Gustaw Przeczek (; 30 May 1913 – 21 February 1974) was a Polish writer, poet, teacher and activist.

Biography

Przeczek was born in a large coal miner's family in the village of Lazy which lies in the coal basin. He graduated from schools in

Orlová Orlová (; pl, ; german: Orlau) is a town in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Orlová is made up of four town parts: Lazy, Lutyně, Město and Poru ...

and Lazy and in 1933 from a teachers' seminary in Ostrava. Przeczek later taught as a teacher in Polish schools in Bystřice and Lazy. During World War II he was arrested during mass arrests of Polish intelligentsia and in 1940–1945 incarcerated in

Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

and KL Gusen I concentration camp. In the latter camp Przeczek was forced to quarry granite in ''Gusen'' and ''Kastenhofen''

stone pit A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

s. After the war he administered a Polish school in Orlová and in 1951–1970 was a director of the Polish primary school in Třinec. Przeczek leaned towards communism and in 1954–1960 was a member of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia from the Communist Party. He was there a member of the Cultural Committee. He was also active in several cultural and literary organizations, most notably the Polish Cultural and Educational Union and its Literary-Artistic Section. Przeczek edited and contributed to Polish magazines for children ''Jutrzenka'' and ''Ogniwo'', and wrote several textbooks for Polish schools in Czechoslovakia. He was also a member of Polish editorial staff of the ''Profil'' publishing house in Ostrava. Przeczek wrote poetry, prose and also plays. His literary work is influenced by his incarceration in Nazi concentration camps. In KL Gusen I (Mauthausen) Przeczek met other poets, Poles Konstanty Ćwierk,

Mieczysław Paszkiewicz Mieczysław () or Mečislovas (Lithuanian) is a Slavic name of Polish origin and consists of two parts: miecz "sword", and sław "glory, famous". Feminine form: Mieczysława. Alternate form: Mieszko. This name may refer to: People Mečislovas ...

Grzegorz Timofiejew Grzegorz Timofiejew (; 11 March 1908 – 3 October 1962) was a Polish poet of distant Russian ancestry. He was born and died in Łódź. In 1928 he was among the co-founders of the ''Meteor'' poetic group. After the outbreak of World War ...

and

Zdzisław Wróblewski Zdzisław may refer to: People * Zdzisław (given name), a Slavic male given name Places * Zdzisław, Lubusz Voivodeship, a village in Poland * Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium, a multi-use stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland {{disambig ...

; and Czech

Raimund Habřina ''Raimund'' is thought to be a variant of the name Raymond. Raimund may refer to: * Ferdinand Raimund (1790-1836), Austrian actor and dramatist * Raimund Theater, a theatre in the Mariahilf district of Vienna, Austria People with the given nam ...

. They wrote poems on a paper from cement bags; these poems spread among inmates and were recited. Przeczek's first works after his return focused on the life in the concentration camp. He published his camp poems in 1946 in the poetry collection ''Serce na kolczastych drutach'' (Heart on the Barbed Wire), his experiences from the camp were published in 1948 in the book ''Kamienna Golgota'' (Stony Golgotha). Przeczek's motive of hard labour in the concentration camp can be observed from the fragment of ''Z lagrowej ulicy'' (From the Camp Street) poem from his poetry collection ''Serce na kolczastych drutach'' (Heart on the Barbed Wire): Gustaw Przeczek died on 21 February 1974 in a hospital in Hradec Králové during a

heart operation Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

and is buried in Třinec.

Works

* ''Serce na kolczastych drutach'' (1946) – poetry collection * ''Złota wolność'' (1947) – play * ''Kamienna Golgota'' (1948) * ''Ondraszek'' (1948) – play * ''Powiew wolności'' (1948) – play * ''Drogi i ścieżki'' (1958) – poetry collection * ''Tędy szła śmierć'' (1969) – novel * ''Odnajdywanie siebie'' (1976) – short stories collection

Biography

Works

References

Further reading