Wilhelm Szewczyk (5 January 1916 – 8 June 1991) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

writer, poet, literary critic, translator, activist of the

National Radical Camp The National Radical Camp ( pl, Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny, ONR) refers to at least three groups that are fascist, far-right, and ultranationalist Polish organisations with doctrines stemming from pre-World War II nationalist ideology. The cur ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, and

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from the region of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. He was born in Czuchów (now part of

Czerwionka-Leszczyny Czerwionka-Leszczyny (german: Czerwionka-Leschczin) is a town in Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the only town in Rybnik county (which is separate from Rybnik city) and the seat of the larger Czerwionka-Leszczyny municipality whi ...

Rybnik County __NOTOC__ Rybnik County ( pl, powiat rybnicki) is a suburban county in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, created in 1999 as a result of Polish local government reforms. Its administrative seat is the city of Rybnik, although the city is not pa ...

) and was raised in

familok Familok is a type of house for many families, designed for workers of the heavy industry, mainly coal miners, built at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century in the cities and towns of Silesia. "Familok" is a Silesian way ...

in Czerwionka. Szewczyk attended State

Liceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the ...

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; szl, Rybńik) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 miles) from the Czech border. It is on ...

and after finishing it relocated to

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

; and until 1939 worked in local radio station of

Polskie Radio Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna (PR S.A.; English: Polish Radio) is Poland's national public-service radio broadcasting organization owned by the State Treasury of Poland. History Polskie Radio was founded on 18 August 1925 and began making ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was forced to join the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

and in 1941-1942 stayed on the Western Front in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and later on the Eastern Front in

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. In August 1941 was injured at the battle of Smolensk. When healed in

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, he was sent to

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

to the front. For his

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

stances was arrested and in 1942 jailed in Katowice. After the war Szewczyk returned to Katowice where he worked as editor of ''Odra'' weekly and in 1947-1951 was a literary director of

Silesian Theatre Silesian Theatre ( pl, Teatr Śląski) dedicated to Stanisław Wyspiański is the largest theatre in Silesia. It is located on the market square in Katowice. It was built as "German Theatre" in the years 1905–1907, from plans by German theatr ...

. He then worked in several literary magazines. Szewczyk was also a deputy in the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

(Parliament) in 1957-1965 and 1969-1980. He died on 8 June 1991 in Katowice and is buried in the local Protestant Cemetery.

Works

* ''Posągi'' (1945) - poetry collection * ''Portret Łużyczanki Mina Witkojc'' (1948) - about the

Lower Sorbian Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eight ...

poetress, journalist and patriot Mina Witkojc * ''Skarb Donnersmarcków'' (1956) * ''Z kraju Lompy'' (1957) * ''Wyprzedaż samotności'' (1959) * ''Literatura niemiecka w XX wieku'' (1962, 1964) * ''Od wiosny do jesieni'' (1965) * ''Kleszcze'' * ''Czarne słońce'' * ''Klara Krause'' – short stories collection * ''Syndrom śląski'' (1985) - collection of essays

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szewczyk, Wilhelm 1916 births 1991 deaths People from Rybnik County Polish Lutherans Polish translators Polish politicians German Army personnel of World War II People from the Province of Silesia 20th-century translators 20th-century Polish poets Polish male poets 20th-century Polish male writers 20th-century Lutherans