WELCOME TO OGNISKO POLSKIE - THE POLISH HEARTH

Ognisko Polskie - the Polish Hearth is one of London’s oldest Polish Clubs which today hosts a variety of theatrical, musical and other cultural events.

Founded in 1939 to maintain the cohesion of the free Polish community in the United Kingdom during the Second World War, it went on to become the centre of social and cultural life for the Polish community in exile. It has since served to provide a home for Poles to meet and build friendships, as a place where Polish culture and history is kept alive and where Polish identity and independence are maintained.

OUR PATRON HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF KENT

74th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising (Powstanie Warszawskie)

The 1st August marks 74 years since the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising aiming to wrest the Polish capital from Nazi German occupation during WW II. At exactly 5pm on August 1, 1944, the Polish underground resistance, led by the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) started what would eventually be a 63-day rebellion. The uprising was timed to coincide with the retreat of the German forces from Poland ahead of the Soviet advance. While approaching the eastern suburbs of the city, the Red Army temporarily halted combat operations, enabling the Germans to regroup and defeat the Polish resistance and to raze the city in reprisal. The Uprising was fought with little outside support and was the single largest military effort taken by any European resistance movement during WW II.