Wilhelm Szewczyk was a Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

 writer, poet, literary critic, translator and activist of the National Radical Camp from the region of 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...

.

He was born in Czuchów (now part of Czerwionka-Leszczyny

Czerwionka-Leszczyny

Czerwionka-Leszczyny is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Borders on the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Located in the Silesian Highlands....

, Rybnik County

Rybnik County

Rybnik County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat is the city of Rybnik, although the city is not...

) and was raised in familok

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 Upper Silesia....

 in Czerwionka. Szewczyk attended State Liceum in Rybnik

Rybnik

Rybnik is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship. Rybnik is located close to the border with the Czech Republic and just outside the southern border of the largest urban area in Poland, the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union...

 and after finishing it relocated to 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...

; and until 1939 worked in local radio station of Polskie Radio

Polskie Radio

Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna is Poland's national publicly funded radio broadcasting organization.- History :Polskie Radio was founded on 18 August 1925 and began making regular broadcasts from Warsaw on 18 April 1926....

.

During World War II

World 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...

 he was forced to join the German Army

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

 and in 1941-1942 stayed on the Western Front

Western Front (World War II)

The Western Front of the European Theatre of World War II encompassed, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and West Germany. The Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale ground combat operations...

 in Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

 and later on the Eastern Front

Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

 in Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. In August 1941 was injured at the battle of Smolensk

Battle of Smolensk (1941)

The Battle of Smolensk was a largely successful encirclement operation by the German Army Group Centre's 2nd Panzer Group led by Heinz Guderian and the 3rd Panzer Group led by Hermann Hoth against parts of four Soviet Fronts during World War II...

. When healed in Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

, he was sent to Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

 to the front. For his pacifist

Pacifism

Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...

 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

Silesian Theatre 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, its Golden Age was in the late-1940s and the 1950s....

. He then worked in several literary magazines.

Szewczyk was also a deputy in the 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 ....

 (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 Sorbian
  Lower Sorbian is a Slavic minority language spoken in eastern Germany in the historical province of Lower Lusatia, today part of Brandenburg. It is one of the two literary Sorbian languages, the other being Upper Sorbian....
  
  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