Colonel Francis (Gabby) Gabreski (born Franciszek StanisÅ‚aw Gabryszewski) (1919-2002) was the top American fighter ace in Europe during World War 2, a jet fighter ace in the Korean War, the first U.S. combat pilot to become an ace in two wars and one of only seven U.S. pilots to do so, and the third highest…

Polish special services trained right-wing Jewish fighters who carried out remarkable attacks on the British in Palestine. “I talked to many of them a quarter of a century ago. They all said that training in Poland gave them a significant advantage. Although they had no professional military education, they became conspirators and soldiers who would…

Lieutenant Colonel Matt Urban, born Matthew Louis Urbanowicz, (1919 – 1995) shares with Audie Murphy the distinction of being the most decorated American combat veteran of World War 2. Earning more medals for valor than the legendary Murphy, he was awarded 29 U.S., French, and Belgian medals including the Medal of Honor. When Army officials…

Wartime Rescue of Jews by the Polish Catholic Clergy: The Testimony of Survivors and Rescuers, Volumes 1 and 2, is a pioneering study by Ryszard Tyndorf and Zygmunt Zielinski of the mostly unknown rescue activities carried out by the Polish Catholic Church and its clergy in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. It is…

This World War II–era poster, titled “Over 200 Concentration Camps and Ghettos in Poland” was created by the artist W. Guranowski and issued in New York by the Polish Government Information Center (also known as the Polish Information Center). The large silkscreen design—depicting hands grasping barbed wire and listing grim statistics about German atrocities—formed part…

History and Design This powerful wartime poster was created by Marek Żuławski (1908–1985), a Polish painter and graphic artist who settled in London before World War II. Produced around late 1939 or early 1940 under the auspices of the Polish Government-in-Exile in London, it was distributed primarily through the Polish Information Centre in London and…

Created in 1939 by the Polish-American artist Władysław Teodor Benda, Poland’s Warriors of the Air was issued by the Polish War Relief organization to rally support for Poland at the outset of World War II. The image powerfully bridges Poland’s past and present: a winged horseman—evoking the legendary seventeenth-century Winged Hussars—charges through the sky above…

Designed in 1944 by K. Meyer and printed in London for the Polish Government Information Center and the Polish Army Education Bureau, this striking wartime poster celebrates the partnership between the Polish Air Force and the United States. Against a confident portrait of a smiling Polish pilot—one of the thousands who continued the fight for…

Jan Czochralski 1885 – 1953) invented the Czochralski method, which is the standard method used for growing crystals of silicon and germanium in the production of semiconductor wafers. It is still used in over 90 percent of all electronics in the world that use semiconductors. He was born in the small town of Kcynia (Exin…

In 1607, John Smith brought the first British settlers to Jamestown, who expected to find natural resources such as gold, lumber, and herbs. Sent by the Virginia Company of London, the settlers planned to found a colony and begin exporting goods to London. However, two problems significantly impeded their efforts. First, some of the colonists…