EMIGRACYJNE PAMIĘTNIKI LWOWIAN OPUBLIKOWANE PO II WOJNIE ŚWIATOWEJ
MEMOIRS OF LWÓW CITIZENS IN EXILE PUBLISHED AFTER THE WORLD WAR II

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the analysis of selected memoirs and books “written from the heart” belonging to the generation of Polish Armed Forces living in exile, which were published after the World War II. The study focuses on the publications of representatives of other professions than writers or journalists – architects, composers and diplomats. They encountered difficulties while trying to publish their works in exile: their institutions were closed, there were limited ways of raising money for funds and certain limitations were imposed on number of copies and size. There were many publishing houses established by Polish post-war immigrants, which could function just due to financial support gathered from miscellaneous sources such as foundations, associations, private donations as well as the authors themselves. Payments in advance for subscriptions used to be a common practice. Such renowned Polish emigrant publishing houses as “Polish Cultural Foundations Ltd.”, “Katolicki Ośrodek Wydawniczy Veritas” and “Oficyna Poetów i Malarzy” were interested in Lwów-based recollections since their owners often had similar political beliefs and territorial origin. The publishing process used to last for about a year. The post-war copies of each new publication oscillated between 75 and 3000 copies. The recollections discussed in the paper were relatively comprehensive with about 230 pages each on average. There is a strong belief that as long as there is a generation of people living abroad but raised in Polish Lwów, there still be memoirs and other books not allowing us to forget about their Polish roots and significant relationships with Western European culture.

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