Medallions is a book consisting of eight short stories

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by the Polish author

Polish literature

Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages, used in Poland over the centuries, have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Yiddish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German and...

 Zofia Nałkowska.

The book was originally published in 1946, soon after the end of the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. In it, Nałkowska calmly related selected stories of Nazi

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 atrocities in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 and the fates of their victims. Nałkowska was a member of a special committee for the investigation of Nazi crimes in Poland, therefore she had learned facts directly from the victims and witnesses.

Northwestern University Presshttp://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Medallions-Zofia-Nalkowska/9780810117433-item.html?pticket=wj0ln545retedhu14bp32t55e5evulDtETRqtzCMNBu4NOdT384%3d

Part of the text was published in English in the Introduction to Modern Polish Literature edited by Adam Gillon and Ludwik Krzyżanowski, before the complete edition was made available by the Northwestern University Press

Northwestern University Press

Northwestern University Press is the university press of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA.- History :Northwestern University Press was founded in 1893, at first specializing in legal periodicals. Today, the Press publishes scholarly books of fiction, non-fiction, and literary...

in 1999.