Oscar E. Swan, professor in the department of Slavic Languages and Literatures in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and advisor for the Polish minor, was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit from the Republic of Poland.
The award comes after Swan published the translated memoir of a Warsaw ghetto survivor, titled “Rescued from the Ashes.” The award is given to “foreigners and Polish citizens permanently living abroad… [who have made] outstanding contributions to international cooperation and to bonds between the Republic of Poland and other nations and countries.”
The memoir, translated by Swan from Polish to English, recounts Leokadia Schmidt’s traumatic experiences evading the Nazis with her husband and 5-month-old son, and eventually hiding in a tinsmith’s shed in the “Aryan side” of Warsaw.
Swan received the prestigious award, presented by the Polish ambassador to the United States, in May.