About

Jakub Lysiak is a researcher, educator, humanitarian, and heritage guide specializing in the history of Polish Jews, the Holocaust, and historical memory in Poland.

For more than fifteen years, he has worked with international visitors seeking to understand one of the most complex chapters of twentieth-century history. As General Tour Manager at the Taube Center for Jewish Life & Learning, he has designed and led educational journeys for families, students, educators, diplomats, journalists, clergy, community leaders, Holocaust survivors, and scholars. His work has brought thousands of visitors face-to-face with the places, archives, museums, and people that continue to shape our understanding of Jewish life in Poland, the Holocaust, and its legacy.

Jakub studied Jewish Studies at the University of Warsaw and participated in the Polish–Israel Youth Exchange at Tel Aviv University. Earlier in his career, he worked with both the Israeli and Polish embassies, experiences that strengthened his commitment to international dialogue, historical education, and cross-cultural understanding.

His work in education, historical remembrance, and humanitarian service has been recognized with the Medal of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The award acknowledged both his contribution to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and his efforts to support civilians and refugees affected by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Since 2022, Jakub has coordinated humanitarian assistance for refugees in Poland and organized missions delivering aid to civilians, hospitals, and local communities in Ukraine. In recognition of these efforts, he was also honored among 50 Poles recognized for standing with Ukraine, acknowledging his commitment to humanitarian service and international solidarity.

This website grew out of a question Jakub encountered repeatedly while leading educational tours across Poland:

Where can English-speaking readers find reliable, evidence-based information about Poland and the Holocaust?

While outstanding scholarship exists in both Polish and English, many of the most important court records, archival discoveries, historical debates, and academic publications remain inaccessible to international audiences. Public discussions are often shaped by politics, national myths, or social media rather than by historical evidence.

PolandAndTheHolocaust.com was created to bridge that gap.

The project introduces readers to the history of the Holocaust in occupied Poland while exploring the broader history of Polish Jews before the war and the difficult legacy that followed. It examines subjects such as German occupation, rescue, collaboration, postwar anti-Jewish violence, memory, museums, historiography, and the ongoing debates that continue to shape how this history is understood today.

Every article is grounded in historical research and draws on archival documents, court records, survivor testimony, museum collections, and the work of leading historians from Poland, Israel, the United States, Germany, and beyond. Whenever possible, readers are encouraged to explore the original sources and continue their own journey of learning.

Jakub believes that difficult history deserves intellectual honesty, historical nuance, and moral clarity. The Holocaust was planned and carried out by Nazi Germany. Understanding how it unfolded in occupied Poland, however, also requires confronting the realities of occupation, the diversity of human choices, and the continuing debates surrounding memory and responsibility. Simplified narratives—whether they seek to assign collective guilt or collective innocence—ultimately obscure the historical record.

His goal is not to tell readers what to think. It is to make the best available scholarship accessible, provide historical context, distinguish established facts from contested interpretations, and encourage thoughtful, evidence-based discussion.

When he is not writing, Jakub continues to lead educational delegations, heritage journeys, and study tours throughout Poland, helping visitors connect with the history of Polish Jews, the Holocaust, and contemporary Jewish life. He also remains actively involved in humanitarian initiatives supporting civilians affected by the war in Ukraine.

He believes that history is not only about understanding the past. At its best, it helps us respond more wisely and more compassionately to the moral challenges of the present.