Richard C. Lukas (born 1937) is an American historian and author of numerous books and articles on Polish history and Polish-Jewish relations. He is recognized as a leading authority on Poland during World War II.
He served as a Research Consultant at the United States Air Force Historical Archives prior to receiving his Ph.D. from Florida State University in 1963. He taught at Tennessee Technological University, Wright State University, and the University of South Florida. He has also been a guest lecturer at academic institutions in the United States and Poland.
Lukas was a contributor to the Air Force Lineage Project that resulted in the publication of "Air Force Combat Units of World War II." His specialty included the combat operations of the 8th, 12th and 15th air forces. He later wrote a pioneering military-diplomatic study, "Eagles East," that won him international recognition.
His interest in United States-Polish wartime and postwar relations resulted in two books that filled major gaps in the historical literature on the subject in the 1970's and 1980's.
He is best known for "The Forgotten Holocaust," the first systematic study in English by an American historian of the wartime experience of the Poles and their relations with the Jews. Considered a classic, the book has gone through many printings and editions, including a Polish one.
Including Christian Poles under the umbrella of the "Holocaust" was intended by Lukas to call attention to the horrible persecution of others during the German occupation of Poland. Lukas did not draw absolute parity between the sufferings of the Jews and Christian Poles during the Holocaust.
Lukas was the first historian to discover two crucial documents sent by the Polish Underground to London, informing the West of the beginning of the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto.
His continuing interest in the Polish tragedy during World War II resulted in several additional books, including the award-winning "Did the Children Cry?" and his recent, highly-regarded, "Forgotten Survivors."
Lukas is also a freelance writer who has published fiction and non-fiction pieces.
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