Biedni Polacy patrzą na Rwandę
Poor Poles look at Rwanda

Summary/Abstract: The article entitled: Biedni Polacy patrzą na Rwandę (Poor Poles look at Rwanda) is a commentary to the book by Wojciech Tochman: Dzisiaj narysujemy śmierć (Today we shall draw Death). The essay’s author includes in particular the Polish perspective, understood as a convolution of the heritage of the past and contemporary problems. This Polish key allows to extract the universal content from the reportage on genocide in the depth of Africa, and also introduces the history of the slaughter of Tutsis as the context of our national discussions. It is signalled by the title of the essay, which constitutes a paraphrase of the famous statement by Jan Błoński published in “Tygodnik Powszechny” in 1987. Grzegorz Siwor analyzes a series of topics introduced in the text by Tochman. Today we shall draw Death raises issues concerning Pope John Paul II, the role of the Catholic Church in the modern world and its connection to power, the Holocaust trauma, the ethos of a Polish soldier and a priest. The article indicates that the role of Tochman’s book is not limited to transferring information about historical facts.

• Details
• Contents