Richard C. Lukas
Encyclopedia
Richard C. Lukas is an American
historian
and author of numerous books and articles on Polish
history and Polish-Jewish relations. He is recognized as a leading authority on Poland during World War II.
He served as a Research Consultant at the United States Air Force Historical Archives prior to receiving his Ph.D. from Florida State University in 1963. He taught at Tennessee Technological University, Wright State University, and the University of South Florida. He has also been a guest lecturer at academic institutions in the United States and Poland.
Lukas was a contributor to the Air Force Lineage Project that resulted in the publication of "Air Force Combat Units of World War II." His specialty included the combat operations of the 8th, 12th and 15th air forces. He later wrote a pioneering military-diplomatic study, "Eagles East," that won him international recognition.
His interest in United States-Polish wartime and postwar relations resulted in two books that filled major gaps in the historical literature on the subject in the 1970's and 1980's.
He is best known for "The Forgotten Holocaust," the first systematic study in English by an American historian of the wartime
experience of the Poles and their relations with the Jews. Considered a classic, the book has gone through many printings and editions, including a Polish one.
Including Christian Poles under the umbrella of the "Holocaust" was intended by Lukas to call attention to the horrible persecution of others during the German occupation of Poland. Lukas did not draw absolute parity between the
sufferings of the Jews and Christian Poles during the Holocaust.
Lukas was the first historian to discover two crucial documents sent by the Polish Underground to London, informing the West of the beginning of the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto.
His continuing interest in the Polish tragedy during World War II resulted in several additional books, including the award-winning "Did the Children Cry?" and his recent, highly-regarded, "Forgotten Survivors."
Lukas is also a freelance writer who has published fiction and non-fiction pieces.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and author of numerous books and articles on Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
history and Polish-Jewish relations. He is recognized as a leading authority on Poland during World War II.
He served as a Research Consultant at the United States Air Force Historical Archives prior to receiving his Ph.D. from Florida State University in 1963. He taught at Tennessee Technological University, Wright State University, and the University of South Florida. He has also been a guest lecturer at academic institutions in the United States and Poland.
Lukas was a contributor to the Air Force Lineage Project that resulted in the publication of "Air Force Combat Units of World War II." His specialty included the combat operations of the 8th, 12th and 15th air forces. He later wrote a pioneering military-diplomatic study, "Eagles East," that won him international recognition.
His interest in United States-Polish wartime and postwar relations resulted in two books that filled major gaps in the historical literature on the subject in the 1970's and 1980's.
He is best known for "The Forgotten Holocaust," the first systematic study in English by an American historian of the wartime
experience of the Poles and their relations with the Jews. Considered a classic, the book has gone through many printings and editions, including a Polish one.
Including Christian Poles under the umbrella of the "Holocaust" was intended by Lukas to call attention to the horrible persecution of others during the German occupation of Poland. Lukas did not draw absolute parity between the
sufferings of the Jews and Christian Poles during the Holocaust.
Lukas was the first historian to discover two crucial documents sent by the Polish Underground to London, informing the West of the beginning of the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto.
His continuing interest in the Polish tragedy during World War II resulted in several additional books, including the award-winning "Did the Children Cry?" and his recent, highly-regarded, "Forgotten Survivors."
Lukas is also a freelance writer who has published fiction and non-fiction pieces.
Awards and distinctions
- National History Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and AstronauticsAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and AstronauticsThe American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...
, (1971) - Doctor of Humane Letters by Alliance College, (1987)
- Kosciuszko FoundationKosciuszko FoundationKosciuszko Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City. It was created by Stephen Mizwa to fund programs that promote Polish-American intellectual and artistic exchange.-History:...
's Joseph B. Slotkowski Publication Fund Achievement Award - Polonia RestitutaPolonia RestitutaThe Order of Polonia Restituta is one of Poland's highest Orders. The Order can be conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, art, economics, defense of the country, social work, civil service, or for furthering good relations between countries...
award from the Government of Poland (1988) - Janusz Korczak Literary Award from the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rithAnti-Defamation LeagueThe Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
(1994) - American Council for Polish Culture's Cultural Achievement Award (1994)
- Waclaw Jedrzejewicz History Award from the Pilsudski Institute of America (2000)
- The Catholic Press Association Award (2009)
Publications
- Air Force Aspects of American Aid to the Soviet Union: The Crucial Years 1941-1942 (unpublished doctoral dissertation, Florida State University), 1963
- The Merchandising of the Holocaust, Catalyst, October 1997
- Of Stereotypes and Heroes, Catalyst July-August 2002
- Why Do We Allow Non-Jewish Victims to be Forgotten?
- "Their Legacy is Life," Canadian Messenger (1991)
- "Jedwabne and the Selling of the Holocaust," Inside the Vatican (Nov. 2001)
- "Irena Sendler: World War II's Polish Angel," St. Anthony Messenger (Aug. 2008)
Books
- "Air Force Combat Units of World War II" (Contributing Author), USGPO, 1961; Franklin Watts, 1963.
- Eagles East: The Army Air Forces and the Soviet Union, 1941-1945, Univ Press of Florida, 1970, ISBN 0-8130-0428-4.
- From Metternich to the Beatles, Mentor, 1973, ISBN 0-451-61191-8.
- The Strange Allies, the United States and Poland, 1941-1945, University of Tennessee Press, 1978, ISBN 0-87049-229-2.
- Bitter Legacy: Polish-American Relations in the Wake of World War II, University Press of Kentucky, 1982, ISBN 0-8131-1460-8.
- Out of the Inferno: Poles Remember the Holocaust, University Press of Kentucky, 1989, ISBN 0-8131-1692-9.
- Zapomiany Holocaust: Polacy Pod Okupacja Niemiecka, 1939–1944, Jednosc, 1995.
- Forgotten Holocaust, Hippocrene Books, 2nd revised ed., 2001, ISBN 0-7818-0901-0.
- Did the Children Cry: Hitler's War Against Jewish and Polish Children, 1939-1945, Hippocrene Books, 2001, ISBN 0-7818-0870-7.
- Forgotten Survivors: Polish Christians Remember the Nazi Occupation, University Press of Kansas, 2004, ISBN 0-7006-1350-1.
External links
- Bitter Legacy: Polish-American Relations in the Wake of the World War II Book review.
- Forgotten Survivors. Polish Christians Remember the Nazi Occupation. The Sarmatian Review, Jan. 2006 Book review.