Gustaw Herling-Grudziński (; May 20, 1919 − July 4, 2000) was a Polish writer, journalist, essayist, World War II underground fighter, and political dissident abroad during the communist system in Poland. He is best known for writing a personal account of life in the Soviet

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

entitled '' A World Apart'', first published in 1951 in London.

Biography

Gustaw Herling-Grudziński was born in Kielce into a Jewish-Polish merchant family of Jakub (Josek) Herling-Grudziński and his wife Dorota (''née'' Bryczkowska).Zdzisław Kudelski
''Gustaw Herling-Grudziński – wątek żydowski''
Rzeczpospolita, July 5, 2003. His mother died in 1932 of typhoid. His studies of

Polish literature Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Latin, ...

at the

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

were interrupted by the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

at the outbreak of World War II. In late 1939 under the brutal

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: * Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, t ...

by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Herling-Grudziński co-founded an

underground resistance Underground Resistance (commonly abbreviated to UR) are an American musical collective from Detroit, Michigan. Producing primarily Detroit techno since 1990 with a grungy four-track musical aesthetic, they are also renowned for their militant p ...

organization called ''Polska Ludowa Akcja Niepodległościowa, "PLAN"''. He traveled to then Soviet occupied Grodno and in March 1940 was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

for attempting to cross the Soviet-Lithuanian border and routinely sentenced to five years of hard labour on "espionage" charges like all Polish intellectuals. Imprisoned in

Vitsebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest ci ...

and two

forced labor camps in Yertsevo and

Kargopol Kargopol (russian: Ка́ргополь) is a town and the administrative center of Kargopolsky District in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on both sides of the Onega River, several miles north of Lake Lacha, in the southwestern corner o ...

Arkhangelsk Region Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovet ...

for 2 years, he was released in 1942 under the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement. He joined Gen.

Władysław Anders ) , birth_name = Władysław Albert Anders , birth_date = , birth_place = Krośniewice-Błonie, Warsaw Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = London, England, United Kingdom , serviceyear ...

' Army (

Polish II Corps The Polish II Corps ( pl, Drugi Korpus Wojska Polskiego), 1943–1947, was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders and fought wit ...

) and later fought in North Africa and in Italy, taking part in the battle of Monte Cassino. For his valor in combat he was decorated with the ''

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King St ...

'', Poland's highest military decoration. In 1947 he co-founded and initially co-edited the political and cultural magazine ''

Kultura ''Kultura'' (, ''Culture'')—sometimes referred to as ''Kultura Paryska'' ("Paris-based Culture")—was a leading Polish-émigré literary-political magazine, published from 1947 to 2000 by ''Instytut Literacki'' (the Literary Institute), ini ...

'', then published in Rome. When the magazine moved to Paris, he settled first in London and finally in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy, where he married Lidia, a daughter of the philosopher Benedetto Croce.Premio Napoli alla memoria
Gustaw Herling, la letteratura come eterna trincea
He also wrote for the Italian ''Tempo Presente'' run by Nicola Chiaromonte and

Ignazio Silone Secondino Tranquilli (1 May 1900 – 22 August 1978), known by the pseudonym Ignazio Silone (, ), was an Italian political leader, novelist, and short-story writer, world-famous during World War II for his powerful anti-fascist novels. He was no ...

and for various dailies and other periodicals. He died in Naples.

''A World Apart''

Herling-Grudziński's most famous book, '' A World Apart'', is a harrowing personal account of the nature of the Soviet communist system. It was translated into English by Joseph Marek (pen-name of Andrzej Ciołkosz) and published with an introduction by

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

in 1951 (the 2005 edition was introduced by

Anne Applebaum Anne Elizabeth Applebaum (born July 25, 1964) is an American journalist and historian. She has written extensively about the history of Communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has worked at ''The Econ ...

). By describing life inside the

labor camp system of the Soviet

, Herling provided an in-depth analysis of the

crimes against humanity under Communist regimes Crimes against humanity under communist regimes occurred during the 20th century, including forced deportations, massacres, torture, forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, terror,Kemp-Welch, p. 42. ethnic cleansing, enslavement and t ...

written 10 years before

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repres ...

's ''

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ''One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich'' (russian: links=no, italics=yes, Один день Ивана Денисовича, Odin den' Ivana Denisovicha, ) is a short novel by the Russian writer and Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, first p ...

''. ''A World Apart'' brought Grudziński international acclaim but also criticism from some Soviet sympathizers. The book was published in Russia in 1991. In Italy it was published in 1958 and 1994.

''Journal Written at Night''

Commencing in 1971 and until his death, Herling wrote a literary journal, covering essays, criticism, anecdotes, fiction, and memoir. The first three volumes were published consecutively in 1973, 1980, and 1984 in Paris and in Warsaw, as ''Dziennik pisany nocą'' (''Journal Written at Night''). A selection from the ''Journal Written at Night'' was translated by Ronald Strom and published as ''Volcano and Miracle'' (1997). A selection of his short stories published originally as ''Collected Stories'' (''Opowiadania zebrane'') in 1990 has been translated by

Bill Johnston Bill or Billy Johnston may refer to: * Bill Johnston (cricketer) (1922–2007), Australian cricketer * Bill Johnston (golfer) (1925–2021), American golfer and golf course architect * Bill Johnston (tennis) William Marquitz "Little Bill" John ...

and published in 2003 as ''The Noonday Cemetery and Other Stories''.

Awards

Herling-Grudziński was the winner of many literary prizes: ''Kultura'' (1958), ''Jurzykowski'' (1964), ''Kościelskis'' (1966), ''The News'' (1981), the Italian Premio Viareggio prize, the international ''Prix Gutenberg'', and French Pen-Club. In 1998 he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle. Herling-Grudzinski monument - Yertsevo 2009

Herling-Grudzinski monument - Yertsevo 2009

In September 2009 a monument to him was unveiled in Yertsevo, where he had been imprisoned.

Books

;Available in English: * '' A World Apart: Imprisonment in a Soviet Labor Camp During World War II'', Penguin Books, reprint edition, 1996, pp. 284, * ''Volcano and Miracle: A Selection from the Journal Written at Night'', Penguin Books, reprint edition, 1997, pp. 288, . * ''The Island; Three Tales'', Penguin Books, reprint edition, 1994, pp. 160, . * ''The Noonday Cemetery and Other Stories'', New Directions Publishing, 2003, pp. 256, .

Citations

References

*
Herling on Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide Committee – Gariwo
*
"A World Apart" by Herling read by Roberto Saviano
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herling-Grudzinski, Gustaw 1919 births 2000 deaths Foreign Gulag detainees Polish essayists Polish male writers Male essayists Recipients of the Virtuti Militari Polish resistance members of World War II Polish Army officers University of Warsaw alumni People from Kielce 20th-century Polish Jews Polish deportees to Soviet Union Polish people detained by the NKVD 20th-century essayists Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) People associated with the magazine "Kultura"