Country of Origin? ‘Eastern Europe’: the life and times of Józef Mackiewicz

Darmowy! · 0 · 29.08.2019

Józef Mackiewicz in a military uniform, 1919 (photo: Mackiewicz family archive)

This is a tragic circumstance, because Józef Mackiewicz can certainly be listed amongst the greatest Polish writers of the twentieth century, not only in literary terms but because of the intellectual heritage he left behind.

The author of ‘Droga donikąd’ (The Road to Nowhere) was born in St. Petersburg and grew up in Vilnius. It seems that the identity of the pre-WWII borderlands – a mosaic of nations, cultures and religions – defined Mackiewicz. A native of the Baltic-Black Sea Bridge, which connects Eurasia with the European peninsula, he described his country of origin as Eastern Europe.

It’s often said that the works of Mackiewicz are for grown ups, which is to speak of an intellectual maturity – the ability to look critically at legends, commonplace (i.e. well-worn) and ‘sanctified’ characters, attitudes, thought patterns. This is precisely what Józef Mackiewicz did, drawing upon himself the hatred of the communists, and the antipathy of a large part of the post-war Émigré community. It so happens that Poland is a country where, according to Stefan Kisielewski, the greatest reverence surrounds pathetic fools, such an inclination to go against the current, stripping national myths, had to lead to ostracism.

There is at least one Mackiewicz quote that has become sealed in as part of the Polish language – tylko prawda jest ciekawa (‘only the truth is interesting’). Realism, a reluctance to simplify or omit observations or uncomfortable events that do not match the current narrative, is an integral part of Mackiewicz’s work. The second feature – we might call it characterological – was an uncompromising hatred of communism. Just as Mackiewicz’s country of origin was to be Eastern Europe, so his nationality was defined by himself as anti-communism. Mackiewicz paid a truly dear price for his uncompromising attitude. While the reciprocal hatred of communists towards Mackiewicz is fully understood, unfortunately a significant proportion of emigrants also looked at him with great dislike.

The reason for this was his attitude towards the Home Army during the German occupation, most widely expressed in Nie trzeba głośno mówić (No need to speak loudly). Above all, because in this book, Mackiewicz looked without any illusions at the relations connecting the Polish government-in-exile (and thus indirectly the Home Army) and our allies, led by Churchill. The fruits of this relationship were ‘allied obligations’ which were to connect Poland with the USSR. This manifested itself in seriously uttered phrases about the need to prove loyalty to the allies by paying tribute in blood – absolutely senseless in the mind of Mackiewicz – by not only fighting against the German occupiers, but also by coordinating activities and cooperation between the Home Army and the Soviets. Mackiewicz had no doubt that proving devotion to the allies on the one hand and cooperation with the communists on the other had to end in tragedy, with our friends from the east and west getting along above our heads.

Among other things, Mackiewicz was ostracised by the Émigré community for his criticism of the Home Army’s cooperation with the Soviets ordered by the UK government in London. In this way, Mackiewicz – apparently a man, who unlike his brother was not the life and soul of the party (it was said that if Żubrówka flowed through his brother’s veins, vinegar flowed through his) – managed to alienate everybody. The communists saw in him – rightly – a sworn enemy. The Émigré community in turn bore testimony to nightmarish mistakes made during the war, incompetence and naivety must have undermined the good mood during those long talks into the night.

“Słowo” wileńskie editorial board, 1920’s. (photo: ADM)

Dislike of Mackiewicz was all the greater because he was accused of collaborating with Germany. This happened due to several columns written by Mackiewicz for Goniec Codzienny(the Daily Messenger), an occupier-funded newsletter (‘gadzinówka’) published in German-occupied Vilnius. It should be added that Mackiewicz’s last column in Goniec was a report from Katyń where the writer went at the invitation of the Germans but also with the tacit permission of the Home Army. On this occasion, the fate of Mackiewicz also intersects with another son of the Baltic-Black Sea Bridge, who we will describe to you soon. They intersect dramatically – after a series of articles published in Goniec, the Home Army sentenced Mackiewicz to death. The order was refused by none other than Sergiusz Piasecki.

Piasecki also appears in ‘Nie trzeba…’, which is probably quite typical for Mackiewicz’s work in that it mixes fiction with reportage, parts of the novel resembling a column rather than a coherent literary whole. The journalistic current is omnipresent in ‘Nie trzeba…’ – Mackiewicz moves between the description of everyday life on the borderlands occupied by the Germans, clashing ideological concepts, and the strategy of waging war by Germany. It depicts the naive conviction of the London-based government-in-exile that cooperation with the Soviets will help Poland regain independence; the terrifying German cruelty of the Ponary Massacre; the horror, the hopelessness and the ubiquitous social engineering that were everyday life under Soviet rule; the rise of the Soviet partisans behind the German army and the actions of the Home Army.

We – as Poles and as Eastern Europeans – need to speak loudly. Not only about Mackiewicz – although we consider doing him justice to be very important. Above all, however, we need to speak aloud LIKE Mackiewicz. A writer who often spoke about strategic issues, political decisions of the highest calibre and with the most serious consequences. He spoke of these directly, undermining dogmas and sanctity, not allowing himself the luxury of abstraction from the hard realities of idealism. Today, as history accelerates and we come to the end of a geopolitical pause, the same analysis based on an objective assessment of reality is equally necessary.