Idea - Instytut Pileckiego

The Pilecki Institute is simultaneously a research institute, a digital archive, a historical museum and an educational institution. Our work seeks to help defend the values of democracy and freedom from historical oblivion, as well as unveil a new perspective on the history of Europe by including the Polish experience of the 20th century in international discourse.  

The Pilecki Institute is a public research institution established by MPs of all parties serving in the Polish Sejm. It has existed since 2017 in Warsaw, and also has a branch in Berlin, opposite the Brandenburg Gate, since September 2019.

Our aspiration is to create a place for interdisciplinary and international reflection on key issues of the 20th century: its two totalitarian regimes, the German and the Soviet, and their consequences. We seek to reconcile historical sciences and the humanities with social and political sciences. Archival, research, educational and cultural projects create infrastructure for discussions about history. We collect, digitize and disseminate documents from the archives of Poland, Germany, and other countries; we support research; conduct educational projects; invite scholars and artists, students and teachers.

We want to understand better the history of the 20th century and its significance for the present. Our Berlin branch is both a Polish and a Berlin institution – not an external observer, but a central participant in the debate about history – with Berliners and for Berliners.