A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising is both a work of memory and a work
about memory. Miron Bialoszewski, the great avant-garde Polish
poet, memorializes the doomed uprising of the Polish population
against their Nazi masters, which began on August 1, 1944, and was
eventually abandoned on October 2, 1944, with the physical
destruction of Warsaw, street by street and house by house, and the
slaughter of 200,000 civilians. Yet Bialoszewski begins his memoir
not with an invocation of the great historical events about to
unfold but with a simple observation: "Tuesday, August 1, 1944, was
cloudy, humid, not too warm...and I remember that there were many
trolleys, cars, and people and that right after I reached the
corner of Zelazna Street, I realized what day it was (the first of
August) and I thought to myself, more or less in these words:
'August 1 is Sunflower Day.' " Bialoszewski concentrates on
recalling the things he saw, felt, smelled, and heard. Each object
is precious. Each possesses its own integrity, which the violence
of the Nazis will destroy. In reclaiming these objects,
Bialoszewski combats the inner evil of the time he recounts, the
thinking of those for whom the individual is meaningless and the
moment is a fraud. In dwelling with loving concern on the
cobblestones, glass jars, and the casual words people spoke in
passing, Bialoszewski sets himself against those for whom history
justifies all actions and violence is a substitute for truth.
Bialoszewski rescues memory from history. He rescues the moment
from the epic sweep of the thousand-year Reich. He observes "the
glaring identity of 'now.' " He tells us: "That is why I am writing
about this. Because it is all intermeshed. Everything. My
neighborhood too. Leszno, Chlodna, and Muranow. Because the
majority of my churches were there. Then the Jews. And Kochanowski.
And that woman near the pillars." In reclaiming the memory of the
anonymous "woman near the pillars," Bialoszewski reaffirms the
life-giving power of the imagination, which all the force of the
inhuman Nazi machine could not-and cannot-obliterate.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
