Professor Paweł Skibiński from the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw (UW) was awarded the laureate of the fourteenth edition of the “Historical Book of the Year” competition as the author of the best scientific book devoted to the history of Poland and Poles in the 20th century. 

The competition jury awarded him for his book “The Church in the Face of Totalitarianisms (1917-1989). World Catholicism and the Polish Experience’.

“I am very pleased to have won this award, especially because my book, which cost me several years of work, breaks some of the habits of the historical community in terms of the construction of the work and the broad scope of the issue I describe. I am all the more pleased that the jury of specialists appreciated this publication”, says Prof. Paweł Skibiński.

The publication authored by Prof. Paweł Skibiński addresses the issue of the relationship that exists between totalitarianism and the religious sphere, particularly Christianity. It poses questions about whether professing Christianity in general, and belonging to the Catholic Church in particular, influenced the behaviour of both individual people and entire communities towards totalitarian evil.