Włodzimierz Borodziej (9 September 1956 – 12 July 2021) was a Polish historian and writer specializing in contemporary European history with particular focus on Polish-German relations. Borodziej was a professor of humanistic sciences, and former prorector of the Warsaw University. He was the Polish-side Chairman of German-Polish Textbook Commission from 1997 to 2007.

Biography

Born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Włodzimierz Borodziej was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Wiktor Borodziej (1929–2004). He was the former Polish secret police

Służba Bezpieczeństwa The Security Service (; ), in full Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and commonly known as SB, was a secret police force established in the Polish People's Republic in 1956 as a successor to the Ministry of Public Security (P ...

who reportedly helped his son acquire German high school education in Berlin and in Vienna while serving abroad. Discussion of his father and his involvement with the secret operation ''Żelazo'' (Iron) against political targets in Western Europe, has caused some controversy in Polish academia, as some commentators see it as irrelevant, and an attempt to discredit his son's work due to family background. Włodzimierz Borodziej graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from the Warsaw University in 1979. In 1984, Borodziej received a title of

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

from his own

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, followed by

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

earned in 1991 for his scientific treatise ''Poland in international relations between 1945 and 1947'' (''Polska w stosunkach międzynarodowych 1945-1947''). In 2004, he received the title of professor of humanistic sciences at Warsaw University. He also served as a protector in the 1999–2002 (deputy to university's rector). In 2020, he was awarded the

Carl von Ossietzky Carl von Ossietzky (; 3 October 1889 – 4 May 1938) was a German journalist and Pacifism, pacifist. He was the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the clandestine German rearmament. As editor-in-chief of the magazin ...

Prize (''Carl-Ossietzky-Preis'') conferred by the German city of Oldenburg for his work on the Polish-German history in the 20th century.

Work

Borodziej was the author of ''The

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

of 1944'' published in Polish, German and English. In his book, he paints a complex picture of the everyday life in the embattled city, describes the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

operations, as well as supply situation and medical challenges in the capital. Borodziej was also a leading figure in the establishment of the

House of European History The House of European History (HEH) is a history museum and cultural institution in Brussels, Belgium, focusing on the recent history of Europe. It is an initiative by the European Parliament, and was proposed in 2007 by the Parliament's then ...

which opened in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in 2017.

Selected publications

* Włodzimierz Borodziej (1985), ''Terror i polityka : policja niemiecka a polski ruch oporu w GG 1939-1944'', . * Włodzimierz Borodziej (1990), ''Od Poczdamu do Szklarskiej Poręby: Polska w stosunkach międzynarodowych 1945-1947'', * Włodzimierz Borodziej at al (1999), ''Polska i Niemcy: krótki przewodnik po historii sąsiedztwa'', . * Włodzimierz Borodziej (2001), ''Der Warschauer Aufstand 1944'', . * Włodzimierz Borodziej (2006), ''The Warsaw Uprising of 1944'', . * Włodzimierz Borodziej (2009), ''Gdyby... całkiem inna historia Polski: historia kontrfaktyczna'', . * (co-author) (2015), Nasza wojna. Europa Środkowo-Wschodnia 1912–1916. Volume 1. Imperia. * (co-author) (2018) Nasza wojna. Europa Środkowo-Wschodnia 1917–1923. Volume 2. Narody.

References

Prof. Dr. Włodzimierz Borodziej
at Deutsch-Polnische Schulbuchkommission.de. {{DEFAULTSORT:Borodziej, Wlodzimierz 1956 births 2021 deaths Writers from Warsaw 21st-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers University of Warsaw alumni Academic staff of the University of Warsaw Historians of Poland Herder Prize recipients Historians of World War II 20th-century Polish historians 20th-century Polish male writers 21st-century Polish male writers