Germany’s genocidal colonialism in occupied Poland was the “Heart of Darkness” in its relentless exploitation and brutality. The Dark Heart of Hitler’s Europe provides essential context to understanding the individual atrocities of that period.
Eva Stachniak’s book offers a rare glimpse into the turbulent life and times of Bronia Nijinska and the waning days of the Russian empire. Nijinska’s talent was overshadowed by her brother but as he said, “Art is all that matters… Everything else is distraction.”
Hela can be exasperating. Her views on gender relations outdated and her national prejudices problematic, she says inappropriate things at the dinner table. But she is the aging relative you love anyway, for her frankness and spirit.
Back in 1999, Lipman sailed his little ship in the (mostly) smooth Polish sea. Back in London, they happily welcomed the EU-Polish immigrants. But the once smooth English Sea is getting increasingly turbulent. Not that the Polish sea has remained calm.
Martha Hall Kelly’s novel is based on the true story of Caroline Ferriday, a New York socialite who brings Polish Ravensbruck survivors to America for treatment. And locates the criminal Dr. Herta Oberheuser.
Uncovering a Polish communist movement in Canada, historian Patryk Polec suggests the radical ideas came from Poland. Reviewer Gabriela Pawlus Kasprzak thinks the Poles were radicalized here. Either way, a surprising, interesting read.
Why are Stalin’s alliance with Hitler and his genocidal policies overlooked, even denied? Reviewing Black Ribbon Day, Michał Kasprzak suggests “the nightmarish partnership of tyrannies” needs more attention.
It took Poland fifty years to regain its freedom. For many Poles it took even longer to liberate their memories. Marian Wiacek recorded his for his grandchildren.
Welcome to Winter at CR, wherever you are. Chicago, Warsaw, California or on a dramatic journey across several continents. And maybe a bit of time travel — the 17th, the 20th and the 21st centuries.
This is a war story that unites the fate of soldiers and civilians. Thank you, Norman Davies, for gathering the memoirs, the photographs, and the historian’s details, and telling the story with such élan. Now where’s the young historian who will break new ground and write a scholarly work on this neglected subject?
Miron Białoszewski’s memoir of the 63 days of terror endured by civilians during the Warsaw Uprising is a difficult but essential book. Kudos to NYRB for this new edition, translated by Madeline G. Levine.
The Canadian segment of the March of the Living and the March of Remembrance and Hope, under the direction of Eli Rubenstein, commemorates, educates and celebrates life with love and respect for all people in our troubled world.
Winner of Poland’s NIKE Award, Tokarczuk’s book is a spellbinding journey in a literary time machine to a mysterious era in the distant past. No English translation yet, but in the meantime, Małgorzata Dzieduszycka-Ziemilska’s review gives you a glimpse into a world at once historical, and surreal.
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