Józef Hen (born Józef Henryk Cukier on 8 November 1923), is a Polish novelist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and reporter of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

origin.

Biography

Early life

Cukier was born on 8 November 1923 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. As a child he contributed to ''The Little Review'', a Friday supplement to an adult daily, written entirely by children and founded by the educator

Janusz Korczak Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (22 July 1878 or 1879 – 7 August 1942), was a Polish Jewish pediatrician, educator, children's author and pedagogue known as ''Pan Doktor'' ("Mr. Doctor") or ''Stary Doktor'' ("Old Doctor"). He ...

. After the German

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in September 1939, he remained in Warsaw but fled the capital in November to escape the occupation. He spent the war in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Despite his good health, he was not accepted into the

Anders' Army Anders' Army was the informal yet common name of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in the 1941–42 period, in recognition of its commander Władysław Anders. The army was created in the Soviet Union but, in March 1942, based on an understand ...

in exile. In 1944, Cukier joined the rival

Polish People's Army The Polish People's Army (, ; LWP) was the second formation of the Polish Armed Forces in the East during the latter stages of the Second World War (1943–1945), and subsequently the armed forces of the Polish communist state (1945–1989 ...

in exile and also published his poem "Łódź Wierna" (Faithful Łódź) in the magazine '' Voice of the Soldier''. During the war, Cukier lost his father, who was killed in 1945 in

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (Old Reich) territori ...

. His brother, Moses, disappeared in the Soviet Union, and his sister Mirka died in 1942. His mother and sister Stella survived the war. In 1944, Cukier adopted the pen name "Hen", which in time began to serve as his legal name. Immediately after the war, he worked as editor of the weekly '' Polish Soldier''.

Career

In 1947, Hen published his first book, ''Kiev, Tashkent, Berlin'', an autobiographical tale of his travels. He subsequently worked as a reporter and wrote short stories, historical fiction, and novels for adults and adolescents. He also wrote screenplays for films that he sometimes directed, including ''Buses Like Turtles''. Some of his works were made into films in the 1960s, including '' The Cross of Valour'', '' No One Is Calling'', ''

April April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Its length is 30 days. April is commonly associated with the season of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the ...

'', and '' Law and the Fist''. He also wrote the script for the film '' An Ancient Tale: When the Sun Was a God'' and the historical series '' Royal Dreams'', which he later published in book form. In 1967–69, Hen was attacked in print by a group called the "

Partisans Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

". At that time, he began a collaboration with ''

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), in ...

'', a Polish journal in exile. It published three of Hen's stories under the pen name Korab—"Western", "Dayan's Eye", "The Twin"). Some of Hen's writings include the children's novel ''The Battle of Goat Court'' (1955); the war novel ''April'' (1960); the short story collection ''The Cross of Valour'' (1964); the historical novel ''The Crime, a Folk Tale'' (1975); two autobiographical novels, ''Before the Great Pause'' and ''Resistance'', which document his childhood before World War II and during the siege of Warsaw in 1939; a volume of essays titled ''I Fear Not Sleepless Nights'' (1987); and the memoir ''Nowolipie Street'' (1991). He also wrote

belletristic () is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pej ...

biographies, among them '' I, Michel de Montaigne'' (1978); ''The Clown, a Great Man'' (1998), a comprehensive sketch of the character and activities of

Tadeusz Boy-Zelenski ''Tadeusz'' is a Polish first name, derived from Thaddaeus. Tadeusz may refer to: * Tadeusz Bednarowicz (1906–1939), Polish footballer * Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966), Polish military leader * Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish wr ...

; and ''My Friend the King'' (2003), about

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

Personal life

Hen lives in Warsaw. From his marriage to Irene (née Lebewal) (1922–2010), he has two children: Magdalena (b. 1950) and writer

Maciej Hen Maciej Hen (born 13 June 1955 in Warsaw) is a Polish writer, translator and journalist. Life Maciej Hen is a son of a Polish writer Józef Hen and the late pedagogue and Russian teacher Irena Lebewal from Navariya near Lvov. Both of his paren ...

(b. 1955). He was awarded the Cross of Valour and the Commander's Cross with Star of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(1998). In 2009, he received the

City of Warsaw Literary Award A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

for his works.Literary Award of Warsaw of 2009
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Selected works

* ''The Battle of Goat Court'', 1955 * ''Kiev, Tashkent, Berlin'', Wydawnictwo MON, 1958 * ''Kwiecień'',

Czytelnik The ''Czytelnik'' Publishing House () is a publishing company in Poland. It was established in 1944 behind the Soviet front line as the ''Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza "Czytelnik"'' ("Czytelnik" Publishing Cooperative). As of now, it is the oldest po ...

, 1961 * ''The Cross of Valour'', 1964 * ''Mist'', PIW, 1970 * ''The Crime, a Folk Tale'', 1975 * ''I, Michel de Montaigne'', 1978 * ''Theatre of Herod: Before the Great Pause; Resistance'', Czytelnik, 1982 * ''I Fear Not Sleepless Nights'', Czytelnik, 1987, * ''No One Is Calling'', Wyd. Literackie, 1990, * ''Nowolipie Street'', Prospero, Łódź, 1991, , (English translation, DL Books LLC 2012, ) * ''Departure of Aphrodite'', Twój styl, 1995 * ''The Clown, a Great Man'', Wydawnictwo Iskry, 1998, * ''I, Michel de Montaigne ...'', Prószynski i S-ka, 1999, * ''April'', Nowe Wydawnictwo Polskie Ypsylon, Warsaw 2000 * ''My Friend the King'', Wydawnictwo Iskry, 2003, * ''The Silent Among Us,'' Jeden Świat, 2004, * ''Professor T's Notebooks'', PIW 2006, * ''The Law and the Fist'', Świat Literacki, 2006, * ''The Ping-Pong Player'', W.A.B. 2008, * ''Journal for the New Century'', W.A.B. 2009, * ''The Sixth, the Youngest and Other Stories'', W.A.B. 2012, * ''Powrót do bezsennych nocy. Dzienniki'', Sonia Draga, Katowice 2016,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hen, Joseph Writers from Warsaw 1923 births Living people 20th-century Polish Jews 21st-century Polish Jews 21st-century Polish writers 20th-century Polish novelists 21st-century Polish novelists Polish male novelists Polish screenwriters Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis 20th-century Polish male writers 21st-century Polish male writers Polish People's Army personnel Polish military personnel of World War II Polish men centenarians Jewish centenarians