Adam Wawrosz

Infobox Writer
name = Adam Wawrosz


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birthdate = Birth date|1913|12|24
birthplace = Końska, Austria-Hungary
deathdate = death date and age|1971|12|18|1913|12|24
deathplace = Třinec, Czechoslovakia
occupation = Poet, writer
ethnicity = Polish
citizenship = Czechoslovak
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Adam Wawrosz (24 December 1913 – 18 December 1971) was a Polish poet, writer, and activist from the Zaolzie region of Cieszyn Silesia. He is considered the most important writer of the folk literature of Cieszyn Silesia. [Sikora 1993, 28.]

He was born in the village of Końska to a tailor's family as the youngest of nine children. His father died in World War I and his mother was left with seven children. [Two siblings of Adam Wawrosz died at very young age.] After death of his father Wawrosz was raised in the village of Tyra, where he also attended local Polish elementary school. Wawrosz later graduated from a course for tailors in Sucha Górna, and from a course of puppetry in Stare Troki.

After the outbreak of World War II Wawrosz volunteered in the Polish Army and fought in the Independent Operational Group Polesie of general Franciszek Kleeberg in the battle of Kock in October 1939. [Sikora 1993, 29.] He was later jailed by Nazis and subsequently incarcerated in Gross-Born, Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. [Radłowska-Obrusnik 1997, 259.] After World War II he worked in Třinec Iron and Steel Works. Wawrosz was an active member of the Polish Cultural and Educational Union and in 1958-1962 was an artistic director of its Puppet Theatre "Bajka".

Wawrosz wrote in literary Polish and Cieszyn Silesian dialect. Texts written in dialect form a backbone of his works. The ones written in literary Polish have mostly documentary character, as some of them were written in concentration camps. The ones written in dialect focus on the life of ordinary people of Cieszyn Silesia, their life, culture and traditions. Wawrosz wrote poetry, prose and also plays for amateur theatres.

Wawrosz's poetry from the concentration camps can be seen in following fragment from the poem "Lato" (Summer) from "Niezapominajki" (Forget-me-nots) poetry collection:

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: The flower goes on smiling at the Sun : And the people are joyful at the beach, : Whereas everyone dreams of happiness, : The world has forgotten about us. :
: Not for us, the beauty of forests and fields, : Ours, are the menacing walls. : Under the infinite skies shrouded in clouds, : Our hearts overflow with longing and pain.|Adam Wawrosz [Wawrosz 1954, 8.] (translated by Richard Tylman)

Works

* "Niezapominajki" (1954, 1968) - poetry collection
* "Na śćmiywku" (1959) - prose
* "Z naszej nolepy" (1969) - prose
* "Z Adamowej dzichty" (1977) - posthumous selection of his poetic and prosaic works

Footnotes

References

* cite book
last = Radłowska-Obrusnik
first = Martyna
coauthors = and Otylia Toboła
title = Leksykon PZKO
publisher = Zarząd Główny PZKO
date = 1997
location = Czeski Cieszyn
pages =
url = http://www.kc-cieszyn.pl/biblioteka/strony/ramka.php?autor=leksykon&licz=1
doi =
oclc = 189531468

* cite news
last = Sikora
first = Władysław
coauthors =
title = O Adamie Wawroszu
work = Głos Ludu
page = 3
language =
publisher =
date = 2008-05-27
url =

* cite book
last = Sikora
first = Władysław
coauthors =
title = Pisarze Zaolzia
publisher = Wydawnictwo Olza przy Radzie Polaków
date = 1993
location = Czeski Cieszyn
pages =
url =
doi =
oclc = 233485106

* cite book
last = Wawrosz
first = Adam
coauthors =
title = Niezapominajki
publisher = Biblioteka KZ RRZ
date = 1954
location = Trzyniec
pages =
url =
doi =
oclc =