Ville, a PhD candidate in the Institute of Archaeology, Warsaw University, POLAND spent the month of November in London working on his dissertation on ‘Polish Cultural Losses in World War II, with particular reference to the Historical Collections of the University of Warsaw’.

I spent three weeks in London in November 2025. Surprisingly blue skies above Hampstead Heath and museums, galleries and pubs of London made my free time truly enjoyable. However, it was not about earthly pleasures only. My main goal was to research the cultural losses of Poland especially, but not exclusively, during the Second World War. I express my heartfelt gratitude to Robert Anderson Trust for giving me this personal and professional opportunity. In particular I want to thank Mr. Howard Davies and Mr. Matthew Holmes for their help and hospitality at the beautiful Highgate House.

For me the National Archives at Kew Gardens and British Library were must-go places for a few days each. Most, but not all of the Allied documentation of German lootings and post-war revindications at Kew are digitalized. When it comes to research literature, the British Library has it. Furthermore, one has to remember, that 80 percent of downtown Warsaw was destroyed during the war. To find pre-war photographs of the city that was turned into rubble, I went to Royal Society, Sikorski Museum, and different institutions of the University of London. With the help of forgotten photo albums small parts of Warsaw can again be seen as they once were.

During my stay I also received a task to look for information of a ship SS Rosetta carrying zoological exhibits from Australia to Warsaw via London in the 1880s. These exhibits never reached Warsaw. Research at Royal Maritime Museum and Port of London Archives proved, that a lot can be learned from the ship, but much less from these zoological specimens. That is the beauty of research, which continues.

For more information about the other students in the 2025 cohort please see here.