Mira Ledowska | Zza Okna

Mira Ledowska’s stories, compiled in the collection “Zza okna”, are influenced by the experience of being excluded from the community of those who were fortunate to “look straight ahead.” These stories go beyond a certain pattern that could be described as “lamentational”, one that entails exaggerating one’s own suffering and portraying it as a form of personal martyrdom. Instead of a black-and-white chessboard of characters, we have a gallery of individuals, each with their own original, unique features, modeled on real individuals identified by name. The Jews, Poles, and even Germans, Russians, and Austrians depicted in these stories are sometimes portrayed as virtuous and admirable, while at other times they are shown as having flaws, weaknesses, and peculiarities.

From the introduction by Prof. Jadwiga Mizińska