Fighting Auschwitz ─ The Resistance Movement in the Concentration Camp

SHORT BIO:

Jozef Garlinski (1913–2005) was a preeminent author, historian and chronicler of World War II, and particularly of Poland's less well-known role as one of the Western Allies. On many topics his work was seminal, laying the foundation for later research and histories. A member of the Polish underground during the war, Garlinski was arrested by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz. He survived, and after the war Garlinski settled in England. Retiring from a successful business career, Garlinski obtained his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. His dissertation topic, the resistance movements at Auschwitz, became the book Fighting Auschwitz. Garlinski was prominent in the Polish emigre community in the UK, and continued as an active author and speaker throughout the remainder of his life.

LONG BIO:

Jozef Garlinski (1913–2005) was a preeminent author, historian and chronicler of World War II, and particularly of Poland's less well-known role as one of the Western Allies. On many topics his work was seminal, laying the foundation for later research and histories. Fighting Auschwitz: The Resistance Movement in the Concentration Camp, is one such book, being the first to disclose to the public the existence, structure, principal participants and other details of resistance movements among the prisoners at Auschwitz. Originally published in the mid-1970s, the English-language version of the book has been out of print for decades and is now being reissued in this new edition.

Born in Kiev, at that time part of the Russian Empire under the last Tsar, Garlinski was educated in Poland after that country regained its independence in 1918. He completed his military service at the cavalry school in Grudziadz, and had begun to study law at the University of Warsaw when World War II broke out.

He fought and was wounded in the September 1939 campaign. When Poland was soon overrun by both the Germans and the Soviets, Garlinski joined the Polish underground where he held several positions, including intelligence liaison with underground members confined in Pawiak prison. In 1943, he was arrested by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz, where he was incarcerated in the Penal Company in Birkenau, and eventually transported to concentration camps at Neuengamme and Wittenberge.

Following the war, Garlinski settled in England with his Anglo-Irish wife Eileen, whom he had married in Warsaw during the first week of the war (and who herself was a member of the Polish underground throughout the war). Retiring from a successful business career, Garlinski obtained his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. His dissertation topic, the resistance movements at Auschwitz, became the book Fighting Auschwitz. Garlinski was prominent in the Polish emigre community in the UK, and continued as an active author and speaker throughout the remainder of his life.

OTHER BOOKS BY JOZEF GARLINSKI:

English-language:

Poland, SOE and the Allies (1969)

Hitler's Last Weapons (1978)

Intercept: The Enigma War (1979)

The Swiss Corridor (1981)

Poland in the Second World War (1985)

The Survival of Love (1991)

Polish-language:

Miedzy Londynem I Warszawa (Between London and Warsaw)

Dramat I Opatrznosc (Drama and Providence)

Matki I Zony (Mothers and Wives)

W Czterdziesta Rocznice (On the 40th Anniversary: The Agony, Battle and Death of the
Warsaw Ghetto--Marek Edelman: The Ghetto Fights)

Ziemia (Earth)

Swiat Mojej Pamieci (The World of My Memory)

Niezapomniane Lata (The Unforgettable Years)

Polski Panstwo Podziemne 1939-1945 (The Polish Underground State, 1939-1945)