„A Change Is Coming (Memories from Kolyma)” by Kazimierz Żurawiecki

Abstract

This is a second part of article (first was published in “Textus et Studia”, no 1(5)/2016) concerning memories written by Kazimierz Żurawiecki. The book entitled A Change Is Coming. Memories of Kolyma gives an account about his stay in Kolyma camps. The form that the author gave to his work is quite unique. Kazimierz Żurawiecki by his own hands drew up the book and worked it out with unusual care. The text is divided into nine chapters, each of them is followed by annotations to numerous words and expressions in Russian. Everything is concluded by a table of contents. The book is amply illustrated with drawings. K. Żurawiecki had submitted before, anonymously, his reports to the Office of Documents of 2nd Corps. These reports might have been an inspiration for Żurawiecki to write down his own memories in such a form. Kazimierz Zamorski and Stanisław Starzewski invoked Żurawiecki’s records in the book Sprawiedliwość sowiecka, Władysław Anders in his memories Bez ostatniego rozdziału and Małgorzata Giżejewska in her work Polacy na Kolymie 1940–1943. K. Żurawiecki limited the scope of his memories solely to the report of his stay in Kolyma, completely leaving aside the period of his arrest, investigation and transport to Nachodka. His records include valuable historical material, which is fully compliant with the factography known from other sources and studies. Many plots described by Żurawiecki appear also in the reports of other prisoners of Kolyma camps.