Jakub Gałęziowski, social and oral historian. In 2021 he received a PhD in history from the University of Augsburg and the University of Warsaw for his dissertation about Polish children born of war (published as “Niedopowiedziane biografie. Polskie dzieci urodzone z powodu wojny”, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej, 2022). Currently affiliated with the University of Warsaw where he conducts research project on children born to former female forced laborers. Author of numerous articles in oral history as well as in social history. Serving as a Central and Eastern Europe specialist for the Children Born of War Project (Oslo). Co-founder of the Polish Oral History Association and its President (2009-2011 and 2022–2025). Council member of International Oral History Association (2023–2025) and its Vice-President (2025-2028). Head of Oral History Commission by the Committee of Historical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Editor of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, a Polish academic journal devoted to oral history. Co-author of the Ethical Recommendations of the Polish Oral History Association; he runs trainings and workshops on recording, processing, and analysing interviews and ethical issues related to oral history. Co-organizes the Oral History Seminars.
Research stays/ fellowships
German Historical Institute: Warsaw (secondment: September 2016-May 2017)
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Visiting researcher: May 2022)
University of Konstanz (Visiting researcher: October 2024)
Publications:
Monograph:
Niedopowiedziane biografie. Polskie dzieci urodzone z powodu wojny, Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej, Warszawa 2022. [Undertold Biographies. Polish Children Born of War]
The book has been recognized and appreciated by various scientific communities in Poland:
„Polityka” History Book Prize for the first book (May 2023)
Tomasz Strzembosz Book Prize for the first book in contemporary History (September 2023)
Tadeusz Kotarbiński Book Prize for the outstanding works in the Humanities (November 2023)
KLIO Book Prize (2nd class) for the best book in History (November 2023)
Joachim Lelewel Prize of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the field of History (November 2023) The book has also been nominated for three other awards: the Jan Długosz Book Prize (Kraków), Jerzy Giedroyc Book Prize (Lublin) and the Kazimierz Moczarski Book Prize (Warszawa).
Critical editions of oral history interviews:
To wszystko człowiek widział. Wspomnienia wschowskich Kresowian, Urząd Miasta i Gminy Wschowa, Wschowa 2012.
[with J. Komperda i K. Żłobecka], Profesor NIEzwyczajny: wspomnienia profesorów Politechniki Krakowskiej, Politechnika Krakowska im. Tadeusza Kościuszki, Kraków 2011.
Peer reviewed chapters in edited volumes:
Wartime Sexual Violence and Its Consequences in the Catholic and Medical Postwar Discourses in Poland, 1945–1946, in: Challenging Norms. Family Planning as a Reflection of Social Change in Twentieth-Century Eastern Europe, edited by H. Hein-Kircher, E. M. Hiemer, D. Denisa Nešťáková, Berghahn Books, New York 2025, 126–147
The Best Interests of the Child in National Terms: Policies Concerning Children of Polish Female Forced Laborers and Displaced Persons in the Early Cold War Era, in: Childhood during War and Genocide: Agency, Survival, and Representation, edited by J. Michlic, A. Ullrich, Y. von Saal, Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2024, 151-175.
Researching Global Phenomena in Local Circumstances: Polish Children Born of War in the Context of CBOW Research, in: Children and Youth at Risk in Times of Transition: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, edited by B.H. Borge, E. Kleinau, I.C. Ødegaard, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, Berlin–Boston 2024,115–138.
The “new normal” for oral history? Challenge and opportunities of interviewing during the global pandemic and its aftermath, in: Biographical research and new social architectures: challenges and opportunities for creative applications across Europe, edited by L. Nurse, M. O’Neill, L. Moran,Bristol University Press, Bristol 2024, 106-123.
Single Mothers and Their Babies in Poland in 1945-1949. The Social Care System vs. Female Freedom and Subjectivity, in: Rooms for Manoeuvre. Another Look at Negotiating Processes in the Socialist Bloc, edited by J. Kochanowski, C. Kraft, Vienna University Press, Vienna 2021, 191–211.
[with L. Haberkern i E. Käuper], Oral History and Requirements: Translating Theory into Practice, in: Children Born of War – Past, Present and Future, edited by B. Stelzl-Marx, S. Lee, H. Glaesmer, Routledge, London 2021, 37–60.
[with L. Kowarsch], Polacy w Norwegii – fragmenty wspomnień, in: Polacy w Norwegii (XIX-XXI wiek). Wybór materiałów, Archiwum Państwowe w Krakowie, Kraków 2010, 53–85.
Peer reviewed articles:
Historia mówiona firm polonijnych jako przyczynek do badania historii mówionej biznesu w Polsce – wyznanie badacza, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2025, 15: 8-33.
Wrażliwa humanistyka, „Kultura i Społeczeństwo”, 2025, 69 (3): 3–18.
[with K. Kaźmierską], Together or Apart? Doing Biographical Research and Oral History in an Interdisciplinary Context, „Current Sociology”, 2023, 71 (4): 627–643.
‘The Sense of Justice and the Need for Eugenics Require Instant and Effective Intervention’: Terminating Pregnancies Resulting from Wartime Rapes in Poland in 1945, „Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung/Journal of East Central European Studies”, 2022, 72 (2): 235–259.
Czas na analizę! O potrzebie seminariów historii mówionej, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2022, 12: 226–246.
When a Historian Meets Vulnerability – Methodological and Ethical Aspects of Research on Sensitive Topics and with People Affected by Difficult Experiences, „Rocznik Antropologii Historii”, 2020, 13: 169–189.
Oral History and Biographical Method. Common Framework and Distinctions Resulting from Different Research Perspectives, „Przegląd Socjologii Jakościowej”, 2019, 15 (2): 76–103.
Dom Matki i Dziecka w Słupsku w świetle badań Polskiego Instytutu Służby Społecznej. Próba zachowania anonimowości i podmiotowości kobiet i dzieci w powojennym chaosie, „Przegląd Historyczny”, 2018, 109 (4): 793–821.
[with J. Urbanek], ‘Etyczny zwrot’ w polskiej historii mówionej, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2017, 7: 7–34.
‘Libańczycy’ i ich losy w perspektywie biograficznej, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej, 2015, 5: 35–56.
Świat, którego już nie ma. Wspomnienia Barbary Gołajewskiej-Chudzikiewicz, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej, 2015, 5: 143–198.
Other articles:
Trzeci cykl Seminariów Historii Mówionej, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2025, 15: 401–403
Report on the Oral History Seminars (second edition), „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2024, 14: 355–358.
Dom Małych Dzieci w Rybniku – miejsce spotkania polskich dzieci urodzonych z powodu wojny, „CzasyPismo”, 2023, 1-2 (23-24): 156-161.
‘When you listen to someone for hours you give them a lot’ – conversation with Gabriele Rosenthal about biographical interviews, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2023, 13: 270–287.
Report on the Oral History Seminars, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2023, 13: 346–350.
“If not now, when?” – conversation about crisis oral history with Mark Cave and Stephen M. Sloan, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2022, 12: 308–323.
Sprawozdanie z warsztatów Włoskiego Stowarzyszenia Historii Mówionej, Neapol, 12–13 listopada 2022 r., „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2022, 12: 404–409.
[Book review] Adrianna Surmiak, Etyka badań jakościowych w praktyce. Analiza doświadczeń badaczy z osobami podatnymi na zranienie, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, Warszawa 2022, ss. 239, „Przegląd Socjologiczny”, 2022, 71 (3): 217–224.
‘I never thought I could be seen as an oral historian’ – Fritz Schütze about the autobiographical narrative interview and oral history in conversation with Jakub Gałęziowski, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2021, 11: 238–260.
[with D. Czapigo], ‘I was tipped off that it would be good to interview one old shoemaker’ – Paul Thompson about his passion for interviewing, the power of voice and The Voice of the Past in conversation with Dominik Czapigo and Jakub Gałęziowski, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2021, 11: 262–275.
Sprawozdanie z warsztatów ‘Memory, remembrance and forgetting: Construction of Identity’, Warszawa 28-30 września 2016, „Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, 2017, 7: 471–476.
Polacy na Wschodzie. Mało znana kolekcja wspomnień, „Przegląd Historyczny”, 2015, 106 (3): 585–593.
Participation in research grants:
English translation of monograph ‘Undertold Biographies: Polish Children Born Because of War’ (Wydawnictwo Krytyki Politycznej, Warsaw 2022) Uniwersalia 2.1, NPRH, grant nr NPRH/U21/SP/0063/2024/14, 2025-2028
Overlooked, assimilated, forgotten. Fate and experience of children born to Polish female forced laborers and displaced persons, fathered by foreigners, Sonata, NCN, 2023/51/D/HS3/01416, 2024-2027
A Breach in the System: The ‘Polonia Firms’ 1976-1994, Mozart, NCN/FWF, 2021-2023
Rooms for Manoeuvre in State Socialism: Between Adaptation and Experiment, Beethoven, NCN/ DFG, 2016-2021
Children Born of War – Past, Present and Future (CHIBOW), Horizon 2020, MSCA ITN, 2016-2018