Jerzy Zagórski (3 December 1907 – 5 August 1984) was a Polish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. Member of literary group Żagary. Awarded the

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

together with his wife Maria (Maryna) Zagórska, translator of

belles-lettres () is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pej ...

Biography

During World War II, Zagórski published texts in the '' Sztuka i Naród'' underground magazine. The Zagórski couple with their three children resided in Bielany, suburb of

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. During the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

they harboured eighteen (18) people of Jewish descent between 1942 and the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

in 1944. Among them was the poet Tadeusz Holender and Mrs. Kott given the documents of Maria's sister-in-law. Another fugitive, thirteen-year-old boy Janek Wilk, was introduced to neighbors as Maria's nephew. Danuta Grossfeld also spent some months in their home as well as the Tenenbaums (three persons), who found refuge there after fleeing the

Ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

. Their father-in-law, Mr. Kitel came all stained by blood of his wife shot during that escape. People started to talk that the Zagorskis harbor Jews. As a precaution, they placed the boy and Tadeusz Holender with a female friend. Jerzy and Maria returned to Warsaw in 1945 and found their home ruined. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

they maintained contact with Mrs. Kott from the United States and Janek Wilk in Germany.

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

recognized Maria and Jerzy Zagórski as

in 1977.

, The Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
Zagorski Jerzy & Maria
/ref>

Works

* ''Ostrze mostu'' (1933) * ''Przyjście wroga'' (a poem; 1934) * ''Wyprawy'' (1937) * ''Święto Winkelrida'' (a drama; written with

Jerzy Andrzejewski Jerzy Andrzejewski (; 19 August 1909 – 19 April 1983) was a prolific Polish writer. His works confront controversial moral issues such as betrayal, the Jews and Auschwitz in the wartime. His novels, ''Ashes and Diamonds'' (about the immediate ...

in 1944, published in 1946) * ''Wieczór w Wieliszewie'' (1947) * ''Indie w środku Europy'' (1947) * ''Męska pieśń'' (1954) * ''Czas Lota'' (1956) * ''Olimp i ziemia'' (1957) * ''Krawędź'' (1959) * ''Bajka pienińska'' (1961) * ''Oto nurt'' (1963) * ''Biały bez. Wiersze dla żony'' (1963) * ''Pancerni'' (a poem; 1964) * ''Królestwo ryb'' (1967) * ''Rykoszetem'' (1969) * ''Tam, gdzie diabeł pisze listy'' (1970) * ''Komputerie i dylematy'' (1975)

References

1907 births 1984 deaths Poets from Kyiv 20th-century Polish poets Polish Righteous Among the Nations Warsaw Uprising insurgents 20th-century Polish translators Polish male poets 20th-century Polish male writers {{Poland-poet-stub