THE SARMATIAN REVIEW Vol
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE SARMATIAN REVIEW Vol. XXII, No. 3 September 2002 American Polish Writers Suzanne Strempek Shea. Photo by Nancy Palmieri. 890 THE SARMATIAN REVIEW September 2002 of Soviet deportations of Poles to the The Sarmatian Review (ISSN 1059-5872) is From the Editor Gulag. One learns from it that in western a triannual publication of the Polish Institute of Houston. This issue is dedicated to the English- Ukraine, many people who provided em- The journal deals with Polish, Central, and Eastern Euro- pean affairs, and their implications for the United States. language writers of Polish origin. Our ployment to others were deported, even We specialize in the translation of documents. lead review is of the most recent book those who hired housekeepers (thus al- Subscription price is $15.00 per year for individuals, $21.00 by Suzanne Strempek Shea in which leviating unemployment in the country- for institutions and libraries ($21.00 for individuals, $27.00 she plunges into the turbulent waters side). To procure the lists of people who for libraries overseas, air mail). The views expressed by authors of articles do not necessarily represent those of the of cancer survivors’ stories. Our re- had housekeepers must have involved Editors or of the Polish Institute. Articles are subject to edit- viewer, Professor Bogna Lorence-Kot, enormous work: one notes that the Sovi- ing. Unsolicited manuscripts and other materials are not wrote about Strempek Shea’s Lily of ets attached much weight to eliminating returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed and the Valley in the January 2000 issue those who were enterprising enough to stamped envelope. Please submit your contribution elec- tronically and send a printout by air mail. Letters to of SR. We are happy to report that create jobs. Their determination to de- the Editor can be e-mailed to <[email protected]>, with Strempek Shea survived famously her stroy Polish presence in Belarus and an accompanying printout (including return address) bout with cancer, and we are waiting Ukraine (for it was mostly the Polish edu- sent by air mail. Articles, letters, and subscription checks for further books by her to appear. cated classes that employed housekeep- should be mailed to In this issue, we also review a book ers in those areas) appears similar to the The Sarmatian Review, P. O. Box 79119, Houston, Texas 77279-9119. by Anthony Bukoski, the author who determination of the Chinese and Cam- The Sarmatian Review retains the copyright for all materi- combines in his work a sense of soli- bodian Communist leaders to eliminate als included in print and online issues. Copies for personal darity with the Polish community in all traces of civilization and start from or educational use are permitted by section 107 and 108 of the United States with an uncanny zero, no matter how gigantic the suffer- the U.S. Copyright Law. Permission to redistribute, repub- lish, or use SR materials in advertising or promotion must sense of humor. We laughed through ing and death caused by such plans and be submitted in writing to the Editor. many of his stories, not only those in actions. A pragmatic American might Editor: Ewa M. Thompson (Rice University). Polonaise, but also those we read else- conclude that such proceedings would Editorial Advisory Committee: Janusz A. Ihnatowicz (Uni- where, notably in Chronicles (we gave be sure to derail the area’s economy and versity of Saint Thomas), Marek Kimmel (Rice Univer- sity), Alex Kurczaba (University of Illinois), Marcus D. a short review to one such story in the cause suffering to tens of thousands of Leuchter (Holocaust Museum Houston),Witold J. April 2002 issue of SR). Interestingly, people. He/she would be right. In the pro- Lukaszewski (Sam Houston State University), Michael J. it is those Polish American writers who cess, three- and five-year old children Mikos (University of Wisconsin), Jan Rybicki (Kraków manage to inject a sense of humor into were separated from parents and allowed Pedagogical University), James R. Thompson (Rice Uni- versity), Piotr Wilczek (University of Silesia-Katowice). their stories and novels that gain an to roam the streets to survive (Józio Web Pages: Lisa Spiro (Rice University). appreciable recognition by the general Chubowski). It appears that not only the Web Address: <http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia>. American public. Strempek Shea and top party officials who gave orders for Sarmatian Council: Boguslaw Godlewski (Diag- Bukowski are among those writers. deportations but also the entire hierarchy nostic Clinic of Houston), Iga J. Henderson, Danuta Z. Hutchins (Buena Vista University), Jo- Also in this issue, Professor John J. of petty NKVD workers who executed seph A. Jachimczyk (J .A. Jachimczyk Forensic Bukowczyk concludes his series of such orders were guilty of criminal con- Center of Harris County, Texas), Leonard M. reviews of the Rev. Wacław Kruszka’s duct. Krazynski (Honorary Polish Consul in Houston), History of the Poles in America to In that connection, absent a Gulag Mu- Aleksandra Ziółkowska-Boehm. 12345678901234567 1908. It is to be hoped that this book 12345678901234567 seum anywhere in the world, we would In this issue: will find its way to local libraries and like to recommend a virtual museum on THE SARMATIAN REVIEW INDEX........891 that it will be checked out from time the Web. Nikolai Gutman’s paintings, Bogna Lorence-Kot, Songs from a Lead- to time by those who complain about displayed by the Jamestown Foundation, Lined Room (review)..............................893 the scarcity of books on Polish topics are the second best thing to such a mu- Sally Boss, Polonaise: Stories (review).894 in public libraries. seum: http://russia.jamestown.org/ John J. Bukowczyk, A History of the Poles Sarmatian Review has established a getman/gulag_collection.htm. in America to 1908, Part Four (review)..895 Literary Prize of one thousand dollars Professor Jolanta W. Best’s article con- BOOKS....................................................896 Jolanta Wróbel Best, Life Against Death: The that will be awarded to an American tains a profound observation that often Writings of Ida Fink and Tadeusz Borowski.899 Polish writer in 2003. The jury will escapes the Holocaust scholars: that in Cyprian Kamil Norwid, Solitude: A Sonnet, consist of Members of the Board of order to survive in Nazi-occupied Europe, translated by Alex Kurczaba.........................901 the Polish Institute of Houston. The one had to love life, even if one was of- OUR TAKE: Krasiƒski’s Undivine Comedy Prize will be awarded to a writer rec- fered mere scraps of it. Tadeusz Borowski savaged at the National Theater................902 ognized for his/her exceptional lost his desire to live, whereas Ida Fink Zofia PtaÊnik, Death by a Thousand Cuts: A Pol- achievement in finding in local ethnic did not. He could not cope with his ish Woman’s Diary of Deportation, Forced La- cultures the universal values that many memories and committed suicide; she bor and Death in Kazakhstan, April 13, 1940– of us profess. The announcement about became a published author. There is a May 26, 1941, translated and edited by Leszek Karpiƒski et al. (third installment).......... ......902 the winner will appear in the January lesson here for those who can learn LETTERS.................................................913 2003 issue of SR. from history. ∆ 123456789012345678901 ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NOTES.....915 The third installment of Zofia 123456789012345678901 123456789012345678901 ABOUT THE AUTHORS......................915 PtaÊnik’s Diary elucidates the pattern September 2002 SARMATIAN REVIEW 891 The Sarmatian Review Index Alleged exchange Percentage of Polish debt to the United States annulled in the early 1990s: 50 percent, or several billion dollars. Alleged reason for the annulment: the rescuing of six US spies from Iraq after Baghdad invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990. Source: Polish Intelligence Service (UOP), as reported by Agence France-Presse, 11 May 2002. Demography Percentage of peasants among world population at the beginning of the twentieth century: 90 percent. Percentage of peasants at the beginning of the twenty-first century: 50 percent. Source: Ryszard KapuÊciƒski, “Wojna czy dialog?” Rzeczpospolita, 2 March 2002. Russian statistics Estimated number of Russians traveling abroad in 2000: 18 million. Source: Organizers of Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition, as reported by Eric Engelman, Associated Press (Moscow), 28 March 2002. Estimated number of Russians who traveled abroad in 2001: 3.5 million. Reasons for the alleged 80 percent drop in Russian tourism: not given. Source: AFP (Moscow), 25 March 2002. Number of Catholics in the Diocese of Irkutsk according to Russian official statistics: 50,000. Source: AFP, 20 April 2002. Number of Catholics in the Diocese of Irkutsk according to the Diocese’s bishop: 1 million. Source: Bishop of the Diocese of Irkutsk Jerzy Mazur (he was refused re-entry visa to Russia in April 2002), AFP (Warsaw), 20 April 2002. Percentage of Russians who planned to celebrate Orthodox Easter in 2002: 80 percent. Source: The title of AFP article (Moscow) (Clarinet # 86852) reporting a ROMIR opinion poll, 1 May 2002. Form of the celebration: preparing and eating traditional Easter cakes and painting Easter eggs. Percentage of Russians who planned to attend a church service during the Easter season in 2002: 21.5 percent. Source: Same AFP article (Clarinet # 86852), 1 May 2002. Religion Percentage of Muslims in the Russian Federation: 15.3 percent, or 22 million. Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Internet News, 29 November 2001. Drugs Number of drug addicts in Russia in 2001: 3 million. Value of drugs consumed by them: 1 billion dollars per year. Source: Russian Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov, as reported by AFP (Petersburg), 25 October 2001. Telephones Number of mobile telephone users in Poland in 2001: 9.6 million (an increase of 42.3 percent since the previous year), or 24.9 percent of the country’s population.