PASI EDU Resources

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There are many significant facts about various aspects of modern Polish history, science, and arts and culture that are little-known but have influenced our lives in different ways. These facts are shown below under the headings History, Scientific Successes, Arts and Culture, Polish-Jewish Relations, Distortions and Falsehoods, Recommended Reading, Recommended Videos, and Educational Content.

History

The best articles for you to learn and read which are currently
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Some of the interesting facts you'll find:

Generals Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Kazimierz Pulaski contributed significantly to the defeat of the British in the American Revolutionary War.

Polish mathematicians Rejewski, Zygalski, and Rozycki broke Germany's Enigma code, and working copies of the Enigma machine delivered to the British and French helped shorten World War II in Europe.

It was Poland's partially-free elections in June 1989 that triggered the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe; the symbolic fall of the Berlin Wall occurred five months later.

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Jewish Commandos from the Second Polish Republic
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The Crypto Hackers who saved Countless Lives
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Polish-American Fighter Pilot Extraordinaire
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LTC Matt Urban: America’s Most Decorated Combat Veteran of World War II
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New pioneering work examines the largely unknown role of the Polish church in saving Jews during the Holocaust

Scientific Successes

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Some of the interesting facts you'll find

Scientific successes by various Polish scientists continue to influence our everyday lives. The long list of Polish scientists encompasses nearly every discipline in which men and women are well-represented. An interesting point is that a number of Polish scientists made important discoveries during the 123 years (1795-1918) when Poland did not exist. As you’ll soon see, Polish scientists are prominent in a number of disciplines that include chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, biology, metallurgy, engineering, and social science.

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Hilary Koprowski: The Man who overcame polio and saved millions of lives
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Our electronic devices are much faster thanks to a Polish scientist’s invention.
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Stanislaw Ulam – Brilliant mathematician with multiple innovations including the design of the H-Bomb
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Ernest Malinowski: The 19th-Century Engineer Who Defended Peru
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Polish Biologist Develops First Effective Typhus Vaccine and Secretly Treats Jews during World War 2

Arts & Culture

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Learn how Polish culture is an important part of western civilization and the western world

The culture of Poland is the product of its geography and intricate thousand-year history, which has provided significant contributions to art, music, philosophy, mathematics, science, politics and literature. In addition to Chopin, the nearly-endless list of classical music composers includes Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, Henryk Wieniawski, Stanislaw Moniuszko, Poland’s first Prime Minister Ignacy Paderewski, and Władysław Szpilman. Joseph Conrad is regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language and is credited with influencing T. S. Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and George Orwell. The nearly-endless list of artist painters includes Olga Boznanska, Jozef Brandt, Jozef Chelmonski, Jacek Malczewski, Wojciech Kossak, Jan Matejko, and Jozef Mehoffer.

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From the Son of a Polish Miner to the Royal Court of Sweden: Fascinating Story of World’s most prolific Stamp Engraver
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Polish Folk Dance Performances by Mazowsze are a Spectator Sport
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Piotr Beczała – One of the World’s Top Tenors
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Three Best-Known Polish Women Artists of the Interwar Period (1918-1939)

Polish-Jewish Relations

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Some of the interesting facts you'll find

For over 1,000 years, Poles and Polish Jews lived closely together yet so far apart.

From the founding of the Kingdom of Poland in 1025 until the early years of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth created in 1569, Poland was a shelter for Jews who were persecuted and expelled from western European countries. When Poland was reborn in 1918 after disappearing from the map in 1795, Poles and Polish Jews differed significantly in their views on reconstructing the Polish State. Hitler’s subsequent genocide of Poles and Polish Jews in World War 2 resulted in massive death and destruction, the consequences of which continue to weigh heavily on interactions between the two communities. Stalin’s World War 2 deportation of Poles to the deep Soviet interior aided by Polish-Jewish collaboration further damaged relations between the two communities. The ensuing early years of the Communist period saw a Jewish-led state security apparatus imprison and execute Poles who opposed Communism and Stalin’s tyrannical regime. In this Resources section, we present little-known facts about Polish-Jewish relations as they evolved over a millennium of living closely together yet so far apart.

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A positive event in Polish-Jewish relations – US rabbis support Poland’s WWII reparations claim
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Israel and the U.S. insist that Poland must pay for Germany’s World War 2 Crimes
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Jan Peczkis’s 1,700 book reviews will improve your understanding of Polish-Jewish relations
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Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków
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Jews feel more secure in Poland than in Western Europe – German media

Distortions & Falsehoods

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See why it’s important to identify and invalidate distortions about Poland and its people

Our review of information sources available to the public continues to reveal significant material omissions, misrepresentations, and falsifications, mainly about Polish history. These sources include public-school curricula and textbooks, media news outlets, popular websites, historical literature, and other public domain content. While some deficiencies are the result of ignorance, others are intentional. We address and invalidate them by presenting the facts and following our motto: “Only the Truth is Interesting”. As is often said, if you don’t know your history, others will write it for you.

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Mikhal Dekel’s accusations of Polish complicity in the Holocaust and PiS suppression of the evidence are false
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Big Bulletin: Polish Non-Complicity in the Holocaust
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Jedwabne: The anti-Polish Lie that persists in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
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One Polish-American’s Fight to include the Genocide of Poles in Virginia’s High-School Curriculum

Recommended Reading

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Here’s how to be better informed on various aspects of Polish history

As Americans, our knowledge of Polish history is very limited. This is because it’s virtually absent in public-school curricula and is almost never available in college academic programs. However, there is a Polish history of every field and topic, from science, to culture, to the arts. For Polish Americans, knowing and understanding this history is essential because it can help provide a sense of identity. For Americans in general, learning key aspects of Polish history is highly beneficial because it broadens our collective memory of the past. PASI EDU offers a range of recommended books for students, parents, teachers, and the adult community. Reading them provides valuable knowledge and the ability to empathize with the Polish experience. Enjoy films? Explore our engaging videos as well!

Book cover: The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather.
The Volunteer: One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret Mission to Destroy Auschwitz
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Your Life Is Worth Mine: How Polish Nuns Saved Hundreds of Jewish Children in German-Occupied Poland, 1939-1945 by Ewa Kurek
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The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles under German Occupation 1939-1945 by Richard Lukas
Book cover art, Poland and Russia.
Poland and Russia: The Neighborhood of Freedom and Despotism in the X-XXI Centuries

Recommended Videos

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Videos are a convenient way to learn more about Poland

Videos are an excellent medium for learning about Polish history and culture. As is the case with the books in Recommended Reading, the videos presented here are relatively short and are intended to expand one’s knowledge of Poland and its people across a range of topics. While a number of the Recommended Videos address various aspects of Polish history, there are other topics of interest such as relevant current events, Polish folk and popular culture, tourist attractions, political issues, common distortions, and developments involving NATO and the European Union.

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IPNtv: The Unconquered
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Poland is a country with diverse attractions that will surprise, delight, and inspire you
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Between Myth and Truth. Jewish Partisans During World War II
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Jewish Liars of the Holocaust
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How Heroic Polish Codebreakers set the Foundations for the Allies to Crack Enigma

Educational Content

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If you don’t claim your history, others will write it for you

We have begun developing educational products for students, teachers, parents, and the American and Polish American communities. For students, teachers, and parents, our current focus is on grades 9-12 and the products being developed include lesson plans, recommended books, and recommended videos. Subsequent educational products will include supplements for public school curricula and textbooks. For teachers and parents, we will develop and conduct Teacher Workshops that help teachers prepare subject-specific lesson plans and conduct classroom activities that expand beyond the learning objectives of existing curricula. We further will develop other lesson presentations on selected topics that can be presented remotely to students in the classroom and in other settings. For our wider American and Polish American community audiences, we plan to offer events ranging from academic webinars to guest presenters with featured topics of special interest.

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1st Lesson Plan

A map of the demarcation line in poland.

2nd Lesson Plan

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3rd Lesson Plan

Title: Poland’s important role in World War 2

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4th Lesson Plan

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5th Lesson Plan