POLIN Reading Room | "Fleck. Saved by Science"

About the event

POLIN Reading Room: "Fleck. Saved by Science" We invite you to a discussion about the book titled "Fleck. Saved by Science." The conversation with the authors – Anna Wacławik and Maria Ciesielska – will be moderated by Jacek Leociak. The book was published by Agora Publishing House. 📅 October 8, 2025 (Wednesday), 6:00 PM 📍 Meeting in the main hall of the POLIN Museum Discussion in Polish Born in Lviv, Ludwik Fleck (1896–1961) – a doctor, microbiologist, and philosopher of science – experienced interwar antisemitism. After the outbreak of the war, he worked in the Lviv ghetto on an innovative typhus vaccine. He was a prisoner of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. His knowledge and scientific passion allowed him to save his own life and the lives of many others. After the war, he rebuilt Polish science and medical education in Lublin and Warsaw. However, his outstanding achievements were not appreciated; he became a victim of anti-Jewish persecution and spent his final years in Israel. Fleck's philosophical legacy was ahead of its time, discovered and appreciated worldwide in the 1960s. The book is based on years of research conducted by the authors in Poland, Ukraine, Germany, and Israel. "Ludwik Fleck, rising above his era, felt Polish, but as a Jew by birth, he was spat out and rejected with contempt by Polish antisemites. This is another book painfully demythologizing Polish Lviv. The inventor of an easy-to-produce typhus vaccine did not find an antidote to the genocidal madness of the 20th century. A moving story about the will to survive during the Holocaust and an uplifting tale about the power of thought that does not perish but is reborn in the works of followers! Truly worth reading!" — Jarosław Kurski "I read with growing admiration: how much goodness, dignity, and love for reason can survive in a person despite the dark fate of a Polish Jew in the 20th century. This is a tribute to a man who saw knowledge as a path to survival – and meaning. It is also a story about waiting – for liberation, for a respite from hatred 'because of one's face.' For recognition. All of this, if it came, was delayed and bitter. Let us end this waiting. Let us read about Fleck and grant him his rightful place in history. This book was written patiently, tracing the paths of the hero's life. Congratulations to the authors." — Karolina Głowacka, Radio Naukowe "This is not just a biography of a man who – if only his fate had turned out differently – could be one of the most famous thinkers of the 20th century. It is also a story about the strength of spirit in the face of evil and terror, about loyalty, survival, and the price paid for independence. Written with impressive scope, based on years of research, travel, and previously unknown sources. And truly moving. Highly recommended." — Tomasz Stawiszyński The authors on why they chose Ludwik Fleck as the subject of their book: "I owe Ludwik Fleck to Marysia. It was a strong fascination with the hero from the first story told by my co-author and friend Maria Ciesielska about the scientist, doctor, philosopher, and creator of the anti-typhus vaccine. (…) A strong motive was also the disagreement with the fate hanging over him, with the fact that Fleck was, in a sense, robbed – of his achievements, exceptional heroism, and good memory." — Anna Wacławik Anna Wacławik – journalist at Radio TOK FM. Two-time winner of the Grand Press award in the "Interview" category. Winner of the Polish Speech Master competition. Author of the programs "In-depth Interview" and "Andymateria" in collaboration with Anda Rottenberg, as well as interview books "Life – Head-on Collision," "Of Blood, Bones, and Faith. Conversation with Father Wojciech Lemański," "Doctors. The Fight for Life," and "Living Long. Conversation with Janusz Kiljańczyk." In 2022–2023, she was a Radio TOK FM correspondent in Ukraine. Member of the expert council of the Paweł Smoleński Foundation "Face to Face." Maria Ciesielska – PhD in humanities, MD, family medicine specialist, lecturer at the Medical Faculty of Łazarski University. She publishes articles related to the fate of doctors during World War II, with a particular focus on medical issues related to German concentration camps, sanitation activities in Gestapo prisons, and hospital care in the Warsaw ghetto. Winner of the KLIO Award in the Varsaviana category for the historical book of the year 2015 titled "Dance Among Swords. Polish Medical Staff at Pawiak During the German Occupation 1939–1944" and the Maria and Łukasz Hirszowicz Award granted in 2018 by the Jewish Historical Institute for the book "Doctors of the Warsaw Ghetto." Jacek Leociak – professor, head of the Holocaust Literature Research Team at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Author of numerous publications on the Holocaust, especially focusing on Warsaw and its ghetto, including "Text in the Face of the Holocaust. On Accounts from the Warsaw Ghetto," "Warsaw Ghetto. Guide to a Nonexistent City" (co-authored with Barbara Engelking), "God's Mills. Notes on the Church and the Holocaust" (nominated for the Nike Literary Award), and "Street Biographies. On Jewish Streets of Warsaw: From Birth to Holocaust" (KLIO Award). Concept creator and co-screenwriter of exhibitions at the POLIN Museum: "Here Muranów" (temporary) and the "Holocaust" gallery (permanent, together with Barbara Engelking). More information: https://polin.pl/czytelnia-polin-fleck-ocalony-przez-nauke