CHIBOW Researcher Publishes Book on Polish Children Born of War

A huge congratulations to our CHIBOW early careers researcher, Dr Jakub Gałęziowski, who recently published his first book on Polish children born of war.

This impressive research, which has garnered high praise from historians, delves into histories that have largely been missing from Polish historiography and wider knowledge of World War II. Dr Gałęziowski's work focuses on children born of war, wartime sexual violence, post-war abortions, and motherhood. The social impact of conflict and occupation is made evident through archival research and interviews with children born of war who detail their stories and position in society. These individuals were born through both consensual relationships between occupiers and local women, as well as rape. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the identities of these children were often concealed by mothers, foster families and the Polish system. This incisive work brings their narratives to the fore, and is an important contribution to understandings of the consequences of war, conflict-related gender based violence, stigma and the longer-term life paths of children born of war.

The book is currently available in Polish, and will be translated into more languages at a future point.

Jakub Gałęziowski, Niedopowiedziane biografie. Polskie dzieci urodzone z powodu wojny,

Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej, Warszawa 2022