I Am First a Human Being: The Prison Letters of Krystyna Wituska

by Krystyna Wituska, Irene Tomaszewski (Editor)

On the eve of World War II, Krystyna Wituska, a carefree, rather spoiled teenager attending finishing school in Switzerland, returned to Poland. During the Occupation, when she was twenty years old, she drifted into the Polish Underground. By her own admission, she was attracted at first by the adventure, but youthful bravado soon turned into a mental and spiritual mastery over fear.
Because Krystyna spoke fluent German she was assigned to collect information on German troop movements at Warsaw airport. In 1942, at the age of twenty-one, she was arrested by the Gestapo and transferred to prison in Berlin where she was executed two years later.
In the last eighteen months of her life Krystyna wrote over sixty letters which, through the kindness of a courageous prison guard, were smuggled to her parents or the guard's daughter who became her penpal. From the moment she was arrested, Krystyna would not allow her spirit to be broken and believed that "the noble that is within us will not perish." It is Krystyna's humanity that unites her with other victims of war and other resistance fighters, and enables us to identify with her even though her ordeal was outside the scope of our experience.

Genres: Nonfiction, Holocaust, Autobiography, History

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering that she was writing these while confined in prison under sentence of death, I found Krystyna Wituska's letters to be remarkably cheerful and optimistic. Irene Tomaszewski's introduction provides a decent historical context to the letters as well as a good portrait of Krystyna's life, and the notes help the reader keep track of who was who in her life. (Though the notes were a bit repetitive at times. Yes, I know her aunt's husband was killed in the War. I got that the first time. You don't need to mention it over and over again.)

This is a good addition to the collection of books about the Polish resistance in World War II, as well as the political prisoners in Germany at that time, and it's not so depressing as many such books are. You can't help but like and admire Krystyna's upbeat attitude as well as her courage.

For a similar book out of Denmark, check out Heroic Heart: The Diary and Letters of Kim Malthe-Bruun.

(I profiled Krystyna in a guest entry on the blog Executed Today.)

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books provides a personal account of a young woman's time in prison. It is interesting to see how her letters change depending on who Krystyna Wituska is writing to. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about Poland and Nazi rule.

[Nicole Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book about courage and one woman's refusal to give in to despair under even the most depressing circumstances. It has a permanent home on my bookshelf next to Etty Hillesum's "Letters from Westerbork."

[Jane Rutherford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read Harder Challenge 2019 - Task 9 - A book published prior to January 1, 2019, with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads.

I found this book listed with books written in prison. I chose another one for that category, but this intrigued me because of my Polish heritage. It would also fit the category of an epistolary novel or collection of letters. It was not riveting; it was sad but positive in her outlook. I was surprised by the nice things she could have in the prisons (which were in Germany): letters from her parents in Poland, several visitors including her father, gifts, food, clothing and toiletries. I just assumed Nazi prisons for political prisoners would have been harsher (though this was not easy by any means).

One of my favorite things about the book and Krystyna's true story is that she actually said "I am first a human being" and she meant it. She loved Poland, but she cared about much more than that country and its people. In spite of being in prisons, she became dear friends with other women there, and even with a prison guard (who smuggled letters out and in for her - the guard's daughter became one of Krystyna's frequent correspondents).

I'd recommend it except for one thing: it is not easy to get. I had to use interlibrary loan and got the book from a library in Connecticut and I live in a suburb of Washington, DC. You might be luckier than I. I, however, am extremely thankful for the wonderful service of my library system.