Competition on the History of Poland
Where is Poland?
Between Russia and Germany!
How would any country survive between Russia and Germany?
By offering the Competition on the History of Poland to the English-speaking public, we want to encourage you to learn more about the struggle of Poland for survival as a country between Russia and German for the past one thousand years.
Why should you be interested in this Competition? The history of Poland is not only fascinating and important but also very relevant to your life here and now. The knowledge gained through preparations for this Competition provides indispensable insights into current developments in the West, and in the United States in particular. What goes around, comes around. Whatever happens in Poland, it is interconnected with the West, hence impacts your life as well.
As the garland program of the Polonia Institute, the Competition on the History of Poland aims at bringing to the attention of the English speaking world the significance of the Polish experience in the struggle for liberty, sovereignty, and human dignity throughout the centuries. Our Competition is open to English- speaking adults 18 years and older.
We invite you to take part in the Competition on the History of Poland that will sharpen your analytical skills and broaden your horizon!
2026 Competition on the History of Poland: German Eradication of the Polish People and the Polish State in WWII
The genocidal policies of the German government’s colonization plan, Generalplan Ost (GPO), were the blueprint for international crimes committed against the Polish nation between 1939 and 1945. The German master plan for Poland entailed the mass extermination and expulsion of some 85 percent (over 20 million) of ethnic Poles, the remaining 15 percent to be turned into slave labor.
Extermination of the Polish population was to be conducted systematically. On 7 September 1939, Sicherheitsdienst head Reinhard Heydrich stated that all Polish nobles, clergy, and Jews were to be murdered. On 12 September, Wehrmacht chief of staff Wilhelm Keitel added Poland’s intelligentsia to the list. On 15 March 1940, SS chief Heinrich Himmler stated: “All Polish specialists will be exploited in our military–industrial complex. Later, all Poles will disappear from this world. It is imperative that the great German Volk consider the elimination of all Polish people as its chief task.” At the end of 1940, Hitler confirmed the plan to liquidate “all leading elements in Poland.
German Commanders called for the annihilation of the Polish population as the only way to secure living space (Lebensraum) for Germany. The tradition of German racism toward Poles, traceable from Bismarck’s policies to Hitler’s ideology, reached its climax in the genocide of the Polish people in World War II.
The German devastation of Poland in WWII cannot be quantified in abstract numbers. Political elites were exterminated. Intellectual life was shattered. Industrial infrastructure was ruined, and the civilian population decimated. Cultural treasures were looted on an industrial scale, libraries and Polish language books were destroyed, Chopin’s music was forbidden, and Warsaw was deliberately destroyed in 85 percent. Nazi Germany killed at least 2.7 million ethnic Poles; 140,000 Poles were deported to Auschwitz, where at least half of them perished, and more than 200,000 people were killed in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. See also: https://www.librainstitute.org/official-report-on-polish-losses-caused-by-nazi-germany/
Destruction of this scale should carry consequences. Compensation is not an act of generosity. Instead, it is tied to the principle that those who inflict destruction bear responsibility for its repair. Yet the geopolitical settlement of 1945 did not produce a comprehensive Polish-German settlement. Although Poland was a significant member of the victorious coalition, the issue of compensating Poland for war losses has not been resolved to this day.
2025 Competition on the History of Poland - The Betrayal of the First Ally; Poland at the end of WWII
Eighty years have passed since the end of WWII, the most devastating war in 1000 years of the history of Poland. Attacked by Nazi Germany from the West and the Soviet Union from the East, Poland suffered the greatest human, material and non-material losses among all the nations impacted by this conflict.
Despite being the First Ally of the winning coalition, Poland lost its independence as a result of WWII to the Soviet Union and continued to suffer under the brutal Stalinist regime for decades to come. To this day, Poland has not received any war reparations either from Germany or the Soviet Union and its successor, Russia.
2024 Competition on the History of Poland - The battle for Rome and the Battle for Warsaw 80 years later. Compare and contrast.
The Battle for Rome, also known as the Battle of Monte Cassino, was of primary importance to the Allied effort to defeat the Axis Coalition in World War II. The Monte Cassino Monastery, well-fortified by the Germans, stood in the way of the Allied effort to take over Rome.
On May 16, 1944, the Polish Second Corps launched the final assault on the Germans at Monte Cassino. On May 18, 1944, soldiers of the Polish Second Corps raised the Polish flag over the ruins of the Monte Cassino Monastery. As a result of this historic Polish victory, the German Senger Defense Line collapsed.
2023 Competition on the History of Poland - German extermination of ethnic Poles during WWII.
Throughout the Second World War, which lasted 2076 days, Germany murdered, on average, about 3,000 Polish citizens every day, which is more than the total number of all people killed in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center – every day for 2076 days! During the war, Poland lost from German hand 39% of its doctors, 33% of its teachers, 30% of its academic faculty, including 700 professors, 28% of its priests, and 26% of lawyers. Germans kidnapped over 200,000 young Polish children and shipped them to Germany for Germanization. Material damage and non-material losses caused by Germany to Poland in WWII amounted to 6 trillion 220 billion 609 million Polish zlotys. To this day, Germany has not compensated Poland for these losses and has not educated its people about the crimes committed by Germans against ethnic Poles in WWII.
2022 Competition on the History of Poland - 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.
2021 Competition on the History of Poland - 1981 Crackdown on the Solidarity Movement.
December 13, 2021, marks the 40th anniversary of the imposition of Martial Law in Poland by the communist regime of General Jaruzelski. The role of the Solidarity Movement in defending the liberty for all and sovereignty of Poland is the subject of the 2021 Competition of the Polonia Institute. This competition is offered in honor of the heroes of the Solidarity Movement repressed by the communist and post-communist regimes.