Melchior Wańkowicz’s Followers (20)

Melchior Wańkowicz

Born

in Kałużyce, Russian Federation

January 10, 1892

Died

September 10, 1974

Genre

Nonfiction, Memoir, Travel

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Melchior Wańkowicz was a Polish writer, journalist and publisher. He is most famous for his reporting for the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II and writing a book about the battle of Monte Cassino.

Melchior Wańkowicz was born on 10 January 1892 in Kalużyce near Minsk. He attended school in Warsaw, then the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, which he graduated from in 1922. An activist in the Polish independence movement, he was an officer in the Riflemen Union (Związek Strzelecki). During the First World War he fought in the Polish I Corps in Russia under General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki.

After the war he worked as a journalist, for a time working as a chief of the press department in the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs. In Melchior Wańkowicz was a Polish writer, journalist and publisher. He is most famous for his reporting for the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II and writing a book about the battle of Monte Cassino.

Melchior Wańkowicz was born on 10 January 1892 in Kalużyce near Minsk. He attended school in Warsaw, then the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, which he graduated from in 1922. An activist in the Polish independence movement, he was an officer in the Riflemen Union (Związek Strzelecki). During the First World War he fought in the Polish I Corps in Russia under General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki.

After the war he worked as a journalist, for a time working as a chief of the press department in the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1926 he founded a publishing agency, "Rój". He also worked in the advertising business, coining a popular slogan for the advertisement of sugar - "cukier krzepi" (sugar strengthens). He wrote three books during the interwar period, all of them gaining him increasing fame and popularity. A few decades later he coined another famous slogan - "LOTem bliżej" ("closer with LOT"), advertising the Polish LOT airlines.

After the German invasion of Poland he lived for a while in Romania, where he wrote about the events of the Polish September. Later, from 1943 to 1946 he undertook what would be perhaps his most famous endeavour - he become a war correspondent for the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Later he wrote an account of the battle of Monte Cassino, his most famous book. One of his daughters, Krystyna, died as a member of Polish resistance Armia Krajowa during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.

From 1949 to 1958 he lived in the United States, afterwards returning to communist Poland. He opposed the communist regime, writing and lecturing about the Polish Forces in the West (whose participation was minimized by the government, which tried to emphasize the role of the Soviet-aligned Berling Army). His most known work is a three tome book about the battle of Monte Cassino, a tribute to the soldiers of the Anders Army - a book that was published in Poland only in a shortened, censored form (until the fall of communism in 1990).

After he cosigned the letter of 34 in 1964, protesting against the censorship, he was repressed by the government - the publication of his works was prohibited, and he was himself arrested, charged with slander of Poland and "spreading anti-Polish propaganda abroad" (partially due to the publication of some of his works by Radio Free Europe, but the chief evidence was a private letter to his daughter living in the USA) and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. However the sentence was never executed, and he was rehabilitated in 1990, after the fall of communism in Poland.

Wańkowicz died on 10 September 1974 in Warsaw. ...more

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Melchior Wańkowicz’s books

Average rating: 3.93 · 1,197 ratings · 86 reviews · 63 distinct works • Similar authors

	Ziele na kraterze 3.71 avg rating — 348 ratings — published 1957 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Na tropach Smętka 3.72 avg rating — 99 ratings — published 1959 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Szkice spod Monte Cassino 3.71 avg rating — 70 ratings — published 1969 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Szczenięce lata 3.80 avg rating — 54 ratings — published 1957 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tędy i owędy 3.14 avg rating — 43 ratings — published 1961 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Karafka La Fontaine'a 3.56 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 1972 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Monte Cassino 4.32 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 1957 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bitwa o Monte Cassino 4.04 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 1945 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Westerplatte 3.61 avg rating — 23 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	W ślady Kolumba. Atlantyk - Pacyfik 4.06 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 1967 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Melchior Wańkowicz…

Series by Melchior Wańkowicz

Melchior Wańkowicz – Dzieła (4 books)
by

Melchior Wańkowicz

4.02 avg rating — 41 ratings

Quotes by Melchior Wańkowicz (?)

“Ziemia jest jak dziewczyna. Póki wolna — cieszy oko i uśmiechnie się, i chętnie usłuży. Ożeń się z tą dziewczyną, niech no stanie się kobietą, która zaszła w ciążę, pracować na cię będzie, człowieku, ale już tam o uśmiechach nie ma mowy! Tylko harówka, byle z czasem nadążyć.”
― Melchior Wańkowicz, Tworzywo

tags: humor

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“Cenzura niemiecka traktowała widać listy jako wywiad i w najmniejszej mierze nie krępowała ani ich rozmiarów, ani częstotliwości wysyłania, a pod względem treści była niepokojąco tolerancyjna. Jeden z żołnierzy pokazywał mi pocztówkę od osiemnastoletniego brata: „Tym draniom tośmy zeszłej niedzieli wysadzili most, ten, pamiętasz, a jeszcze nie to im zrobimy". Na szaleńczej pocztówce stała pieczęć Geprüft. Listy roiły się doniesieniami, że „Ciocia Gercia jest chora i nie dożyje do wiosny". Wszyscy tak pisali o Germanii i każdy był dumny z wynalezionego symbolu, aż znudzony cenzor na jednym z listów (sam widziałem) dopisał: „Ciocia Gercia jest zdrowa i dobrze was za mordę trzyma”
― Melchior Wańkowicz, Ziele na kraterze

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