of Crimes Against Humanity: Bridging the Normative Gap” successfully concluded at the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw. Organized on the 20th and 21st of April 2026, in cooperation with the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the event aimed to provide historical and academic foundations for the first-ever United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity.
- April 30 Deadline: Poland Proposes "Child-Sensitive Approach" for New UN Convention
News
April 30 Deadline: Poland Proposes "Child-Sensitive Approach" for New UN Convention
Beginning with today’s (April 30) deadline for all nations to submit their official comments to the United Nations on the draft of the proposed Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, Poland has made an aggressive bid to become one of the leaders representing the globe’s most vulnerable victims.
- Recap of the 5th edition of the Pilecki Institute International Teachers and Educators Program (ITEP)
News
Recap of the 5th edition of the Pilecki Institute International Teachers and Educators Program (ITEP)
This year's online conference focused on the post-war decade of 1945–1955 – a time of rebuilding devastated countries, the beginning of the Cold War, and the birth of a new international order.
- Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visits the Augustów Roundup Memorial House
News
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visits the Augustów Roundup Memorial House
On 22 April 2026, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, visited the Augustów Roundup Memorial House.
- Research cooperation between the International Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC) and the Pilecki Institute
News
Research cooperation between the International Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC) and the Pilecki Institute
The Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor has entered into official cooperation with the International Centre for War Crimes Trials (ICWC) at Philipps University in Marburg.









