2022 Competition on the History of Poland
For Immediate Release — March 1, 2022
2022 Historical Essay Competition
First Prize – $3,000
Los Angeles, California: POLONIA INSTITUTE announces
the 2022 Historical Scholarship Competition
Polish Independence Movement after WWII
“I CONDUCTED MYSELF AS I SHOULD HAVE”
LEGACY OF INVINCIBLE SOLDIERS.
Poland, the first country to stand up to Nazi Germany, was the most loyal member of the WWII Allied Coalition. Polish armed forces fought the Axis Powers on all fronts of WWII from day one to the very end of the war. Yet, despite being the most unwavering member of the winning coalition, Poland was not among the winners of WWII. After the war, Poland lost one-third of its territory to the Soviet Union, fell under the Soviet occupation, was never compensated for devastating war losses caused by Germany and Russia, and was excluded from the Marshall Plan that helped Germany and other countries in Western Europe to recover from the war. All these actions were taken in the name of not upsetting the Russians.
Betrayed by the Western Allies, the Polish Armed Forces were excluded from the victory parade in London and the Polish pilots who defended London from Luftwaffe in the 1940 Battle of Britain could only watch the victory parade from the sidelines… The Polish soldiers fighting in the West could not return to Soviet Poland after the war while many in Poland were forced to run for their lives and never return to Poland.
As a result of the Yalta Agreement, the Western Powers effectively handed over Poland and other East-Central European countries to the Soviet Union, recognized the Soviet puppet government in Warsaw, gave the Soviets a free hand in exterminating the Polish independence movement, and have been effectively covering up the Soviet crimes of exterminating Polish freedom fighters to this day.
Such attitude emboldened the Soviets who took over Poland in 1945 and for the next two decades conducted the most brutal persecution of the Polish freedom fighters and the entire Catholic population of Poland with full impunity. They murdered thousands of people on a mass scale in special operations, put criminals in the position of judges and prosecutors, conducted show trials, committed judicial murders, tortured people in the most vicious ways, burry their victims in undisclosed locations, persecuted their families for decades, barred their children from pursuing higher education, developed lies and black legends about their victims to discredit them in the eyes of the public for posterity, and promoted traitors and criminals to the highest positions. Only now the forbidden truth about the crimes committed by the Soviet henchmen on the Polish freedom fighters began to emerge from oblivion.
In view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Polonia Institute encourages the American public to study events that followed the Yalta Conference of 1945 because this important part of the XX Century history, only now being pieced together, is most relevant to the Euro-Atlantic developments in 2022.
In your essay please analyze the following issues: 1) the Yalta Conference of February 1945; 2) June 1945 show trial of the 16 Polish leaders in Moscow 3) 1946 Special Augustów Operation (Little Katyn) 4) 1944-1947 mission of Stanisław Mikołajczyk in Poland; 5) NKVD/UB machine of oppression, a) special forces, prosecutors, court murderers, and show trials; b) torture dungeons: Rakowiecka, Fordon, Inowrocław, Lublin prisons, c) exterminations ex. Witold Pilecki, Danuta Sieradzikówna “Inka,” Emil Fieldorf and others; 6) threats, blackmailing, deportations, discrimination, terror; 9) lesson for today.
Essay Requirements:
The essay shall reflect the contestant’s own research and original thinking. The paper shall not exceed 15 typed pages (including bibliography), shall be typed in 12-point font, double-spaced with 1” margins; pages shall be numbered. The essay shall be submitted in the English language. All entries become the property of the Polonia Institute.
Eligibility:
The 2022 Essay Competition on the History of Poland is open to adults who are at least 18 years and older as of September 17, 2022. Proof of age is required. A copy of a valid document showing date of birth is acceptable.
Deadline:
September 17, 2022 (postmark date). Results will be announced on or about November 11, 2022.
Awards:
First Prize is $3,000, Second Prize $1,000, Third Prize $500. Additional monetary and non-monetary awards may be offered. Additional essays may be considered for recognition and publication. Polonia Institute reserves the right to publish selected essays and/or excerpts of selected essays in future publications, newsletters, and other materials.
Procedure:
The Application Form can be found at: http://poloniainstitute.net/. Attach the Application Form and proof of age to the essay. Mail and email the complete package to Polonia Institute.
Mail to:
2022 Historical Essay Competition
Polonia Institute, Inc.
3400 W. Adams Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90018
Email to: info@poloniainstitute.net
The 2022 Historical Essay Competition Application Form can be found here:
For more information send an email to: info@poloniainstitute.net
THE RESULTS OF THE 2022 COMPETITION ON THE HISTORY OF POLAND
WILL BE ANNOUNCED AROUND NOVEMBER 20, 2022.
