Zachor. Żydowskie losy odzyskane w słowie

Abstract

The articles published in the book combine the common dominant – the category of memory. Literary texts undergoing interpretation have been published by authors living in Israel (Irit Amiel, Abraham Karpinowicz, Mishka Zilberstein, Józef Bau) and in the United States (Anna Kahan, Jadwiga Maurer), but born in the pre-war Polish territories (Krakow, Vilnius, Częstochowa, Kielce, Białystok, Siedlce). The Holocaust survived in childhood (in the case of Anna Kahan World War I) decided about the subjective, autobiographical character of their writing. This is the topic raised in all the essays that make up the publication. The second thread that unites all articles is the awareness of life in the shadow of the Holocaust. The memory of the past days has the character of an autobiographical confession (Mishka Zilberstein), testimonies of experiences (Józef Bau), but also literally processed personal experiences (Irit Amiel, Jadwiga Maurer), a nostalgic story about the world destroyed by war (Karpinowicz). The sketches that open and close the book have a slightly different character. The opening essay is devoted to the Franciscan fascinations of Józef Wittlin and shows that overcoming evil is possible by returning to the primary values, to the idea of fraternitas and minoritas. An experience liberating philosophical reflection became for the writer the First World War. It announced the crisis of humanity, which was fulfilled in the years of World War II. The closing article presents the figure of Ryszard Löw (an eminent Polishist, journalist, bibliographer, publisher and literary critic) for whom the reference point in his biography and activities in Israel is always the country of his childhood and youth (with his beloved Krakow), with its culture, language, people.