Dr. Benken’s book is a case study of the life and death of Jan Rodowicz, nom-de-guerre Anoda, who served as a combatant in the Polish pro-independence underground resistance movement during the Second World War. The operations in which Anoda was involved, his conduct during and after the War, especially in the investigation following his arrest by the Communist security service and the mystery shrouding his death while under interrogation, turned him into a symbol for the young people of Poland in those times. His generation was forced to fight for its freedom against two criminal totalitarian systems, the Nazi Germans and the Soviets, paying with their life or health for the ideals they did not want to give up.

Dr. Przemys?aw Benken is a Polish historian and political scientist affiliated with Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance. Dr. Benken specializes in twentieth- century military history, focusing on the Second World War and the postwar period. Winner of the 2022 Janusz Kurtyka Award,