Description
Book SynopsisA collection of Polish Jewish writings since WWII. This book brings together the works of several Jewish writers, most of whom remained in Poland. Although the Nazi genocide wiped out nearly all of the Jewish population in the country, the aftermath of the war has not stifled Jewish writing in Poland but has given it a different direction.
Trade Review"An important series of contemporary Jewish writing abroad translated into English."—
Library Journal"The motif of silence that runs through many of the pieces is in keeping with the paradoxical nature of the book: the writers do after all speak, mute of the spoken but not of the written word. The translations are uniformly lucid and graceful, and the lengthy introduction provides a valuable frame to the book."—
Choice"For the non-Polish reader, the superb introduction alone makes the book worthwhile. The editors, Brandeis professor Antony Polonsky and University of Lublin professor Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, have included a number of Polish Jewish writers who wrote in Polish and dealt with Jewish topics. Although several writers, including Ida Fink, left Poland, most stayed. Some, such as Stryjkowski and Adolph Rudnicki, had begun to write before the war. Like Ms. Krall and Michal Grynberg, others were children or adolescents during the Holocaust. All these writers take a hard and realistic look at Polish-Jewish relations during the war and give readers vital insight into the psychological dilemma of being a Jew in postwar Poland."—
ForwardTable of ContentsJulian StryjkowskiStanislaw WygodzkiAdolf RudnickiArtur SandauerZofia GrzesiakLeo LipskiIda FinkStanislaw BenskiBogdan WojdowskiHenryk GrynbergHanna KrallContibutors: Antoni Slonimski Contents:PrefaceIntroduction by Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska and Antony PolonskyJulian Stryjkowski (1905-96)excerpts from Voices in the Darknessexcerpt from Judas Maccabeus: AfterwordStanislaw Wygodzki (1907-91)Blessed Be the Hands ...selected poems from A Memoir of Loveselected poems from PartingAdolf Rudnicki (1912-92)excerpt from The Dead Sea and the Living Sea: AscensionArtur Sandauer (1913-89)Death of a LiberalZofia Grzesiak (1914-)MarriageLeo Lipski (1917-)Roe Deer's BrotherThe WadiIda Fink (1921-)A Scrap of Time*****A DogNight of SurrenderThe Tenth ManTracesStanislaw Benski (1922-88)A Strange CountryMissing PiecesBogdan Wojdowski (1930-94)excerpt from Bread for the DepartedA Little Person, a Songless Bird, a Cage, and the WorldHenryk Grynberg (1936-)Fatherlandselected poems from Antinostalgiaselected poems from Verses from Americaselected poems from Among the Absentselected poems from A Monument on the Potomacselected poems from I Draw in MemoryHanna Krall (1937-)Briefly NowThe Dybbuk [Fragments]The ArmchairAntoni Slonimski (1896-1976)excerpt from How It Really HappenedGlossaryAcknowledgments
