“Paris of the North” is a term that is frequently used with reference to pre-war Warsaw. It is still unclear who used it for the first time and what exactly they meant. Researchers and journalists eagerly quote this expression, either trying to justify or deny it. Aside from these academic discussions, it must be admitted that the capital city of the Second Polish Republic played the role of a Polish fashion centre for its citizens. The most renown fashion houses, ateliers and the most refined studios had their seats in Warsaw. Moreover, social life related to la mode was thriving here – the most splendid balls, major fashion shows and parades. Pre-war Warsaw attracted all stylishly-dressed people who, for various reasons, decided to complete their outfits in the country. Varsovian women also deserve to be called “Parisians of the North”. They were considered the most stylish and willing to follow the whims of fashion in Poland. This 64I. Studia article is a contribution to the role of Warsaw and the Varsovians in the fashion market of the Second Polish Republic. It discusses the main factors that determined the leading role of Warsaw in this domain: concentration of fashion and lifestyle magazines in Warsaw, an abundance of boutiques and tailor’s shops sewing and selling the most exquisite clothing, gallantry, footwear and accessories, as well as local theatre, cinema and artistic circles that were genuine role models following the latest trends.

After the Second World War, a prison in Fordon was established for female inmates, both criminal and political. Scholars currently see this institution almost exclusively in the context of the imprisoned “heroes of the Polish underground.” However, that is only
partly true as it was also a place of imprisonment for the members of Ukrainian nationalist organizations, German armed formations, and Poles cooperating with the invader during the Second World War. Although some publications on this issue have been released, Fordon prison does not play a major role in any of them. In this article, I would like to introduce the general public to the prison administrative employees, who were mostly women. In my text I present biographical notes of some of them utilizing 124
case files deposited in the Institute of National Remembrance’s archive, which appears to be an authoritative source. My goal was to find an answer to questions such as why women started work in this specific prison and why they decided to quit it

The theme of a woman had been appearing throughout Edward Dwurnik’s artworks since the beginning of his career, in the early 70s, until the end of his life. This image evolved over the years. The artistdrew his inspiration from various visions of femininity, which in turn were often associated with blunt remarks about Polish reality. Dwurnik, a Polish portrait painter, depicted women in diverse symbolic configurations and at the same time referred to history and literature. He was a compulsive reader and enthusiast of them both and mentioned it on many different occasions. In the following article, the author analyses symbolism of Dwurnik’s paintings and highlights themes that might be considered taboo.

This article is the first attempt to present a biography of Mieczysław Fejgin (1894– 1975), a doctor of Bolesław Bierut. Fejgin came from a fairly wealthy Jewish family living in Wola Krzysztoporska. In 1913, he began medical studies in Bordeaux, France, which were interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. He obtained his diploma in 1922 at the Medical Faculty of Warsaw University. In 1918, Fejgin volunteered for the Polish Army, and was awarded the Commemorative Badge of the LithuanianBelarusian Front for participating in the Polish-Bolshevik war. In the inter-war period, he first worked at the Wolski Hospital as an assistant to the eminent doctor, Prof. Anastazy Landau, and then from 1931 until the outbreak of the war, he headed an internal department at the Orthodox Church Hospital in Warsaw. Back then he gained a reputation as an excellent doctor, an author of numerous articles also published in foreign journals. Fejgin participated in the September campaign and then moved to Białystok. He worked as an internist consultant in a Soviet military hospital until June 1940. The period from July 1940 to January 1942, along with other exiles, Fejgin spent in a labour camp located in the Arkhangelsk Oblast, from which he was released under the amnesty in 1942. Then, until the moment of leaving the USSR in January 1945, Fejgin worked in a municipal polyclinic in Soroczyńsk. Simultaneously, he was an active 298II. Varia member of a local branch of the Union of Polish Patriots. Along with the Second Polish Army, he took part in the Lusatian offensive (as an internist at the Field Evacuation Point). After the end of the war, he found employment at the Ministry of National Defense hospital in Warsaw, and headed a department of internal diseases at the Ministry of Health Clinic. In the years 1948–1956, he was Bolesław Bierut’s doctor. In 1954 he became the Chief Internist of the Polish Army in the rank of colonel. After his release from active military service, Fejgin became the head of department at the Czerniakowski Hospital in Warsaw, and at the same time was an internist and consultant at the Ministry of Health Clinic. Mieczysław Fejgin proved to be an outstanding specialist, especially in the field of heart diseases.