Roger Moorhouse was awarded a prize by Poland’s Foreign Affairs Ministry

11/10/2022
Culture

On Monday, 10 October, British scholar Roger Moorhouse was awarded the Polish Foreign Ministry History Prize by Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau for his book “First to Fight. Poland 1939” (Polish edition title: Poland 1939. First Against Hitler) at a ceremony in Łódź.

The event was initially scheduled for two years ago, but had to be delayed due to epidemiological restrictions. Moorhouse’s book was described as the best foreign publication of the year regarding Poland’s history.

https://twitter.com/Roger_Moorhouse/status/1579418190743932929?s=20&t=OGysgQX4enH3JWLchiHXUg

“I’m very honoured to receive the Polish Foreign Ministry History Prize for 2020 from Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau in Łódź today. It was awarded for my book “First to Fight. Poland 1939” – the British author wrote on his Twitter account.

The awarded book tells the story of Poland’s brave defence against the German invasion launched by Hitler on 1 September 1939. It describes the atrocities the Germans committed on Polish citizens in the first weeks of WWII.

The premiere of the book took place on 5 September 2019, 80 years after the German invasion of Poland, at the Polish Embassy in London, which hosted a panel discussion on the significance of the German and Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. The discussion was attended by Paul Lay, editor-in-chief of History Today, Professor Richard Overy from the University of Exeter, and Wojciech Kozłowski, director of the Pilecki Institute.

A panel discussion on the significance of Poland’s German and Soviet invasion in 1939. From the left: Wojciech Kozłowski, director of the Pilecki Institute, Professor Richard Overy from the University of Exeter, Paul Lay, editor-in-chief of History Today, and Richard Moorhouse. Polish Embassy in London,

“My primary goal was to tell the story of the [September] campaign in an open and faithful way, free from the mythology of the aggressors. Above all, however, I wanted to allow Polish voices to the narrative from which […] they had been excluded. I wanted their stories, as soldiers or civilians, to finally be told,” – Moorhouse said at the time.

In 2020 Roger was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland by the Polish Ambassador to the UK Arkady Rzegocki, on behalf of Poland’s President Andrzej Duda for his efforts to spread abroad knowledge about the history of Poland during the Second World War.

Roger Moorhouse presented a copy of his book to the Duke of Kent. The prince is known for his keen interest in the history of Poland, and he read the book presenting the almost unknown and forgotten significance of the 1939 September campaign with great interest.

From the left: Roger Moorhouse and the Duke of Kent

A year ago, Roger Moorhouse took part in the unveiling of the General Władysław Anders bust, organised by British Poles. After the unveiling, a discussion panel on the legacy of General Władysław Anders took place, with the participation of Anna Maria Anders, Roger Moorhouse, Karol Nawrocki, and George Byczynski. The moderator was Justin Maciejewski, director of the Museum.

Gen Anders’ historical legacy discussion panel. From the left: ambassador Anna Maria Anders; Justin Maciejewski, the Museum director; Roger Moorhouse, historian; George Byczynski, editor-in-chief of the British Poles portal, and online participant Dr Karol Nawrocki, director of the Museum of the World War 2 in Gdańsk.

Roger Moorhouse is an expert in the modern history of Central Europe (Poland and Germany), mainly in the period of WWII. He previously published books such as “Berlin at War: Life and Death in Hitler’s Capital 1939-1945”, “The Devils’ Alliance: Hitler’s Pact with Stalin 1939-1941”, and “The Third Reich in 100 Objects” among others.

Congratulations!

Images: British Poles

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen

Editor’s note: The book „First to Fight: The Polish War 1939“ is available in the UK here (and its Polish edition „Polska 1939” here).