THIS BOOK IS BOTH A RECOLLECTION and an historical document.  It is the homage of a former teacher to the lesser-known elder brother of world-renowned writer Tadeusz Rózewicz and prominent film-maker Stanislaw Rózewicz.  Published for the first time in both the original Polish and Richard Sokoloski's English translation on facing pages, the volume includes letters and poems penned by this young aspiring poet, who perished under tragic circumstances during World War II.

Feliks Przylubski (1906-1983) was a grade-school mentor to both Tadeusz and Stanis¸aw Rózewicz.  His memoir throws new light on Tadeusz Rózewicz, whose personal life has often been shrouded in a carefully cultivated anonymity.  It offers the reader -- literary historian, critic or student of Polish literature -- a better understanding of how Tadeusz's future career as a writer was shaped by his early years in his native Radomsko and especially by the influence of an elder, much-admired sibling.

THE REDISCOVERY OF JANUSZ ROZEWICZ begs the inevitable question: What if?  His literary legacy, had it been allowed to evolve normally, could well have been substantial.  His early efforts exhibited all the markings: talent, desire, the reassurance of established writers and critics, not to mention the encouragement of two gifted younger siblings.
 
 

First stanza of Janusz Rozewicz's poem Tesknie [Yearning] 
(written during high-school years) and Feliks Przy¸ubski's comments on its publication

...at my window softly drifts
a pure, first snow;
pausing at the pane, I watch --
the lilied twilight's flow,
deserted streets --
at my window softly drifts
a pure, first snow...

THE NEW GARLAND of laurel radiated a bright green on Janusz's temples.  A glorious prize, indeed, though of little practical value -- the poet had failed his final year!  Good marks in the humanities were not enough to cover for a failure in mathematics.  Still, as he awaited the final deliberations of the faculty council on the matter, a ray of hope still shone in Janusz.  Such is the nature of soaring youth...  The feeling is apparent in descriptions he wrote of a return home, gleaned from his few extant writings. .
 
 

Click on the links below to see other volumes in the Poland Series
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Poland Series -- Volume I	Adam Jerzy Czartoryski: Letters to Vilna 1805 Listy do Wilna
Poland Series -- Volume II	Wspomnienie o Januszu Rózewiczu Janusz Rózewicz: a reminiscence
Poland Series -- Volume III	Pan Sedzia Deluty

  

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