In celebration of the permanent endowment of the Polish Studies initiative at the University of Cambridge, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (University of Oxford) will give an address on the subject of freedom in Poland and in Europe over the last four decades. After the lecture, we invite all guests to an informal wine reception to celebrate the permanent endowment of Cambridge Polish Studies.

In the twentieth century, Poland became the laboratory for two violent totalitarian experiments, suffering massive destruction and harsh oppression from both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The unhealed wounds of this painful history are still strikingly present in both public debate and politics in Poland today. In this talk, Dr Stanley Bill, Cambridge's Lecturer in Polish Studies, examines different perspectives on historical ‘truth’ and the politics of history.

Polish language, literature and culture will be a permanent feature of the University of Cambridge’s research and teaching following the signing, today, of an agreement with the University of Warsaw.