14 books nominated for this year’s Witold Pilecki International Book Award - Instytut Pileckiego

On Saturday, 5 September, at the Autumn Book Fair in Warsaw, the Pilecki Institute announced the titles and authors of 14 books nominated for this year’s Witold Pilecki International Book Award.

Now in its sixth edition, this prestigious competition is organized by the Institute with the participation of the Pilecki family and in partnership with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

Eligible books are those published in 2025 and falling into three categories: academic history book; historical reportage or biography; and a book documenting manifestations and remnants of 20th-century totalitarian systems in the contemporary world.

This year, a record 98 publications from six countries were submitted, published in four languages: Polish, English, French, and German. In the autumn, the Jury will select the winners and recipients of honorable mentions from among the nominees. The results will be announced at an awards gala at the end of the year.

Books nominated for the 2026 Witold Pilecki International Book Award

Category: Academic history book

• Błażej Brzostek, Życie codzienne kobiet w PRL, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy
• Tomasz Krok, Afera Teozofów. Siatka wywiadowcza mjr. Andrzeja Czaykowskiego (1949–1951), Institute of National Remembrance
• Paweł Machcewicz, Narodowy komunizm po polsku. „Partyzanci” Moczara, Krytyka Polityczna
• Izabela Mrzygłód, Uniwersytety w cieniu kryzysu. Nacjonalistyczna radykalizacja studentów Warszawy i Wiednia w okresie międzywojennym, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UMK

Category: Historical reportage

• Marta Grzywacz, Radość Soboty. Archiwum życia i śmierci, Wydawnictwo Czarne
• Clare Mulley, Agent Zo, Orion Publishing Group / Agentka Zo. Historia Elżbiety Zawackiej, bohaterki drugiej wojny światowej, Wydawnictwo W.A.B.
• Krzysztof Potaczała, O czym drzewa w Bieszczadach nie szumią. Ocalona z Sobiboru, Znak Horyzont
• Laurence Rees, Umysł nazisty. 12 ostrzeżeń z historii, Wielka Litera
• Marcin Wilk, Jedyna. Biografia Karoliny Lanckorońskiej, Społeczny Instytut Wydawniczy Znak

Category: Award for documenting manifestations and remnants of 20th-century totalitarian systems in the contemporary world

• Joanna Czeczott, Cisza nad stepem. Kazachstan i pamięć o Rosji, Wydawnictwo Czarne
• Mark Galeotti, Wojny Putina. Czeczenia, Gruzja, Syria, Ukraina, Znak Horyzont
• Michał Gołkowski, Russkij mir, Fabryka Słów
• Jędrzej Morawiecki, Szykuj sanie latem. Syberyjski mesjasz i podróż do kresu rosyjskiego snu o zbawieniu, Znak Literanova
• Paweł Pieniążek, Wojna w moim domu. Kiedy konflikt staje się codziennością, Znak Literanova

The nominated books are listed alphabetically by the authors’ surnames.

About the Award

“Through the Witold Pilecki International Book Award, our Institute fulfills one of its key missions: promoting knowledge of 20th-century totalitarianism and its impact on the contemporary world,” said Karol Madaj, director of the Pilecki Institute. “Today, as we see a renewed nostalgia for totalitarianism emerging in both the East and the West, this mission has become particularly important. That is why we not only present the results of our own research, but also draw attention to particularly valuable works by scholars, reporters, and biographers from around the world,” Director Madaj stressed. “This year, the Jury selected the nominees from a record 98 submissions: books from six countries published in four languages.”

“Selecting this year’s nominees was no easy task. We received an enormous number of submissions in every category, many of them valuable, important, and carefully considered works,” said Jury Chair Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. “But this also made the jury’s discussions extremely interesting. One of the great strengths of a panel such as this is the diversity of perspectives – academic, professional, linguistic, and geographical. It takes the deliberations to an entirely different level, allowing the arguments put forward to move into much broader multidisciplinary and multicultural territory,” Dr. Cywiński emphasized.

The Award is international in scope. Under the rules for the 2026 edition, books published in Polish, English, French, and German were eligible for submission. A total of 98 publications from six countries – Poland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Canada – were submitted, the highest number in the Award’s history. The Jury selected 14 books for nomination, from which the winners and recipients of honorable mentions will be chosen in the autumn. The winners will be announced and the prizes and honorable mentions presented at a formal gala held at the end of the year in the auditorium of the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw.

The authors of the best books will receive commemorative statuettes and cash prizes. The winners in the first two categories will each receive PLN 50,000, while the winner in the third category will receive PLN 25,000. An honorable mention carrying a cash prize of PLN 5,000 will also be awarded in each of the three categories.

Category descriptions

Academic history book – the best monograph or synthesis dealing with the experience of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in confronting totalitarianisms in the 20th century, with particular emphasis on Poland. Books in this category are evaluated with particular regard to strong documentation, original interpretations, and an engaging presentation.

Historical reportage – a book offering readers a compelling account of the experience of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in confronting totalitarianisms in the 20th century, with particular emphasis on Poland. In addition to conventional works of historical reportage, biographies, memoirs, and eyewitness accounts may also be submitted in this category. Books in this category are evaluated with particular regard to respect for sources, strong composition, and narrative credibility.

Documenting manifestations and remnants of 20th-century totalitarian systems in the contemporary world – a book bearing witness to the criminal actions of totalitarian, post-totalitarian, and authoritarian systems with 20th-century roots that continue to operate in the contemporary world. Although the 20th century formally ended more than two decades ago, it is clear that in some respects today’s world remains deeply rooted in the previous century, and many of the criminal acts we observe today stem directly from the operation of totalitarian systems before 1989. The award-winning book may therefore tell the story of the dramatic fate of populations affected by wars and armed conflicts; it may expose deliberate and persistent violations of human rights by totalitarian systems whose origins reach back to the previous century; or it may portray life in the shadow of totalitarian regimes that continue to exist today.

Award Jury

The Award Jury consists of eight members. Three permanent members represent the institutions of the Organizer (the Pilecki Institute), the Partner (the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum), and the Pilecki family. The remaining Jury members are appointed annually by the Director of the Pilecki Institute. At its first meeting, the Jury elects a Chair from among its members for the given year.

Permanent members

• Jury Chair: Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński – director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, representative of the Competition Partner;
• Dr. hab. Patrycja Grzebyk, Professor at the University of Warsaw – representing the Director of the Pilecki Institute and the Competition Organizer;
• Krzysztof Kosior – great-grandson of Captain Witold Pilecki, representative of the family of Witold Pilecki, the Competition’s patron.

Members appointed by the Director of the Pilecki Institute

• Prof. Agnieszka Bieńczyk-Missala
• Andrzej Brzeziecki
• Prof. Padraic Kenney
• Prof. Anna Mazurkiewicz
• Prof. Claudia Weber

Jury Secretary – Iwona Jabłońska of the Pilecki Institute.