Oni. Homoseksualiści w czasie II wojny światowej

• Ostrowska's book is a pioneering work in multiple respects. Its greatest strength lies in connecting legal frameworks, violent practices, and the politics of post-war remembrance. Especially for a Polish context, where these topics were scarcely addressed for a long time, her monograph is a compelling study refuting the myth that there were only few victims who were all German and perpetrators.

• In her new book, Joanna Ostrowska once again gives voice to the overlooked victims of World War II. Them: Homosexuals During World War II is the next work, following her 2018 book Kept Silent: Sexual Forced Labor During World War II, in which the researcher stands up for a group of concentration camp prisoners erased from history.

• Joanna Ostrowska chose to examine the issue of homosexuality from historical, legal, and sociological perspectives. She did solid work with source materials, revealing a broad picture of what life was like for homosexuals under Nazi rule, achieved primarily through case studies.

• It is hard not to admire the immense scale and meticulousness of the archival investigation that produced Joanna Ostrowska's book Them: Homosexuals During World War II. From the very first pages, it impresses with the author's remarkable attentiveness, deep dedication to uncovering forgotten fates, and the extraordinary perseverance required to reach many of these sources.

• Joanna Ostrowska's historical study uncovers a part of Holocaust history concerning one of its invisible groups. She disrupts the culture of silence to bring to light the devastating fates of queer people marked by the fascist regime.

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