One of the longlist titles for Best Translated Book Award and why it should win---My review is at:
http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=3856. Open Letter is going to profile each of the titles nominated.
Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Stone Upon Stone by Wieslaw Mysliwski (link to review)
One of the longlist titles for Best Translated Book Award and why it should win---My review is at:
http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=3856. Open Letter is going to profile each of the titles nominated.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Ice Road, Stefan Waydenfeld, memoir
An Epic Journey from the Stalinist Labor Camps to Freedom
Sticking with the apparent theme of Stalinist Russia and its aftermath, I found this memoir fascinating. It’s always more interesting to read a historical event in the voice of someone who experienced it, and the author Stefan Waydenfeld describes his experiences with detail and yet without bitterness.
Waydenfeld was the son of a doctor and a biologist, and their small town life south of Warsaw was pleasant and fulfilling. He expected to live as most teenagers, with a future at university, perhaps following in his father’s path as a physician. While they’d heard grumblings of the war, they were taken by surprise when Germany and the Soviets invaded Poland in 1939. Previously, Poland had a non-aggression pact with the USSR, which was ignored as the USSR felt the need to support Germany’s war machine (as it had yet to turn on them). A bombing campaign started over Warsaw on September 17, 1939, one that introduced Warsaw as well as some of the smaller towns outside to the reality of war.
At first, Waydenfeld, at 14, served as a volunteer who worked in shifts with others to stay up at night and warn of the Luftwaffe planes that would randomly attack. They’d use whatever means they could to wake up their neighbors. Then there was the fires to deal with, started by the bombs. At one point, he describes the people fleeing the cities on open rural roads, being specially targeted by German pilots who ‘strafed’ the area with bullets for no apparent reason other than to kill randomly.
For a small time, there was a bit of calm, and then suddenly, his family received deportation orders to return to Warsaw. A kindly officer took them aside, assured them that this ‘short train ride’ would be their chance to return. They were loaded like cattle into a train with their neighbors and what goods they could carry, but he discovered on the train, at dawn, that they were heading east, not west. Never trust a kindly enemy! They were being sent to Siberia.
In Siberia, the Russian officers seemed to stress to them that their new life in Kvasha was going to be a privilege, and that they would never leave. Work in this camp was part of Stalin’s famous Five-Year plan. A major component of this plan was the installation and maintenance of the “Ice Road”, a timber transport road made out of sheets of ice. Waydenfeld and his father worked to build this road by digging holes, retrieving water, and then spreading it in sheets in -40 C temperatures.
From here, we see how his family coped, and how they were able to exist in this environment and maintain hope and unity. Additionally, while at times he admits anger and disappointment, his tone is one of bravery and acceptance…he was not going to give in. Not knowing about the atrocities that had already taken place in Germany may have helped these people keep their positive outlook.
It’s a great story, and well-told. I was particularly impressed by the effort he employed to acknowledge certain families and people that assisted in their journey to help them in various ways. He never implies that it was his bravery alone, but credits those people who were sympathetic and willing to risk their own lives to help them in various circumstances. This is an excellent text for information about the time period, and it would be amazing if high school students had the opportunity to read this first-person account.
Sticking with the apparent theme of Stalinist Russia and its aftermath, I found this memoir fascinating. It’s always more interesting to read a historical event in the voice of someone who experienced it, and the author Stefan Waydenfeld describes his experiences with detail and yet without bitterness.
Waydenfeld was the son of a doctor and a biologist, and their small town life south of Warsaw was pleasant and fulfilling. He expected to live as most teenagers, with a future at university, perhaps following in his father’s path as a physician. While they’d heard grumblings of the war, they were taken by surprise when Germany and the Soviets invaded Poland in 1939. Previously, Poland had a non-aggression pact with the USSR, which was ignored as the USSR felt the need to support Germany’s war machine (as it had yet to turn on them). A bombing campaign started over Warsaw on September 17, 1939, one that introduced Warsaw as well as some of the smaller towns outside to the reality of war.
At first, Waydenfeld, at 14, served as a volunteer who worked in shifts with others to stay up at night and warn of the Luftwaffe planes that would randomly attack. They’d use whatever means they could to wake up their neighbors. Then there was the fires to deal with, started by the bombs. At one point, he describes the people fleeing the cities on open rural roads, being specially targeted by German pilots who ‘strafed’ the area with bullets for no apparent reason other than to kill randomly.
In Siberia, the Russian officers seemed to stress to them that their new life in Kvasha was going to be a privilege, and that they would never leave. Work in this camp was part of Stalin’s famous Five-Year plan. A major component of this plan was the installation and maintenance of the “Ice Road”, a timber transport road made out of sheets of ice. Waydenfeld and his father worked to build this road by digging holes, retrieving water, and then spreading it in sheets in -40 C temperatures.
From here, we see how his family coped, and how they were able to exist in this environment and maintain hope and unity. Additionally, while at times he admits anger and disappointment, his tone is one of bravery and acceptance…he was not going to give in. Not knowing about the atrocities that had already taken place in Germany may have helped these people keep their positive outlook.
It’s a great story, and well-told. I was particularly impressed by the effort he employed to acknowledge certain families and people that assisted in their journey to help them in various ways. He never implies that it was his bravery alone, but credits those people who were sympathetic and willing to risk their own lives to help them in various circumstances. This is an excellent text for information about the time period, and it would be amazing if high school students had the opportunity to read this first-person account.
Special thanks to Debra Gendal of Aquila Polonica for the Review Copy.
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt, Rulka Langer
Originally published in 1942, Aquila Polonica has reprinted this in a stunning new edition. The first thing that jumps out at you is pictures! Lots and lots of pictures, particularly focused on the Siege of Warsaw, which is the focus of the book. In addition, maps and timelines assist in understanding the events before and during WWII.
First off, the female author adds a unique voice to the usually male-dominated subject of wartime. She also explains immediately why her story is different from what a war correspondent for the news might write. Her presence as a mother with an extended family gives her a different viewpoint:
"A war correspondent, when he runs to that gigantic fire (her example), does not leave his own children behind in his hotel room. When caught in an air raid, he doesn't tremble for the life of his own old mother. His brother has not vanished somewhere on the crowded roads...it isn't his own house, the house in which he was born and has lived for years, that has been set on fire by an incendiary. And if he himself goes through the agony of mortal fear, none of his readers will ever know about it."
As a narrator of the horrors, Langer is ideal. For a time before all this occurred, she had lived in the United States and had attended Vassar, and then became a copywriter for an advertising agency. After marrying and having a child, her husband became the Commercial Attache at the Polish Embassy. Eventually he resigned and they went back to Poland, but in 1938 he had another opportunity to work in the US. She remained in Poland, on a temporary basis, planning to rejoin him. However, as WWII heated up, she ended up in a small town with her mother and extended family, hoping to wait out the storm.
The book goes on to detail the fears that residents had, as well as the thread of suspicion that wove through daily life. At one point, when she travelled to try and find a way to get to Warsaw, she was arrested by a band of women with pitchforks who assumed she was a German spy (her missing passport didn't help her case). While many Warsaw residents had fled the city, Langer and her mother actually decided to return there, because the refugees who fled were equally endangered, and the prospect of travelling with small children seemed questionable. They returned to an apartment thoroughly shelled, without windows, and with its contents turned to rubble. Here they tried to reclaim their life and wait out the Siege.
It's this personal aspect that makes the book most involving. As a mom, hearing how she attempted to feed her children and create some semblence of normalcy, no matter how fragile, was amazing. Entertaining them, distracting them from their fears, and still maintaining a sense of calm is hardly imaginable. When a fire began on their roof, it took 48 hours to get help. Without panes of glass in the windows, they nearly froze in their apartments. Small details jump out the most: how a copy of Gone with the Wind seemed to inspire her to hold on to her old clothes lest she have to use the drapes for fabric. How rumours and gossip made fear escalate even more. And how, even in extreme danger, women will still bicker over the price of produce!
Another intriguing part of the book involves her creation of a new business to try and make money. Since newspapers no longer circulated, and the Poles desperately needed items that would normally be offered in the classified ads, Langer used her advertising background and a friend's help to create posters of small items for sale. Despite interference from the German's occupying Warsaw, they still found a way to post these and make a small amount of money.
In all, her family suffered greatly during the Siege and family members was tragically killed. But Langer and her children survived and were able to get to Vienna. Soon after, they left for America. I'm most amazed at how readable this is compared to other books about the war experience. Suitable for all ages, it would make an excellent resource in a classroom and a stepping stone to further study on the Siege of Warsaw. Hearing from a survivor about the human capacity for resilience and inner strength is motivating, especially in a time when nothing made sense.
"A war correspondent, when he runs to that gigantic fire (her example), does not leave his own children behind in his hotel room. When caught in an air raid, he doesn't tremble for the life of his own old mother. His brother has not vanished somewhere on the crowded roads...it isn't his own house, the house in which he was born and has lived for years, that has been set on fire by an incendiary. And if he himself goes through the agony of mortal fear, none of his readers will ever know about it."
As a narrator of the horrors, Langer is ideal. For a time before all this occurred, she had lived in the United States and had attended Vassar, and then became a copywriter for an advertising agency. After marrying and having a child, her husband became the Commercial Attache at the Polish Embassy. Eventually he resigned and they went back to Poland, but in 1938 he had another opportunity to work in the US. She remained in Poland, on a temporary basis, planning to rejoin him. However, as WWII heated up, she ended up in a small town with her mother and extended family, hoping to wait out the storm.
The book goes on to detail the fears that residents had, as well as the thread of suspicion that wove through daily life. At one point, when she travelled to try and find a way to get to Warsaw, she was arrested by a band of women with pitchforks who assumed she was a German spy (her missing passport didn't help her case). While many Warsaw residents had fled the city, Langer and her mother actually decided to return there, because the refugees who fled were equally endangered, and the prospect of travelling with small children seemed questionable. They returned to an apartment thoroughly shelled, without windows, and with its contents turned to rubble. Here they tried to reclaim their life and wait out the Siege.
It's this personal aspect that makes the book most involving. As a mom, hearing how she attempted to feed her children and create some semblence of normalcy, no matter how fragile, was amazing. Entertaining them, distracting them from their fears, and still maintaining a sense of calm is hardly imaginable. When a fire began on their roof, it took 48 hours to get help. Without panes of glass in the windows, they nearly froze in their apartments. Small details jump out the most: how a copy of Gone with the Wind seemed to inspire her to hold on to her old clothes lest she have to use the drapes for fabric. How rumours and gossip made fear escalate even more. And how, even in extreme danger, women will still bicker over the price of produce!
Another intriguing part of the book involves her creation of a new business to try and make money. Since newspapers no longer circulated, and the Poles desperately needed items that would normally be offered in the classified ads, Langer used her advertising background and a friend's help to create posters of small items for sale. Despite interference from the German's occupying Warsaw, they still found a way to post these and make a small amount of money.
In all, her family suffered greatly during the Siege and family members was tragically killed. But Langer and her children survived and were able to get to Vienna. Soon after, they left for America. I'm most amazed at how readable this is compared to other books about the war experience. Suitable for all ages, it would make an excellent resource in a classroom and a stepping stone to further study on the Siege of Warsaw. Hearing from a survivor about the human capacity for resilience and inner strength is motivating, especially in a time when nothing made sense.
Special thanks to Debra Gendel of Aquila Polonica for the Review Copy.
Aquila Polonica also produces a DVD of the Siege of Warsaw available on their website,
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