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Jerzy Andrzejewski

Born

in Warsaw, Poland

August 19, 1909

Died

April 19, 1983

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Jerzy Andrzejewski was a Polish novelist, short-story writer, and political dissident noted for his attention to moral issues important in 20th-century Poland and for his realistic fiction.

Andrzejewski was born into a middle-class family, and the young writer studied Polish language and literature at the University of Warsaw. The stories published in his first book, Drogi nieuniknione (1936; “Unavoidable Ways”), originally appeared in a right-wing periodical, with whom he soon severed relations. That volume was followed by the novel Ład serca (1938; “Heart’s Harmony”), in which Andrzejewski tried to find in Roman Catholic teachings solutions to the problems of contemporary life. During the German occupation of World War II, he participated Jerzy Andrzejewski was a Polish novelist, short-story writer, and political dissident noted for his attention to moral issues important in 20th-century Poland and for his realistic fiction.

Andrzejewski was born into a middle-class family, and the young writer studied Polish language and literature at the University of Warsaw. The stories published in his first book, Drogi nieuniknione (1936; “Unavoidable Ways”), originally appeared in a right-wing periodical, with whom he soon severed relations. That volume was followed by the novel Ład serca (1938; “Heart’s Harmony”), in which Andrzejewski tried to find in Roman Catholic teachings solutions to the problems of contemporary life. During the German occupation of World War II, he participated in the Polish underground.
After World War II, Andrzejewski wrote Noc (1945; “Night”), a collection of wartime stories, and, together with Jerzy Zagórski, a satirical drama, Swięto Winkelrida (1946; “Winkelried’s Feast”). Contemporary political problems are projected in Popiół i diament (1948; Ashes and Diamonds), translated into 27 languages and generally considered his finest novel. It presents a dramatic conflict between young Polish patriots and the communist regime during the last days of World War II. In 1958 Andrzej Wajda, the leading director of the Polish cinema, directed a movie based on the book and bearing the same title.

In 1949 Andrzejewski joined the Communist Party, and for the next seven years he supported its ideology in his essays, but in 1956 he gave up membership and established himself as one of the principal critics of the party’s policies, both in his creative writings and in his activities. In 1976 he became one of the cofounders of the Workers’ Defense Committee (KOR), from which eventually grew the anticommunist trade union Solidarity, outlawed in 1981. Andrzejewski also coedited Zapis (1977–81), a literary magazine publishing dissident writers. Andrzejewski’s novels Ciemności kryją ziemię (1957; The Inquisitors) and Bramy raju (1960; The Gates of Paradise) present modern problems disguised as historical novels, while Apelacja (1968; The Appeal) and Miazga (1981; “The Pulp”) directly address the issues of contemporary society.

Andrzejewski’s life and work seem to be emblematic for many Polish intellectuals of his generation—from his ardent Catholicism before the war to his heroic involvement with the Resistance during the Nazi occupation, through his subsequent skepticism, to his total acceptance of the Marxist ideology after the war, and, finally, to his disillusionment with and open dissent against communism. His short stories and novels, Ashes and Diamonds in particular, can be read as a moving testimony to his development. ...more

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Jerzy Andrzejewski’s books

Average rating: 3.76 · 2,627 ratings · 332 reviews · 50 distinct works • Similar authors

	Ashes and Diamonds by Jerzy Andrzejewski, Barbara Niemczyk (Foreword), D.J. Welsh (Translator), Heinrich Böll (Introduction) 3.71 avg rating — 1,023 ratings — published 1948 — 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
	Bramy Raju 3.99 avg rating — 665 ratings — published 1960 — 24 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
	Ciemności kryją ziemię 3.81 avg rating — 293 ratings — published 1957 — 20 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
	Holy Week: A Novel of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by Jerzy Andrzejewski, Jan Tomasz Gross (Foreword), Oscar E. Swan (Introduction) 4.02 avg rating — 105 ratings — published 1977 — 17 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
	Spowiedź polskiego kata 3.13 avg rating — 72 ratings — published 1992 — 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
	Ciemności kryją ziemię. Bramy Raju 3.92 avg rating — 50 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
	Miazga 3.44 avg rating — 57 ratings — published 1979 — 13 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
	Ład serca 3.50 avg rating — 40 ratings — published 1938 — 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
	La formación 3.11 avg rating — 44 ratings — 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
	Idzie skacząc po górach 3.62 avg rating — 37 ratings — published 1963 — 14 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

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Quotes by Jerzy Andrzejewski (?)

“I've seen men who thought they were brave turn out to be shameful cowards. Other people, who thought they were capable of the utmost self-sacrifice, proved to be hardened egotists. And the opposite, too - cowards doing things which needed toughness and unusual courage..... What does it all boil down to in the end? One must judge a man by what he does, and not by what he thinks he would do. Until a man faces the test, he can deceive himself endlessly.”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ashes and Diamonds

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“Entonoces comprendí que no me amaba, deseaba solamente mi cuerpo, yo sé que él también lo sabía, aunque trataba de engañarse y me dijera que me amaba, pero al decir eso mentía, porque solamente deseaba mi cuerpo, deseaba el amor, pero no sabía amarme, lo único verdadero en él era el deseo insaciable”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Las puertas del paraíso

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“Instead of doing away with the class war, we ought to intensify it, catch our enemy by the throat, because if we don't kill them in time, they'll put a knife in our backs.”
― Jerzy Andrzejewski, Ashes and Diamonds

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