An important and thematically most interesting book on chess in Poland during WW II has just been published, covering the years 1939-1945. Written in Polish, there is a 5-page summary in English at the end of the book.

This is a very attractive volume, excellent in its get-up, printed on glossy paper with numerous historical photos (partly in color) and games, diagrams and problems.

While the first part of the book deals with the Poles and their chess activities, the second part is dedicated to "Chess by the Germans" as well as to players of other nationalities such as the Ukrainians. Even if I am not able to read the Polish text, the author has obviously done a great job in his research, consulting many sources not available elsewhere. He presents a wealth of historical details, and most of the games and of the photos are widely unknown. My impression therefore is that this work is a treasure trove for chess historians, naturally those will benefit most from it who are able to speak Polish. In my view, it would deserve a translation at least into English.

Edward Winter has reproduced some (enlarged) photographs from the book in his Chess Notes 8204.

You can order the book from the author (pawel-dudzinski@tlen.pl), the price is 30€ incl. postage (the latter is quite high due to the weight).

The author would be happy to receive a chess postcard from those members who got from him a copy of the book.

Here is his postal address:
Paweł Dudziński
ul. Rynek 5/10
63-400 Ostrów Wielkopolski
Poland

PS (27/09/2013):
Our Czech member Jan Kalendovský has written a review, published in Šachový Týdeník 37, 2013, p. 3-4, see this PDF file.

PPS (03/10/2013):
Another review was published by Avital Pilpel in his blog Jewish Chess History.