Holy Week: A Novel of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

by Jerzy Andrzejewski, Jan Tomasz Gross (Foreword), Oscar E. Swan (Introduction)

At the height of the Nazi extermination campaign in the Warsaw Ghetto, a young Jewish woman, Irena, seeks the protection of her former lover, a young architect, Jan Malecki. By taking her in, he puts his own life and the safety of his family at risk. Over a four-day period, Tuesday through Friday of Holy Week 1943, as Irena becomes increasingly traumatized by her situation, Malecki questions his decision to shelter Irena in the apartment where Malecki, his pregnant wife, and his younger brother reside. Added to his dilemma is the broader context of Poles’ attitudes toward the “Jewish question” and the plight of the Jews locked in the ghetto during the final moments of its existence. Few fictional works dealing with the war have been written so close in time to the events that inspired them. No other Polish novel treats the range of Polish attitudes toward the Jews with such unflinching honesty. Jerzy Andrzejewski’s Holy Week ( Wielki Tydzien , 1945), one of the significant literary works to be published immediately following the Second World War, now appears in English for the first time. This translation of Andrzejewski’s Holy Week began as a group project in an advanced Polish language course at the University of Pittsburgh. Class members Daniel M. Pennell, Anna M. Poukish, and Matthew J. Russin contributed to the translation; the instructor, Oscar E. Swan, was responsible for the overall accuracy and stylistic unity of the translation as well as for the biographical and critical notes and essays.

Genres: Poland, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Polish Literature, Holocaust, World War II, War

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book I'd read by Andrzejewski was "Ashes and Diamonds" back in the early or mid- 60s. The problem with that book is that it's entered into legend thanks to Andrzej Wajda's film. I don't know how I came across this one but I decided to read it and found it gripping. Good polish literature IS good... it gets at the human essence in ways that can make you bleed, and, of course, that's because of what they went through - not just the Second World war but everything before and after!

[Beliar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mam mnóstwo myśli w głowie...

To opowiadanie było momentami naprawdę przerażające i wiele łez nad nim przesłałam. Najbardziej szokujące dla mnie jest to co wojna robi z dziećmi i jak buduje w nich agresję i złość.

Poza tym mam wrażenie, że Andrzejewski otwarł mi oczy w sprawie relacji Polaków i Żydów podczas II wojny światowej... Tutaj ofiara zwraca swoją nienawiść w stronę drugiej ofiary, zamiast w stronę oprawcy i zostało to ukazane w uderzający, brutalny sposób.

Obawiam się, że wiele obrazów zostanie w mojej głowie na długo.
Jestem zszokowana i rozemocjonowana.

[lentasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ale to było piękne.

[Anne Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary book that offers an intimate view of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising from the perspective of Catholic Poles who live nearby. At heart, it poses the question of the role of the bystander -- to intervene in the name of humanity, or to be protective of oneself and one's family. Vivid translation and helpful notes. I found it more accessible than Andrejewski's "Ashes and Diamonds" -- another landmark work.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy Week is the story of two main characters during the days just before, and then during, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943. One (Irena) is Jewish and on the run, and the other (Jan) is her former lover. Other characters are introduced, and discussions of what is "right" to do when Poland's Jews are clearly being hunted and murdered are introduced, with different characters choosing different paths in either opposing or collaborating with the Nazis and their goals--along with some who try to ignore it all and simply survive. These discussions are what made this Shoah work different and memorable for me, as well as the character of Anna, who seemed to be too innocent and good for the world she lived in.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a succinct, well written, and uncompromising book that explores how humans react to the suffering of others. What I like best about it is that it treats its characters humanely without excusing or rationalizing their cowardice. I would recommend this book not just to those wanting to know more about history but to any contemplating their responsibility (or lack thereof) to combat injustice in its manifold forms.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful novel, well translated

This is a very powerful depiction of the situation in Poland during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It is very short, more of a novella than a novel but is accompanied by interesting preferatory material as well as an essay about Andrzej Wajda's film adaptation. All are fascinating. My only quibble is that the conversion from the book to the Kindle edition hasn't been done well, so there are a lot of spacing and word division issues.

[Carmel North · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for a class. This book reads as a historical fiction work of a Jew living outside the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. The storytelling is so smooth. I loved it.

[Hadrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

6,5/10

[Meaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully structured story, put together in the manner of Steinbeck, each part sliding smoothly into the next. It's very short, but packs a lot of action into its 120-odd pages. I also believe it's one of the more realistic novels I've read about the Holocaust. The author doesn't try to make a hero out of anyone, not even the Jewish woman whose plight drives the plot. None of the characters here -- Jews, Poles, Germans -- come off well. They are all selfish even when they try not to be. Irena is bitter and abrasive, and Jan is weak. But I think that's how people would really be in wartime, in an overcrowded city occupied by a foreign power, where you have a hard time of it even getting enough to eat.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Holocaust. In fact, I would probably put it on my top ten list of Holocaust novels. It's short as I said, and written simply, so a novice would not be intimidated by it. I also think it could be very easily adapted for the stage, and have been tempted to write a play of the story.

****UPDATE**** I have, in fact, written that play and am thinking of shopping it around to producers.

[Leon Perlman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the Polish language original, which has much more depth than the translation

[astrolepis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolałabym przeczytać to opowiadanie w innych okolicznościach niż o 2:00 w nocy przed dyżurem, na którym mam o nim rozmawiać...