The Price of Victory: Poland after the Second World War

Join our expert panel as they discuss the legacy of Polish-British relations post-Second World War.

About the event

After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939, tens of thousands of Polish military personnel fled to the UK via France.

In June 1940, the Polish government-in-exile in the UK – in agreement with the British government – formed an independent Polish Army, Air Force and Navy. These forces would be utilised throughout the war, most notably in Italy, on D-Day and during the Race for Berlin.

Post-war, the previously successful relationship would falter with the looming Cold War.

Our specialist panel will discuss how the legacy of these Polish troops in the Allied war effort continues to impact and influence the lives of those in Poland and the Polish diaspora to this day.

The talk will explore the lives and legacies of the Polish diaspora following on from the war whilst also exploring the relationship many had with their homeland and those who remained in Poland.

Additional information

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About the speakers

Halik Kochanski is a British historian. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she taught history at several universities and is the author of ‘Sir Garnet Wolseley: A Victorian Hero’, ‘The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War’ and ‘Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-1945’, which was awarded the 2023 Wolfson History Prize.

Maria Polachowska has worked as a senior broadcast journalist and filmmaker for the BBC for over 35 years. Her films have been nominated for and won multiple awards, with topics including the first non-communist government in Poland, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Velvet Revolution in Prague, the end of the Soviet Union, the fall of Yugoslavia and the Arab Spring. She also worked on the Channel 4 series ‘The Struggles for Poland’.

Jenny Grant is a historian whose work explores Polish forces in wartime Britain, alliances between Great Britain and Poland, and commemoration. She is a PhD researcher at Queen Mary, University of London. She is the editor of the memoirs of General Stanisław Maczek – ‘The Price of Victory’.

Karolina Maczek is the granddaughter of General Stanisław Maczek, and was raised by him and his wife, Zofia Maczek, in Edinburgh from the age of two. She is a proud supporter of the many Polish schools named in General Maczek’s honour, as well as other commemorations and memorials honouring the soldiers of the First Polish Armoured Division. Karolina was granted a Polish passport by President Andrzej Duda in recognition of the fact that her grandfather had been stripped of his Polish citizenship after the Second World War ended and the Cold War began.

Justin Maciejewski is the Director of the National Army Museum. After a 27-year career in the British Army, he joined McKinsey & Company as a management consultant. His last appointment in the Army was Director Combat, the professional head of the Royal Armoured Corps and the Infantry. Prior to that, he had extensive command and staff experience and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) after commanding 2nd Battalion The Rifles in Iraq.