Polonia Institute announces
2026 Competition on the History of Poland
First Prize – $3,000
German Eradication of the Polish People and the Polish State
in WWII
Over 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.
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.
From the start of the war against Poland, Germany had been implementing Adolf Hitler‘s plan, set out in his book Mein Kampf, to acquire “living space” (German: Lebensraum) in the east for the massive settlement of German colonists. Hitler’s plan for Poland combined classic German imperialism with Nazi racial theories.
In the Obersalzberg Speech delivered on 22 August 1939, just before the invasion of Poland, Hitler gave explicit order to his commanders to murder “without pity or mercy, all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language.”
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.
Germany tries to argue that postwar territorial adjustments resolved this issue. That argument overlooks how those adjustments were made. At Yalta and Potsdam, Poland lost nearly half of its prewar territory to the Soviet Union. Stalin shifted Poland westward at Germany’s expense.
This process had nothing to do with reconciliation between Warsaw and Berlin. It was a strategic decision imposed by the victorious powers, which served the interests of Moscow. West Germany benefited from this geopolitical situation in which integration into NATO in 1955 outweighed unresolved historical obligations toward Poland.
Essay:
In your essay, please analyze the following issues: 1) Goals and policy of Germany towards Poland before and during WWII; 2) Scope and methods of exterminating the Poles; 3) Forgotten extermination of ethnic Poles 1939-1941; 4) Ethnic Poles in German death and concentration camps; 4) Destruction of Poland’s material wealth; 4) Destruction of Poland’s cultural heritage and Polish identity; 5) Postwar Sovietization of Poland as a result of German destruction of Poland; 6) Efforts of Poland for compensations from Germany for WWII losses; 6) German postwar strategy of avoiding responsibility for destruction of Poland; 7) Evaluate the Polish demands for reparations from Germany and their significance today.
You can choose one of these issues for more in-depth analysis. Please reach out to sources of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance here: https://ipn.gov.pl/en, Pilecki Institute https://instytutpileckiego.pl/pl/kolekcje-cyfrowe/zapisy-terroru, sources of “Documenta Occupationis,” online https://www.iz.poznan.pl/archiwum/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/DOCUMENTA-OCCUPATIONIS-IV_ENG.pdf;
https://www.iz.poznan.pl/archiwum/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/DOCUMENTA-OCCUPATIONIS-II-ENG.pdf;
https://www.iz.poznan.pl/archiwum/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Documenta_Occupationis_I_ENG.pdf, and other Polish sources.
Essay Requirements:
The essay shall reflect the contestant’s own research and original thinking. You may use AI for research, but do not use AI in writing the text of the essay. If we identify essay texts written by AI your essay will be disqualified.
The paper shall not exceed 20 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 2026 Essay Competition on the History of Poland is open to adults at least 18 years old as of October 15, 2026. Proof of age is required. A copy of a valid document showing the date of birth is acceptable.
Deadline:
October 15, 2026. Results will be announced on or about November 11, 2026.
Awards:
First Prize is $3,000. 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 here or see below.
Email your essay with the Application Form and proof of age to:
info@poloniainstitute.net with cc to: mszonert@yahoo.com
For more information, send an email to: mszonert@yahoo.com
2026 Competition on the History of Poland
APPLICATION FORM
First Name _______________________________________________________
Last Name: _____________________________________________________
Address: ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Tel: ______________________________________________________
Email: ______________________________________________________
Age: ______________________________________________________
School or University: ______________________________________________________
(if applicable)
Title of your Essay: _______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Number of Pages: ________________________________________________________
Email this application form with the essay and proof of age by 10/15/2026 to:
info@poloniainstitute.net with cc to mszonert@yahoo.com
