Gustaw Morcinek
Encyclopedia
Gustaw Morcinek (24 August 1891 in Karviná
, Austria-Hungary
- 20 December 1963 in Kraków
, Poland
) was a Polish writer, educator and later member of Sejm
from 1952 to 1957. He is considered one of the most important writers from Silesia
.
into a poor family, the youngest of four siblings. In 1892, his father Józef died and his mother was forced to provide for the family. Augustyn started work in the coal mine at the age of 16, which was quite late compared to the standard of those times. When he was 19, miners raised money for his education and he started attending a teachers' seminary in Biała Krakowska
, from which he graduated in 1914. In 1914 he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army
and after 1918 served briefly in the Polish Army. In 1920, when Cieszyn Silesia
was divided between Poland
and Czechoslovakia
, his hometown Karviná fell to Czechoslovakia. Morcinek was a pro-Polish activist and thus decided to stay in Poland. In the 1920s and 1930s he worked as a teacher in Skoczów
.
n themes. Morcinek shows miners' work and life in a realistic way and accentuates the class
character of national oppression of Polish miners. Morcinek spent the years 1936-1939 abroad, in Western Europe.
. Morcinek was arrested by the Gestapo
on 6 September 1939. He was initially imprisoned with Władysław Dworaczek and the rest of people belonging to the Polish intellectuals from Silesia. Gustaw spent the whole war in the German concentration camps Skrochowitz, Sachsenhausen
and Dachau. The supposed reason given for his arrest was his "anti-German activity" before the war and the fact that a dog in one of his novels ("Wyrąbany chodnik") was called "Bismarck". When he was in concentration camps, he was given a choice to sign a Volksliste
but refused.
, Italy
and Belgium
and cooperated with Polish émigré press there. He then returned to Silesia, Poland, and settled in Katowice
. He was then actively supported by new authorities. Morcinek resumed his writing and continued to concentrate on Silesian issues but widen his scope to books for children and also epistolography
. He received many recognitions and literary awards for his work and many of his books were translated and published abroad. Gustaw Morcinek died of leukemia
on 20 December 1963 in Kraków and was later buried at Communal Cemetery in Cieszyn
.
(parliament) from Katowice electoral district (1952–1957).
Karviná
Karviná is a city in Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic, on the Olza River. It is administrative center of Karviná District. Karviná lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and is one of the most important coal mining centers in the Czech Republic. Together with neighboring...
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
- 20 December 1963 in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) was a Polish writer, educator and later member of Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
from 1952 to 1957. He is considered one of the most important writers from Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
.
Biography
In 1891, Morcinek was born in KarvináKarviná
Karviná is a city in Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic, on the Olza River. It is administrative center of Karviná District. Karviná lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and is one of the most important coal mining centers in the Czech Republic. Together with neighboring...
into a poor family, the youngest of four siblings. In 1892, his father Józef died and his mother was forced to provide for the family. Augustyn started work in the coal mine at the age of 16, which was quite late compared to the standard of those times. When he was 19, miners raised money for his education and he started attending a teachers' seminary in Biała Krakowska
Bielsko-Biała
-Economy and Industry:Nowadays Bielsko-Biała is one of the best-developed parts of Poland. It was ranked 2nd best city for business in that country by Forbes. About 5% of people are unemployed . Bielsko-Biała is famous for its textile, machine-building, and especially automotive industry...
, from which he graduated in 1914. In 1914 he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
and after 1918 served briefly in the Polish Army. In 1920, when Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia or Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered around the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic...
was divided between Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, his hometown Karviná fell to Czechoslovakia. Morcinek was a pro-Polish activist and thus decided to stay in Poland. In the 1920s and 1930s he worked as a teacher in Skoczów
Skoczów
Skoczów is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
.
Interwar period
During the interwar period, Morcinek published many articles in various Silesian press. He wrote his most important books in the late 1920s and early 1930s becoming the only notable Silesian Polish-language prosaist of the interwar period. His works concentrate mostly on coal mining and SilesiaSilesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
n themes. Morcinek shows miners' work and life in a realistic way and accentuates the class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
character of national oppression of Polish miners. Morcinek spent the years 1936-1939 abroad, in Western Europe.
World War II
He returned to Poland shortly before the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Morcinek was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
on 6 September 1939. He was initially imprisoned with Władysław Dworaczek and the rest of people belonging to the Polish intellectuals from Silesia. Gustaw spent the whole war in the German concentration camps Skrochowitz, Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
and Dachau. The supposed reason given for his arrest was his "anti-German activity" before the war and the fact that a dog in one of his novels ("Wyrąbany chodnik") was called "Bismarck". When he was in concentration camps, he was given a choice to sign a Volksliste
Volksliste
The Deutsche Volksliste was a Nazi institution whose purpose was the classification of inhabitants of German occupied territories into categories of desirability according to criteria systematized by Heinrich Himmler. The institution was first established in occupied western Poland...
but refused.
After the war
Since his release until November 1946 Morcinek resided in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and cooperated with Polish émigré press there. He then returned to Silesia, Poland, and settled in Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
. He was then actively supported by new authorities. Morcinek resumed his writing and continued to concentrate on Silesian issues but widen his scope to books for children and also epistolography
Epistolography
Epistolography is the art or practice of writing letters, with particular regard to their timeframe and cultural environment. Generally, the letters were written for a public audience, however, private letters could be useful for a better knowing of the author and his works.- Context :According...
. He received many recognitions and literary awards for his work and many of his books were translated and published abroad. Gustaw Morcinek died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
on 20 December 1963 in Kraków and was later buried at Communal Cemetery in Cieszyn
Cieszyn
Cieszyn is a border-town and the seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has 36,109 inhabitants . Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín....
.
Political activity
Morcinek was politically active from a young age. He was an active advocate of joining whole Cieszyn Silesia to Poland. During the interwar period when he was an anti-German activist, some critics accused him of spreading hatred. After the war, he was a supporter of PZPR (Polish United Workers' Party) and was a member of the SejmSejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
(parliament) from Katowice electoral district (1952–1957).
Novellas and novellas collections
- Noc listopadowa (1927)
- W kwietniową noc (1928)
- Zgaszony płomyk (1928)
- O te świętą ziemeczkę (1929)
- Serce za tamą (1929)
- Cisza (1930)
- Miód w sercu (1930)
- Chleb na kamieniu (1931)
- Na bieda-szybie (1932)
- Sześć dni (1932)
- Dzieje węgla (1933)
- Kataryniarz (1933)
- W zadymionym słońcu (1933)
- Uśmiech na drodze (1935)
- Gołębie na dachu (1936)
- Po kamienistej drodze (1936)
- W najmłodszym lesie (1937)
- Maszerowa (1938)
- Miasteczko nad rzeką (1938)
- Królewski dług (1939)
Short story collections
- Byli dwaj bracia (1930)
- Wyrąbany chodnik (1931–32)
- Inżynier Szeruda (1937)
- Wyorane kamienie (1939)
- Dziewczyna z Pól Elizejskich (1946)
- Listy z mojego Rzymu (1946)
- Wróżbita (1946)
- Dwie korony (1948)
- Zagubione klucze (1948)
- Pod gongiem (1949)
- Pokład Joanny (1951)
- W Nysie na rynku (1952)
- Odkryte skarby (1953)
- Ondraszek (1953)
- W Wiergulowej dziedzinie (1953)
- Viktoria (1954)
- Wskrzeszenie Herminy (1956)
- Z mojej ziemi (publicystyka) (1956)
- Judasz u Monte Sicuro (1957)
- Czarna Julka (1959)
- Siedem zegarków kopidoła Rybki (1961)
- Opowieści o ludziach z pociągu (1963)
- Górniczy zakon (1964)
Fairy tales collections
- Jak górnik Bulandra diabła oszukał (1961)
- Przedziwne śląskie powiarki (1961)
- Przedziwna historia o zbójniku Ondraszku (1963)
Books for children
- Narodziny serca (1932)
- Gwiazdy w studni (1933)
- Łysek z pokladu Idy (1933)
- Ludzie są dobrzy (1935)
- Miasteczko nad rzeką (1938)
Other works
- Śląsk (1933)
- Listy spod morwy (1945)
- Listy spod morwy (1946)
- Zabłąkane ptaki
- Urodzaj ludzi
- Ziemia cieszyńska