We know how this dense, wide-ranging novel came into being: in 1997
Henryk Waniek came upon an old German photograph album featuring all the most fascinating corners of Silesia. What was special about the album was that although it contained pictures taken in 1936-1939, its content was free of any sort of fascist propaganda. In it the pure, undefiled beauty of the landscape was preserved, the charm of the Silesian cities and countryside. Inspired by this find, Waniek thought up lots of different stories based on these enchanting photographs. As his main theme he invented a life story for the photographer and his fiancée, told the tale of their unfulfilled romance, and added all sorts of situations and events experienced by the people around them, their parents, relatives and friends. The action mainly takes place in the years 1937-1945 in the then German cities of Gliwice and Bytom. In describing the fate of his heroes, Paul Scholz and Brigitte Kopietz, Waniek takes the opportunity to reconstruct the history of the German lower middle class (Paul’s circle) and the solid middle class (Brigitte’s family) in Upper Silesia; he recreates the final phase of its social and moral history, from the outbreak of the First World War to the post-Second World War evacuations. Waniek’s Finis Silesiae is an attempt to look at Silesia through German eyes, to reconstruct a world of which few mementoes are left – such as this album extolling the beauty of the Silesian landscape.
There are more than 31,000 publishers registered in Poland. However, the market is highly concentrated. The 300 largest publishing firms still hold almost 98 per cent of it. More »
