Dr. Yanek Mieczkowski: Surviving War, Oceans Apart
A WWII Story of Two Teenagers in Poland and Japan Who Later Landed in Ithaca, New York
Historian Yanek Mieczkowski's latest book, Surviving War, Oceans Apart: Two Teenagers in Poland and Japan Destined for Life Together (McFarland Press, 2024), details the World War II experiences of two young people, Bogdan and Seiko, who lived on opposite sides of the globe during the conflict. Bogdan fought German occupiers in Poland during the Warsaw Uprising, and Seiko was forced to work in a factory in Hokkaido, Japan. As the war crippled their countries, Bogdan and Seiko suffered the deaths of family members, and Bogdan endured seven German POW camps after the Uprising failed. Later, both Bogdan and Seiko immigrated to the U.S., where they met, started a family, and found careers in Central New York. WWII was the 20th century's defining event, and Mieczkowski's work offers a transnational view of this conflict, taking readers to the European and Pacific theaters and to the two countries most ravaged by history's bloodiest war.
Dr. Yanek Mieczkowski is the author of Surviving War, Oceans Apart: Two Teenagers in Poland and Japan Destined for Life Together (McFarland Press, 2024). His previous books include The Routledge Historical Atlas of Presidential Elections (second edition, Routledge, 2021), Eisenhower's Sputnik Moment: The Race for Space and World Prestige (Cornell University Press, 2013), and Gerald Ford and the Challenges of the 1970s (University Press of Kentucky, 2005). His articles have appeared in many publications, including American History Magazine, WWII History, Florida Today, Newsday, and the History News Network online. He has contributed more than forty biographies to The American National Biography, and he worked as an Advanced Placement U.S. History Exam grader for fourteen years. Dr. Mieczkowski has served as a commentator on The History Channel, ABC News, CNN, PBS, and C-SPAN, and he has been a consultant to the Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museums. A native of Ithaca, New York, Dr. Mieczkowski holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He has taught at five colleges and universities and is now a professor at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.
6:00pm reception, 6:30pm lecture, gratis. Advance registration required by Tuesday, May 20th at which point all registrations are final.
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