Polish literature during World War II
The development of literature and culture however was very active during the German occupation: the underground press was set up and groups of young writers started to form.
People from the "Columbus generation" became the most creative: Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Tadeusz Gajcy, and Andrzej Trzebiński were the best known – and established the specifics and tendencies of Polish war literature.
In German-occupied territories, there were also active writers from the older generation: Leopold Staff, Maria Dąbrowska, Zofia Nałkowska, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Jerzy Zagórski, and Czesław Miłosz.
Poetry was the most popular type of literature in those times and the lyrics of young artists (Baczynski, Gajcy, Borowski) characterised the deepest tone.
Literature was also the evidence of truth about war, it was notable especially in autobiographical-confessional forms – diaries and memoirs (Maria Dąbrowska, Zofia Nałkowska, Andrzej Trzebinski).
During the war, non-fiction blossomed, in an attempt to describe a time of contempt: (Melchior Wańkowicz, Józef Czapski, Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Borowski).
[4] Best known representatives of the Kolumbs generation: Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Władysław Bartoszewski, Miron Białoszewski, Teresa Bogusławska, Wacław Bojarski, Tadeusz Borowski, Roman Bratny, Olgierd Budrewicz, Jerzy Ficowski, Tadeusz Gajcy, Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Krystyna Krahelska, Wojciech Mencel, Włodzimierz Pietrzak, Jan Romocki, Tadeusz Różewicz, Zdzislaw Stroinski, Wisława Szymborska, Andrzej Trzebiński, Józef Szczepański, Zbigniew Herbert, AND Józef Szczepański After the September defeat, culture was assessed as an important psychological factor responsible for collective fate.
The stories of its editors revealed a hopeless battle for independence: Onufry Bronislaw Kopczynski – first organizer of the magazine, were shot in camp in Majdanek, Waclaw Bojarski – his associate, died from injuries after the action under Mikolaj Kopernik monument, Andrzej Trzebinski, one of the last directors, was shot dead in a public execution in November 1943, and Tadeusz Gajcy died during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.
Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński (Jan Bugaj) born in Warsaw on 22 January 1921, was one of the best known Polish war poets; a soldier of the Home Army, involved also in operations of scouts (Szare Szeregi), a representative of "Kolumbs generation".
At the same school he met his future war companions (Tadeusz Zawadzki "Zoska", Jan Bytnar "Rudy", Maciej Aleksy Dawidowski "Alek").
