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The First News •

Museum receives WWII war chest containing two tons of silverware

Two tons of silverware given by Poles as a war chest to help the country defend itself in the event of a conflict with Nazi Germany have been donated to the National Museum in Poznań.

The silver was part of the National Defence Fund, which was set up by President Mościcki in April 1936 to raise additional funds by way of contributions for the rearmament of the army in the face of the threat to the Polish state by Nazi Germany.

Poles contributed their personal silver, cash, real estate, grain,
The First News •

January Uprising 1863 laid foundations for Poland’s independence

This week marks the 160th anniversary of one of the most significant events in Polish history, the 1863-64 January Uprising.

Sparked by economic hardship, political repression and a growing sense of national identity among the Polish people, launched on the night of January 22 it laid the foundations for Poland regaining its independence over 50 years later.

For nearly a century, Poland had been under the rule of foreign powers, with the Russian Empire, Prussia and Austria partitioning the cou
The First News •

‘James Bond gun’ found under palace floorboards

A World War Two-era German police pistol of a type famously used by super spy James Bond has been found hidden in a former Nazi women’s slave labour camp in the Opole province.

The Walther PPK was found in the attic of an abandoned apartment in the palace in Pawłowice, about 65 kilometres west of Częstochowa.

The 007 pistol was found with its holster and 50 rounds of 7.65 mm calibre ammunition on Tuesday, January 17, while workers were tearing up wooden floors in the attic of an apartment in t
The First News •

Art historian and TV host to set up museum of looted WWII art

Art historian and popular TV host Magdalena Ogórek is making sure the stories of stolen Polish art are not forgotten with the construction of the Museum of Stolen Art in Lower Silesia.

The museum, set to open by the end of 2023, will feature a permanent exhibition on how the Germans stole an estimated USD 30 billion of Polish cultural goods.

The museum, set to open by the end of 2023 in Sulisławice near Ząbkowice Śląskie, will feature a permanent exhibition on how the Germans stole an estimate
Mail Online •

Experts says WWII diary about lost Nazi millions is 'complete forgery'

Experts analysing a WWII diary said to reveal the location of hidden Nazi treasure in an 18th century palace in Poland have concluded it is a ‘complete forgery’.

Presenting their findings in their monthly magazine, the group said: ‘The War Diary is a Polish-German forgery likely produced some time after 1982.’

The diary, said to have been written by an SS officer who noted down the location of looted works of art and valuables hidden towards the end of WWII, was acquired by a group calling its
The First News •

War Diary identifying hidden Nazi treasure a forgery

A War Diary claiming to contain information about places where valuables and works of art were hidden in Lower Silesia is a Polish-German forgery likely produced sometime after 1982, according to an analysis carried out by historical mystery researchers.

Historian Łukasz Orlicki from the Discoverer group which carried out a critical source analysis on the contents of the diary, said: “The result of our analysis unequivocally identifies the war diary as a fictional text created many years after
The First News •

Builders find trove of WWII Jewish valuables hidden inside box

Workers in Łódź made a sensational discovery when they uncovered hundreds of Jewish valuables during renovations of a tenement house in the city centre.

While digging to insulate the foundations, they stumbled upon a wooden box filled with over 400 antique objects, including candlesticks, cutlery, glasses, and other utensils.

It is believed that the objects, which include Hanukkah candlesticks and personal items such as perfume bottles and a cigarette case, were hidden by a Jewish family at th
The First News •

Fury as ‘Polish king’s sword’ goes up for auction in Germany

A sword thought to have belonged to Polish king Sigismund III Vasa has been put up for sale in Germany.

Posting photos of the weapon on its website, Berlin auction house Carsten Zeige said that the sword “probably belonged to Sigismund III Vasa and came from a pre-war Polish collection.”

Although the seller did not inform how the sword came into its possession, the asking price is EUR 30,000.zeige.com

It added that the sword dated from 1592 is 97.5 cm, the blade measures 83.5 cm, the width of
Mail Online •

Experts searching for Hitler's gold say letter may uncover treasure

Experts searching for £200million of Hitler's gold in the grounds of an 18th-century palace in Poland have said Nazi descendants have handed over a letter written by an SS officer that could uncover another lost treasure.

A team from the Silesian Bridge Foundation said the fragment of an ageing letter, seen exclusively by MailOnline, could reveal the mystery behind one of the Second World War's most valuable pieces of looted art.

The letter references the long-lost 16th-century painting Portra
The First News •

True story of doomed Auschwitz love turned into haunting new book

When Wawrzyniec Kulig volunteered to be sent to Auschwitz to save his pregnant wife, he knew he was facing certain death.

Learning of her arrest for helping a camp escapee, the desperate 36-year-old did the only thing he could think of - offered himself in exchange for her release.

The Germans agreed, his wife was released and gave birth to a baby girl a few days after.

But less than three months later, Wawrzyniec was taken to the camp’s execution wall and shot dead.

An escapee from Auschwit
 The First News •

New chapter in ‘lost Jewish library mystery’ as books returned to Lublin

A World War Two mystery has come a step closer to being resolved after two books from the lost religious library of what was once the largest Talmudic school in the world were returned to Lublin.

The religious books from the original collection in the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva were found in a university library in Berlin by one of its employees. Both copies bear the stamps of the Yeshiva library.

Agnieszka Litman, an animator of the Lublin branch of the Jewish Religious Community in Warsaw, said
The First News •

The Queen is dead! Poland pays tribute to Britain’s longest-serving monarch

The death of Britain’s longest serving monarch has sent shock waves around the world.

In Poland, the country’s president Andrzej Duda said: “My deepest condolences to the Royal Family and all the British people on passing of Her Majesty The Queen.

”For decades she has been an embodiment of everything that makes Britain truly Great. She will be missed and remembered in Poland and all over the world.”

Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also tweeted on Thursday that it had learnt of UK head of
The First News •

Remains of Polish saint discovered in ‘the Hungarian Taj Mahal’

Archaeologists in Hungary have discovered the remains of the early Polish saint Władysław I the Holy among a huge pile of bones in a Hungarian castle.

According to Hungarian news site Telex.hu, the bones of the 11th-century Kraków-born saint were found in an ossuary in Bory Castle in Székesfehérvár, a stunning complex which is known as the Hungarian Taj Mahal.

The bones of the 11th-century Kraków-born saint were found in an ossuary in Bory Castle in Székesfehérvár.bory-var.hu

The remains were
The First News •

New monument honours “largest cavalry battle of 20th century”

A huge monument commemorating one of the last ever mass cavalry charges in history was unveiled yesterday in Wolica Śniatycka near Zamość.

In this way, one of the most important clashes in Poland's struggle for independence, the Battle of Komarów in 1920, was remembered on its 102nd anniversary.

On August 31st, 1920, the Poles, commanded by Colonel Juliusz Rommel, defeated Semyon Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army.

The clash between the Polish Army and the Red Army at Komarów in 1920 is described as
The First News •

Remains of ‘female vampire’ found with sickle across her neck

The skeleton of what archaeologists believe may have been a 17th-century female vampire has been discovered near Bydgoszcz.

The team of researchers from the Nicholas Copernicus University in Toruń found that the body in the village of Pień had a sickle placed over its neck, which they say would have been to prevent her from returning to mortality, and a padlock on the big toe of her left foot.

According to expedition member Magdalena Zagrodzka, the find is a first for Poland. “This is a unique
The First News •

Zofia Posmysz: acclaimed writer and Auschwitz survivor laid to rest in Oświęcim

The funeral took place today in Oświęcim of Zofia Posmysz, the acclaimed writer, Auschwitz survivor and holder of Poland’s highest honour, the Order of the White Eagle.

The funeral mass was held at noon at the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Oświęcim after the writer passed away last Monday at a hospice in the town at the age of 98.

Zofia Posmysz was one of Poland’s major chroniclers of the Holocaust, which she explored through fiction and drama.

The funeral mass was held at noon at the
The First News •

The Polish Titanic: TFN explores the sinking of the MS Piłsudski

As the pride of the Polish passenger fleet, the MS Piłsudski became a symbol of the country’s access to the sea following independence – however, for many others it will irrevocably be known as ‘the Polish Titanic’.

During the interwar years, it was regarded as Poland’s floating embassy, carrying passengers to New York in state-of-the-art luxury.

After the outbreak of World War II, it was fitted out to serve as a transport ship but sank during its first military voyage. It was the largest Poli
 The First News •

Surviving Warsaw Uprising insurgents honoured in series of moving posters

Some of the last surviving Warsaw Uprising insurgents are being honoured in a series of posters that have appeared throughout Warsaw to mark the 78th anniversary of the outbreak of the Uprising.

The posters by prolific contemporary poster artist Wojciech Korkuć are united by the slogan ‘Honour and Glory to the Heroes’.

One of the insurgent heroes to feature this year is Juliusz 'Julek' Kulesza, the last surviving defender of the Polish Security Printing Works (PWPW), a key insurgent stronghold
 The First News •

Warsaw Ghetto starvation study is unparalleled in history

In addition to the many diabolical methods the Nazis came up with to achieve their goal of the Final Solution, which included torture, hard labour, executions and gassing, a slower but equally effective tool was starvation.

Introducing food rationing in Occupied Poland in January 1940, the Germans made sure that the Jews were assigned the lowest rations.

The official daily calorie allowance in Poland was 2,600 kcal for Germans, 699 kcal for Poles, and just 180 kcal for Jews.

The policy was ca
 The First News •

Sword from reign of Bolesław the Brave found at secret site

A 1,000-year-old sword thought to have belonged to a knight in the service of Poland's first king Bolesław the Brave has been found in Lower Silesia.

Described by archaeologists as a ‘sensation’, the metre-long weapon was found on Monday in Lewin Kłodzki by three local history enthusiasts searching the area.

The exact location where Konrad Oczkowski, Karol Orman and Beniamin Stawnicki made the discovery is being kept a closely guarded secret to deter treasure hunters from spoiling the archaeol
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