27.01.2020 - 29.01.2020 Events, History, Literature National Army MuseumRoyal Hospital RdChelseaLondon SW3 4HTandOgnisko Polskie (Polish Hearth)55 Princes GateSouth KensingtonLondon SW7 2PN

The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather 🗺

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day, Jack Fairweather tells the true story of a Polish resistance fighter, who infiltrated Auschwitz and drew the world’s attention to its atrocities.

Discover the story of heroic Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki who worked to uncover the atrocities of Auschwitz. Join us for an evening with Jack Fairweather, author of the critically acclaimed, Costa Award Biography winning book The Volunteer: The True History of the Resistance Hero who Infiltrated Auschwitz.

 

These events will mark the launch of his book in paperback.

 

“What distinguishes The Volunteer is Fairweather’s meticulous attention to accuracy … if it sometimes seems as though there is nothing left to uncover about the Holocaust, Fairweather’s gripping book proves otherwise”

The Spectator

“A searing account … a fitting memorial to one of Poland’s greatest war heroes and a shaming indictment of the western allies’ failure to act”

Sunday Times

“Pilecki is perhaps one of the greatest unsung heroes of the second world war … this insightful book is likely to be the definitive version of this extraordinary life”

Economist

 

In the summer of 1940, Pilecki was tasked with infiltrating the new concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland to find out what was happening there. For the next two years, he forged a secret army that worked to smuggle evidence of the atrocities being committed there to the Allied forces.

His reports helped shape the Allied response to the Holocaust, yet Pilecki has remained an unsung hero.

Former war reporter Jack Fairweather has brought this story to light in his book ‘The Volunteer’, which draws on unpublished family papers, newly released archival documents and interviews with surviving resistance fighters.

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National Army MuseumRoyal Hospital RdChelseaLondon SW3 4HTandOgnisko Polskie (Polish Hearth)55 Princes GateSouth KensingtonLondon SW7 2PN Map

Free exhibition reminder: Come with us! –

Exhibition marking the 35th anniversary of the democratic transformations that began in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, including the most influential Polish posters!
16 02.2026 30 04.2026 Gallery, History, Visual arts

Publication of the London Ukrainian Review including

The latest edition of the annual London Ukrainian Review, a collection of essays, this year on the Legacies of Chornobyl, including one about the Polish perspective written by Kacper Szulecki
26 03.2026 Events, History, Literature

Tomasz Zyrmont & Ben Hazleton – Acoustic

Acoustic Duet performing original music and jazz standards
17 04.2026 Events, Music