Józef Mackiewicz (1 April 1902 – 31 January 1985) was a Polish writer, novelist and political commentator; best known for his documentary novels ''Nie trzeba głośno mówić'' (One Is Not Supposed to Speak Aloud), and ''Droga donikąd'' (The Road to Nowhere). He staunchly opposed

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, referring to himself as an "

anticommunist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

by nationality". Mackiewicz died in exile. His older brother Stanisław Mackiewicz was also a writer.

Life and career

Józef Mackiewicz was the son of Antoni Mackiewicz and Maria née Pietraszkiewicz originally from

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, a Polish noble family from the Polish-Lithuanian gentry of Bożawola coat of arms. He was born on 1 April 1902 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Józef Mackiewicz was the younger brother of Stanisław Mackiewicz, a political publicist and Prime Minister of the postwar

Polish government in exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovere ...

from 1954 to 1955; and Seweryna Mackiewicz, mother of Polish writer . In 1907 his family moved to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. In 1919, as a 17-year-old volunteer he participated in the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

, first, as an

uhlan Uhlan (; ; ; ; ) is a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. The uhlans started as Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, Lithuanian irregular cavalry, that were later also adopted by other countries during the 18th century, including Polis ...

of the Polish Army's 10th Lithuanian Uhlan Regiment, and then of the 13th Wilno Uhlan Regiment. He finished his military service during Poland's fight of independence as an uhlan of the . Similar to other young veterans of the war who entered university without their

Matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

graduation, Mackiewicz started his favourite subject of biological sciences at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

and then upon moving to Vilnius continued studies at the

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

, but he never graduated with a degree. From 1923 he worked as a journalist for ''Słowo'' (''The Word''), a periodical published in Vilnius by his older brother Stanisław and fully sponsored and financed by the old noble families of the former

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

. Journalist work took him all over the Baltic republics and eastern Poland. Mackiewicz married Antonina Kopańska with whom he had a daughter Halina, and upon divorce he was in a long-term relationship with Wanda Żyłowska, with whom he had a daughter Idalia. Then he began his lifelong relationship with a writer and journalist of Vilnius' ''Słowo'' Barbara Toporska, but they had no children. They married in 1939.

World War II

On 17 September 1939 Soviet troops attacked eastern Poland as part of the joint German-Soviet

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

. Upon the division of the country by occupying forces, the

Vilnius region Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time. The territory ...

was transferred to then independent Lithuania. On the 18th, Mackiewicz published an article expressing joy at the Bolshevik's withdrawal from Vilnius, resulting in him being accused of anti-Polonism and pro-Lithuanianism. Mackiewicz remained in Vilnius, and between October 1939 and May 1940 he was a publisher and editor-in-chief of the ''Gazeta Codzienna'' (''Daily Paper''), a Polish-language an anti-nationalist and anti-Soviet daily in Lithuanian-controlled Vilnius. In his articles, he attempted to initiate a political dialogue between Lithuanians and Poles. In May 1940, he was forbidden from further roles as a publisher and journalist by the Lithuanian government. After the 15 June 1940 invasion and annexation of Lithuania by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Mackiewicz gave up his professional activity and worked as a lumberjack and wagon driver. In June 1941, the Germans occupied Lithuania. For the first four months of the occupation, Mackiewicz again worked as a journalist for the German-issued Polish-language newspaper ''Goniec Codzienny'', in which he published several anti-Soviet articles, and excerpts from one of his books. In 1942, he witnessed the

Ponary massacre The Ponary massacre (), or the Paneriai massacre (), was the mass murder of up to 100,000 people, mostly Jews, Poles, and Russians, by German '' SD'' and '' SS'' and the Lithuanian '' Ypatingasis būrys'' killing squads, during World War II a ...

of some 100,000 mostly

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

by German SD, SS and the Lithuanian Nazi collaborators Ypatingasis būrys, which he described in his 1969 book ''Nie trzeba głośno mówić'' (One Is Not Supposed to Speak Aloud).Encyclopædia Britannica: "Polish literature."
Jerzy R. Krzyzanowski and Julian Krzyżanowski. ''See:'' Józef Mackiewicz ''Nie trzeba głośno mówić'' (One Is Not Supposed to Speak Aloud). At the end of 1942 (beginning of 1943) he was sentenced to death by the resistance for his work at ''Gazeta Codzienna'' and ''Goniec Codzienny''. The sentence was not carried out, and later formally cancelled.Jerzy Malewski, "Wyrok na Jozefa Mackiewicza."

Discovery of Katyń Forest Massacre

In April 1943 Mackiewicz was invited by the international Katyn Commission, headed by German occupying authorities, to the site of

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

. Upon consent of the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...

, he assisted in the first excavations of the mass graves of the Polish officers killed by Soviet

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

there in 1940. Upon his return to Vilnius, the local German-sponsored daily ''Goniec Codzienny'' published an interview with Mackiewicz titled "Widziałem na własne oczy" ("I saw with my own eyes"). He later arrived in Italy where he worked for the II Corps (Poland) and, in this capacity, he edited a compilation of documents related directly to the Katyń Massacre under the title ''Zbrodnia katyńska w świetle dokumentów'' (The Katyn murder in light of new evidence), published in 1948 with an introduction by General

Władysław Anders Władysław Albert Anders (11 August 1892 – 12 May 1970) was a Polish military officer and politician, and prominent member of the Polish government-in-exile in London. Born in Krośniewice-Błonie, then part of the Russian Empire, he serv ...

. At the same time he wrote his own book under the title ''Katyń. Zbrodnia bez sądu i kary'' (Katyn. Murder without Trial nor Sentence). Its first Polish language publication was destroyed by the publisher in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK, for political reasons. In 1949 he published its German language version, ''Katyn – ungesühntes Verbrechen'', in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland. In 1951 he published the English-version of his book under a title ''The Katyn Wood Murders'', the very first book in English on the subject (Italian version in 1954 as ''Il Massacro della foresta di Katyn'', in Spanish in 1957 as ''Las Fosas de Katyn'', in Russian published in Canada in 1988 as ''Катынь''). In 1952 he testified before the US Senate Committee known as "Select Committee to Investigate and Study the Facts, Evidence, and Circumstances of the Katyn Forest Massacre" about the genocidal nature the Katyń Massacre (the Polish version of ''Katyń. Zbrodnia bez sądu i kary'' was published in 1997 in Poland, and again under different title: ''Sprawa mordu katyńskiego. Ta książka była pierwsza'' in 2009).

Accusations of Collaboration with Nazi Germany

In 1942, Mackiewicz was accused of collaboration with the Germans during the occupation due to his work as a journalist and publisher at ''Gazeta Codzienna'' and ''Goniec Codzienny''. In these articles, Mackiewicz put forth several ideas, notably that a return to the prewar borders of Poland was a pipe-dream and not a useful premise, which some local Poles then considered unthinkable. He also proclaimed that opposing just one invader, Germany (as did the Polish Resistance), was synonymous with helping the second invader, the Soviet Union, because their intentions were identical, but that opposing communism was more important.Czesław Miłosz, „Kultura” nr 5(500), 1989
Koniec Wielkiego Xięstwa (O Józefie Mackiewiczu). Part One.

Digitized reprint. Retrieved 14 December 2011. During the first four months of the German occupation, Mackiewicz worked as a journalist for the Nazi-controlled Polish-language propaganda newspaper ''Goniec Codzienny'', in which he published several anti-Soviet articles, and excerpts from his novel ''Droga Donikąd'' (The Road to Nowhere). This work under the Nazi occupation, and skepticism of a return to pre-war Polish borders, resulted in him being sentenced to death by the

Special Court An extraordinary court, or special court, is a type of court that is established outside of ordinary judiciary, composed of irregularly selected judges or applying irregular procedure for judgment. Since extraordinary courts can be abused to infr ...

of the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

(Polish underground resistance), however this was never carried out and later formally cancelled. The circumstances around this are unclear According to

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz ( , , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. He primarily wrote his poetry in Polish language, Polish. Regarded as one of the great poets of the ...

, he was not a collaborator. Miłosz says that In 1947, Mackiewicz was completely cleared of any wrongdoing, and that It is open to debate how much the popular criticism of his novels was influenced by the Soviet sympathies of his adversaries. The accusations negatively influenced the Polish perceptions of Mackiewicz and his work, especially following

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 ...

Exile

Mackiewicz and his wife Barbara Toporska left Vilnius and lived in Warsaw until 31 July 1944, when they left for

and then finally left Poland for

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in January 1945, never to return. They first lived in Italy and he started publishing in various

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

publications like "Kultura" in Paris and many others. In 1948 they moved to London and he continued writing and publishing. In 1955 he and his wife Barbara Toporska moved permanently to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Where he continued to write on variety of topics and also published plenty of fiction and articles. He lived on the verge of poverty, supporting himself by writing and his wife’s handicraft. Mackiewicz died in Munich on 31 January 1985, and was buried in the St Andrew Bobola Polish Church in London

Works

Mackiewicz's

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

is extremely realistic: he believed that there are no ''untouchable'' subjects in writing. In 1957, he published ''Kontra'', a narrative account of the particularly brutal and treacherous handover of thousands of

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism or anti-Soviet sentiment are activities that were actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the Soviet Union. Three common uses of the term include the following: * Anti-Sovietism in inter ...

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

back to the Soviets by the British soldiers in Austria; and in 1962 ''Sprawa pulkownika Miasojedowa'' ("Colonel Miasoyedov's Case"), a harshly realistic novel of the

bombing of Dresden in World War II The bombing of Dresden was a joint British and American Area bombardment, aerial bombing attack on the city of Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony, during World War II. In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 772 heavy ...

. His other best-known novels include: ''Droga donikąd'' ("The Road to Nowhere"), an account of life under Soviet occupation; ''Zwycięstwo prowokacji'' ("Victory of Provocation") on communism; and ''W cieniu krzyża'' ("In the Shadow of the Cross") on Catholicism. His voluminous output as a writer of fiction and a publicist has been undergoing a revival after many years of underground publishing and later marginal interest. His books have been published since 1972 by the KONTRA Publishing House of London, UK, owned by Nina Karsov-Szechter. In 2009 Nina Karsov-Szechter received an award of the Union of Polish Writers Abroad as the editor of works by Józef Mackiewicz.

Popular culture

Józef Mackiewicz is the subject of two documentaries made after his death. First was the film „Jedynie prawda jest ciekawa” (Only the truth is interesting) by Robert Kaczmarek made for Polish TV in 1996, and then in 2008 a short film „Errata do biografii – Józef Mackiewicz” (Correction to biography - Józef Mackiewicz) by Grzegorz Braun. His life and works are the subject of more than 30 scholarly works, as well as articles, websites and blogs.

References

– English translation from Mackiewicz, "Katyń - zbrodnia bez sądu i kary" (Katyn - a crime without trial nor punishment), edited by Jacek Trznadel, ANTYK Marcin Dybowski Publishing, Warsaw 1997.
Website dedicated Jozef Mackiewicz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackiewicz, Jozef 1902 births 1985 deaths Polish nobility Polish Roman Catholics Polish political writers Polish male novelists Polish anti-communists Polish conservatives Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta 20th-century Polish novelists 20th-century Polish journalists Writers from Vilnius People associated with Kultura (magazine)