considered threats to the myths, legends, half-truths and straight-out lies energetically promoted today by Polish nationalists. Next to it is the Pilecki Institute, founded in 2017, which might be called IPN-lite, a smaller outfit that works hand in hand with the IPN, attacking independent historians and promoting the myth of “innocent Poland”. The Pilecki Institute – active not only in Poland but also abroad, with a branch opened in Berlin and another scheduled to open in New York – has significant funds from the state budget and now offers Western academics grants, financially attractive awards and paid lectures; it pays for translation and publication of their books and, for selected scholars, covers the cost of travel.
The issues of memory, history and the Holocaust are an area where Polish politicians come together
In 2020, the state-funded Roman Dmowski Institute for the Legacy of Polish National Thought was opened. For those less familiar with Polish history, a word of explanation: Roman Dmowski was the founder and leader of Endecja, the Polish National-Democratic Party, and a rabid antisemite who made the struggle against Jews a cornerstone of his political ideology. The Dmowski Institute quickly gained notoriety as a clearing house for the disbursement of government funds (known as the “Patriotic Fund”) earmarked for extreme nationalists whitewash
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