Witnesses to the Age - Stories that leave no one indifferent - Instytut Pileckiego
31.03.2020 (Tue)
Witnesses to the Age - Stories that leave no one indifferent
The testimonies recorded within the project “Witnesses to the Age”already include nearly 1,250 recollections and reminiscences of Polish citizens who lived through the War II and of those who remember that difficult and turbulent postwar period.
„Everybody had their own specialty there: tailors, shoemakers, blacksmiths. Wool was carded, oil was pressed and there were Jewish mills in the neighborhood (…) There was a woman called Lejbowa, who dressed up about thirty girls or more”.
With these words begins the story of Eugenia Zębrowska, a story about a world that no longer exists. Eugenia, nearly 90 years old today, has memories that involve many Jewish names – her neighbors, friends and acquaintances. How many of them died? Who survived?
Eugenia similarly does not fail to talk about Polish residents of Mazovian villages who saved many human lives, often paying the highest price for providing help to their Jewish co-citizens.
This is one of the first testimonies recorded as part of the project “Witnesses to the Age – Oral History Archive” available on YouTube. In 2018, we started recording the recollections and reminiscences of people who lived through the Second World War, and also of those who remember the postwar period. Among the witnesses who talk about their experiences are soldiers from all fronts of the conflict, civilians, political prisoners, concentration camp inmates, and those who were incarcerated in forced labor camps and the Gulag. Witnesses of atrocities motivated by nationalism and of war crimes. The Righteous and the Saved. Polish citizens, Poles holding foreign citizenship, and the citizens of other countries. Accounts concerning the postwar period provide, among others, information about the activities of the NKVD, the mass arrests conducted by the security services, and the period of martial law. The Solidarity movement is discussed by its members, while the workers’ strikes – by their immediate participants. Some of them have never given an interview before, others have been waiting for years for the chance to speak. The testimonies we present here have been divided into the following themes: the Katyn Massacre, the Warsaw Uprising, German atrocities during the occupation, Witnesses of Volhynia Massacre and the Augustów roundup.
We are grateful to our audience not only for the interest in our heroes, but also for the valuable information about the remarkable fates of their relatives and friends. We have so far conducted about 1,250 notations both in Poland and abroad.
Katarzyna Łaniewska is a Polish actress and was once a member of the anti-Communist resistance. In her interview, she recalls the dark times of the German occupation of Warsaw, when her family helped a Jewish girl sneaking out of the Ghetto in search of food.
She also recalls the Warsaw Uprising, which she and her family survived in the Mokotów district. After the fall of the Uprising, Katarzyna and her family were transported to Wolbrom where her father’s business acquaintances gave them shelter. It is the first time that she has spoken so expansively about her experiences from that time.
See also
- 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.
- Researchers from the Pilecki Institute at BASEES 2026 in Birmingham
News
Researchers from the Pilecki Institute at BASEES 2026 in Birmingham
On 10–12 April, the BASEES 2026 Annual Conference was held in Birmingham; the international academic meeting was organized by the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies.
- Research Visit of Luke Marlow from Aston University at the Pilecki Institute
News
Research Visit of Luke Marlow from Aston University at the Pilecki Institute
From 13 April to 8 May 2026, Luke Marlow, a doctoral researcher at Aston University, will be undertaking a research visit at the Pilecki Institute. The visit is carried out as a part of the Midlands Graduate School Doctoral Training Partnership and is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
- New Pilecki Awards Committee Appointed
News
New Pilecki Awards Committee Appointed
Pursuant to the Regulations of the Competition and the Operating Regulations of the Awards Committee, on 1 April 2026, the Acting Director of the Pilecki Institute, Karol Madaj, appointed the Awards Committee for the 6th edition of the Witold Pilecki International Book Award. The eight-member Awards Committee includes three permanent members representing the Pilecki family, the Pilecki Institute, and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, as well as members appointed each time by written decision of the Director of the Institute.
- Announcement | Competition for a research scholarship titled “The Provenance of Cultural Property Lost During the Nazi Occupation of Poland”
News
Announcement | Competition for a research scholarship titled “The Provenance of Cultural Property Lost During the Nazi Occupation of Poland”
Announcement of a competition for scholarships at the Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor, branch office in Berlin.
- Second debate in the “Berlin in Warsaw” series. Discussion on reparations and compensation [video]
News
Second debate in the “Berlin in Warsaw” series. Discussion on reparations and compensation [video]
“Compensation, damages, reparations: what is realistic, what is symbolic?” This was the title of the second debate in the “Berlin in Warsaw” series. Experts on Polish-German relations presented different perspectives on the difficult relationship between the two nations.
- 24 March | National Day of Remembrance of Poles Who Saved Jews Under German Occupation
News
24 March | National Day of Remembrance of Poles Who Saved Jews Under German Occupation
In 2018, the President of the Republic of Poland established 24 March as the National Day of Remembrance of Poles Who Saved Jews Under German Occupation. It serves as a commemoration of all Polish citizens who risked their lives to help Jews during the German occupation.
- Pilecki in NYC. The debate “Lessons from Nuremberg for the 21st Century”
News
Pilecki in NYC. The debate “Lessons from Nuremberg for the 21st Century”
The debate “Lessons from Nuremberg for the 21st Century” focused on the legacy of the Nuremberg Trials and their real impact on the development of contemporary international law and the methods of prosecuting war criminals.