Jane Rogoyska

Rebecca Newell, Head of Art at the Imperial War Museum, on wartime London art; Jane Rogoyska, historian and author of Hotel Exile, on the Hôtel Lutetia and refugees in wartime Paris; Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies, on strategy and its limits. They discuss how artists recorded war, exile and resilience in Paris, and the nature of strategic thinking and implementation.

Jane Rogoyska, historian and author focused on European exile experiences, frames Paris through the Hotel Lutetia. She traces networks of exiled intellectuals, close calls like Samuel Beckett’s near-deportation, and Walter Benjamin’s tragic fate. The conversation covers spies, betrayals, escape routes, the hotel's wartime role, and its postwar use as a reception centre for survivors.

Jane Rogoyska, a historian and biographer focused on 20th-century Polish history, delves into the chilling details of the 1940 Katyn massacre where over 20,000 Polish officers were executed on Stalin's orders. She uncovers the decades-long Soviet cover-up, the complex political narratives, and the motives behind the brutality. Additionally, Rogoyska reflects on the lasting impact on Polish-Russian relations and the modern implications of state-sponsored disinformation, highlighting how echoes of the tragedy resonate even today.