Ryszard Kapuscinski on Jerzy Giedroyc
Ryszard Kapuscinski on Jerzy Giedroyc, "Tygodnik Powszechny" No 39, 24 September 2000.
"Tygodnik Powszechny" No 39,
Krakow, 24 September 2000
"A TESTAMENT"
Ryszard Kapuscinski on Jerzy GiedroycI had few opportunities to meet with
Jerzy Giedroyc. Our longest conversation occurred at the Frankfurt Book Fair, where I first made his acquaintance. I see Giedroyc as a great figure, one with a lasting place in the annals of European democratic and anti-totalitarian thought. His political instincts were tremendous, as was his understanding of what threatened Poland. A native of Poland's eastern frontier zones, he understood the importance of developing good relations with our eastern neighbors and saw our security as contingent upon these relations. His Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian chronicles, published regularly in "Kultura", were an important source of information for the Poland's democratic opposition and for the West.
Giedroyc noticed early on that a civil society was arising beyond Poland's eastern border. I see his vision of Poland's eastern policy as one of the most important points of his testament. He knew the East represents a threat but was the last to urge confrontation, seeking compromise and dialogue instead. Like most from Poland's pre-war eastern lands, he was not fascinated by the West. Poland was most important to him, followed by Russia. I was impressed by his knowledge of Russian issues, knowledge he in turn was able to translate into the language of practical action, rendering it live matter. His mind knew no rest, he never stopped in his efforts to understand and reflect.
Yet his monthly was never solely political, for after all, Giedroyc and his group wanted to save Polish culture. They succeeded, and this is something we should never forget.
Ryszard Kapuscinski © by "Tygodnik Powszechny" | |
"Tygodnik Powszechny" printed this text in its 24 September2000 issue following the death of Jerzy Giedroyc. It appears onwww.culture.pl - courtesy of the editors and publishers of "TygodnikPowszechny" - in connection with "The Year of Jerzy Giedroyc," celebrated in2006.
**wx:"The Year of JerzyGiedroyc" - main page*wx_rok_giedroycia** | |
[{"nid":"5688","uuid":"6aa9e079-0240-4dcb-9929-0d1cf55e03a5","type":"article","langcode":"en","field_event_date":"","title":"Challenges for Polish Prose in the Nineties","field_introduction":"Content: Depict the world, oneself and the form | The Mimetic Challenge: seeking the truth, destroying and creating myths | Seeking the Truth about the World | Destruction of the Heroic Emigrant Myth | Destruction of the Polish Patriot Myth | Destruction of the Flawless Democracy Myth | Creation of Myths | Biographical challenge | Challenges of genre | Summary\r\n","field_summary":"Content: Depict the world, oneself and the form | The Mimetic Challenge: seeking the truth, destroying and creating myths | Seeking the Truth about the World | Destruction of the Heroic Emigrant Myth | Destruction of the Polish Patriot Myth | Destruction of the Flawless Democracy Myth | Creation of Myths | Biographical challenge | Challenges of genre | Summary","topics_data":"a:2:{i:0;a:3:{s:3:\u0022tid\u0022;s:5:\u002259609\u0022;s:4:\u0022name\u0022;s:26:\u0022#language \u0026amp; literature\u0022;s:4:\u0022path\u0022;a:2:{s:5:\u0022alias\u0022;s:27:\u0022\/topics\/language-literature\u0022;s:8:\u0022langcode\u0022;s:2:\u0022en\u0022;}}i:1;a:3:{s:3:\u0022tid\u0022;s:5:\u002259644\u0022;s:4:\u0022name\u0022;s:8:\u0022#culture\u0022;s:4:\u0022path\u0022;a:2:{s:5:\u0022alias\u0022;s:14:\u0022\/topic\/culture\u0022;s:8:\u0022langcode\u0022;s:2:\u0022en\u0022;}}}","field_cover_display":"default","image_title":"","image_alt":"","image_360_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/360_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=ZsoNNVXJ","image_260_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/260_auto_cover\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=pLlgriOu","image_560_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/560_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=0n3ZgoL3","image_860_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/860_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=ELffe8-z","image_1160_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1160_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=XazO3DM5","field_video_media":"","field_media_video_file":"","field_media_video_embed":"","field_gallery_pictures":"","field_duration":"","cover_height":"991","cover_width":"1000","cover_ratio_percent":"99.1","path":"en\/node\/5688","path_node":"\/en\/node\/5688"}]