Operation Hyacinth

Book excerpt: Few outside of Poland are aware that during the 1980’s the Polish government orchestrated a cruel anti-gay program that targeted and punished queer people under the code name Operation Hyacinth. Pawel Kurczab, a gay Polish author, has written a devastating debut novel combining the true history of Poland’s discrimination of LGBTQ+ people and his own experiences growing up in Poland, creating a love story in his novel Hyacinth. The novel follows Kamil, a simple SB officer complicity following orders from the communist party of Poland, weeding out revolutionaries and spreading propaganda. For his loyalty, he's given everything he's ever dreamed of having. One day, Kamil is tasked to participate in Operation Hyacinth, where he must disguise himself to infiltrate the gay community. Little does he know, the operation will change his life forever as he comes to terms with who he really is under a dictatorship that dictates who and what love should be.