Meetings

Karty Historii

The series Karty Historii [“Pages from History”] is dedicated to significant events and personalities of Polish and European history that had a significant impact on the most recent history of Poland. We discuss history both in the local and European perspective, present the figures that played a significant role in Polish history, and reflect on how the events related to the turbulent history of our region influenced their fates. The series includes lectures, as well as talks with authors of history books and witnesses of history, along with screenings of documentary films, exhibitions, and concerts. We invite professional historians, museum curators, and journalists, but also witnesses of history, collectors, scholars, and enthusiasts of local history. We have had the honour of hosting such distinguished figures as prof. Jan Żaryn, prof. Władysław Bartoszewski, Zofia Romaszewska, Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy, Michał Nekanda-Trepka, Elżbieta Moczarska, and Anna Herbich.
Admission to all meetings is free of charge.

Literatura i historia

The series Literatura i Historia [“Literature and History”] is dedicated to the broad set of relations between Polish and European literature, and the history of Poland and Europe. We ask our guests – writers, poets, critics, and historians of literature – about the historical context of literary work. Together we reflect on how the era in which they were creating – along with their personal experiences of both historically proud moments, and the nightmare of wars and revolutions – influenced their fate and artistic choices, and thus their work. We are equally intrigued by literary testimonies: diaries, memoirs, and correspondence, as well as fiction, poetry, and drama, in which history is a topos and literary material, an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of how things unfold. Our guests have included: Tadeusz Świątek, Renata Lis, Piotr Mitzner, Przemysław Dakowicz, Sławomir Łubiński, and Marek Nowakowski.
Admission to all meetings is free of charge.

Nasze Korzenie

The series Nasze korzenie [“Our Roots”] is dedicated to genealogy – the branch of history that seeks ones ancestors. Until recently, the fascination with genealogy and desire to know one’s forebears required a personal visit to oft’times remote archives, parishes, family members, along with hand-written work on cards, spread-sheets, and tables. Today, thanks to the modern technology available to all, anyone can begin the journey into the past without leaving the house. “Our roots” are meetings involving lectures and workshops during which we get to know both the genealogies of famous Polish families and learn to look for our own roots in practice. During the workshops you can learn how to read vital records in foreign languages (Russian, German, and Latin); learn about the methodology and practice of genealogical research; discover genealogical sources available on the Internet and “in the field”, as well as obtain software accessible to amateur genealogists. Workshops and lectures at the headquarters of the Dulag 121 Museum were conducted by professionals and aficionados of genealogy, including Waldemar Fronczak, Ewa Borodzicz, Marcin Batory, Adam Pszczółkowski, Tomasz Mleczek, and Alan Jakman.
Admission to all meetings is free of charge.

Pamięć Kresów

The series Pamięć Kresów [Remembrance of the Eastern Borderlands], organized with the Pruszkowskie Stowarzyszenie Patriotyczne [Pruszków Patriotic Association], is dedicated to the history and culture of the former Polish eastern borderlands, known in Polish as the Kresy. During the meetings we discuss the most important events related to the history of the Kresy from the days of the First Republic of Poland (i.e., until the late 18th century), through the period of partitions when no Polish state existed (1795-1918), to the times of the Second Republic (1919-1939) and the Second World War (1939-1945), and the impact those events had on the fate of Poles living in the Kresy. We are interested not only in their history as such, but also in all traces of the memory of the Kresy still present in Polish history and culture – hence, the biographies of those important for Polish history and culture, people of literature, music, and painting. The series was commenced in December 2015 with the lecture of prof. Andrzej Nowak. We have since hosted many other prominent guests, including Stanisław Srokowski, Mariusz Jerzy Olbromski, dr Tomasz Mleczek and the crew of the Theatrical Society “Pod Górkę”.
Admission to all meetings is free of charge.