What do you think?
Rate this book
Lewa wolna
Polish
458 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
3 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Józef Mackiewicz
30 books35 followersMackiewicz's prose is extremely realistic: he believed there were no untouchable subjects. In 1957, he published Kontra, a narrative account of the particularly brutal and treacherous handover of thousands of anti-Soviet Cossacks by British soldiers in Austria back to Soviets. His other works include Droga donikąd (The Road to Nowhere) - an account of life under Soviet occupation, Zwycięstwo prowokacji (Victory of provocation) - on communism, W cieniu krzyża (In the shadow of the cross) - on Catholicism.
His voluminous output as a writer of fiction and a publicist has been undergoing an unusual revival after many years of underground publishing and later marginal interest. His books are however hardly available in Poland due to legal issues.
Life:
Jozef Mackiewicz was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire on 1 April 1902 to a Polish family from Polish-Lithuanian gentry. In 1907 his family moved back to Vilnius (Wilno) (from 1918 till 1945 in Poland, now in Lithuania).
Mackiewicz studied natural sciences and before World War II he worked as a journalist for Słowo (The Word), a newspaper published in Vilnius, then within Poland's borders. On 17 of September 1939 Soviet troops invaded eastern Poland (Kresy) and gave Wilno to independent Lithuania. Between October 1939 and May 1940 he was a publisher and editor-in-chief of the Gazeta Codzienna, a Polish language daily in Lithuanian-controlled Vilnius. In his articles Mackiewicz attempted to initiate a dialogue between Lithuanians and Poles. After the annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, he worked as a labourer. In 1942, he witnessed a of massacre of Jews by the Germans in Ponary, which he described in his book Nie trzeba głośno mówić (“One Is Not Supposed to Speak Aloud”[1]). At the end of 1942 / beginning of 1943 he was sentenced to death by the Home Army for his work at Gazeta Codzienna and Goniec Codzienny (see below). Sentence was then cancelled by the Home Army .[2] In June 1943, with consent of the Polish government-in-exile, he assisted in the first excavations of the mass graves of the Polish soldiers killed by Soviet NKVD in Katyn in 1940. Mackiewicz left Poland with his wife in 1945, never to return, and died in exile in Munich, in 1985.
His brother, Stanisław Mackiewicz, was a political publicist and Prime Minister of the Government of Poland in exile from 1954 to 1955.
His voluminous output as a writer of fiction and a publicist has been undergoing an unusual revival after many years of underground publishing and later marginal interest. His books are however hardly available in Poland due to legal issues.
Life:
Jozef Mackiewicz was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire on 1 April 1902 to a Polish family from Polish-Lithuanian gentry. In 1907 his family moved back to Vilnius (Wilno) (from 1918 till 1945 in Poland, now in Lithuania).
Mackiewicz studied natural sciences and before World War II he worked as a journalist for Słowo (The Word), a newspaper published in Vilnius, then within Poland's borders. On 17 of September 1939 Soviet troops invaded eastern Poland (Kresy) and gave Wilno to independent Lithuania. Between October 1939 and May 1940 he was a publisher and editor-in-chief of the Gazeta Codzienna, a Polish language daily in Lithuanian-controlled Vilnius. In his articles Mackiewicz attempted to initiate a dialogue between Lithuanians and Poles. After the annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, he worked as a labourer. In 1942, he witnessed a of massacre of Jews by the Germans in Ponary, which he described in his book Nie trzeba głośno mówić (“One Is Not Supposed to Speak Aloud”[1]). At the end of 1942 / beginning of 1943 he was sentenced to death by the Home Army for his work at Gazeta Codzienna and Goniec Codzienny (see below). Sentence was then cancelled by the Home Army .[2] In June 1943, with consent of the Polish government-in-exile, he assisted in the first excavations of the mass graves of the Polish soldiers killed by Soviet NKVD in Katyn in 1940. Mackiewicz left Poland with his wife in 1945, never to return, and died in exile in Munich, in 1985.
His brother, Stanisław Mackiewicz, was a political publicist and Prime Minister of the Government of Poland in exile from 1954 to 1955.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 24, 2019
Powieść o wojnie polsko-bolszewickiej 1919-1920 r. z perspektywy pułku ułanów. Realizm walk z ogólnym chaosem, krwią, strachem, kurzem, błotem, głodem, krańcowym wyczerpaniem, likwidacją jeńców, śmiercią od zabłąkanej kuli. Józef Mackiewicz znał to wszystko z autopsji, zaciągnął się do ułanów jako siedemnastolatek. Język bohaterów jest żołnierski, jeśli ułani śpiewają, to wulgarną przyśpiewkę, gdy nie walczą to piją, zażywają modną wtedy kokainę i odwiedzają burdele.
Obserwujemy postawy ludności kresowej wobec bolszewickiego zagrożenia, także opowiadanie się niektórych Polaków po stronie leninowskiej rewolucji. W końcu mamy szeroko zobrazowany kontekst polityczny całego konfliktu i z dzisiejszej perspektywy niezrozumiałe decyzje Piłsudskiego. Polacy dwukrotnie mieli okazję unicestwić bolszewicką rewolucję, w 1919 i 1920 r. przez wsparcie kontrrewolucyjnych rosyjskich armii Denikina i Wrangla. Naczelnik państwa nie wsparł jednak "białych", widząc w nich większe zagrożenie dla odradzającej się Polski niż wschodzący "czerwony" terror.
Obserwujemy postawy ludności kresowej wobec bolszewickiego zagrożenia, także opowiadanie się niektórych Polaków po stronie leninowskiej rewolucji. W końcu mamy szeroko zobrazowany kontekst polityczny całego konfliktu i z dzisiejszej perspektywy niezrozumiałe decyzje Piłsudskiego. Polacy dwukrotnie mieli okazję unicestwić bolszewicką rewolucję, w 1919 i 1920 r. przez wsparcie kontrrewolucyjnych rosyjskich armii Denikina i Wrangla. Naczelnik państwa nie wsparł jednak "białych", widząc w nich większe zagrożenie dla odradzającej się Polski niż wschodzący "czerwony" terror.
November 6, 2023
Książkę wymęczyłem przez klika tygodni. Zupełnie nie dla Mnie. Co prawda dowiedziałem się kilku ciekawych rzeczy dotyczących opisanych wydarzeń więc nie żałuję jej przeczytania.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews