Dzienniki Wacława Borowego , czyli sztuka życia w latach 1943–1944
Wacław Borowy’s Diaries or the Art of Living in 1943–1944

Author(s): Albert Walczak
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: diary; Wacław Borowy; World War II; Warsaw Uprising; underground education
Summary/Abstract: In my paper I focused on presenting some of the notes made by Wacław Borowy in 1943–1944 that are unknown to a wide audience. I look not only at the content of the scholar’s diary, but also at its physical aspect. By referring to the works of Paweł Rodak, Philippe Lejeune and various achievements of genetic criticism, I try to answer some of the key questions. Why does Borowy follow the actions of the Soviet troops? How does he perceive life in the occupied capital city? How does he hide his involvement in the works of the underground University of Warsaw? Another field of research are scholar’s notes that were made during the Warsaw Uprising. The laconic, “encrypted” (according to Maria Straszewska’s term) entries, which were predominant up to that time, are replaced with notes in which Borowy makes many detailed comments regarding the uprising. Thus the reader of this article will get to know a hidden face of Wacław Borowy. The man who tries to keep in his tiny notebooks the memories of the world in which, in his own words, “besides sins, there were so many great values!” A witness to history who reads subsequent decisions concerning the post-war fate of Poland with curiosity.

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