BOOKS IN BRIEF
Good and Evil, and the Shadows they Cast
Reviewed by David Trawinski
Blok 42
By Debrianna Obara
Vanguard Press, 2024
The topic of World War II, and of Auschwitz, is a recurring theme in the books that are presented for review to the Polish American Journal. It may seem an unusual selection for an Easter edition of this journal, but then again, Easter is, above all else, the promise of the triumph and return to purity that awaits us all even when everything seems most dire. Salvation comes in many forms, just as today’s Poland is the re-emergence of the country that it could never have possibly imagined in 1945. The culture of Poland endured the horrific destruction and subjugation of this war, the inhumanity of its associated genocide perpetrated against her will on her precious soil, and the indignity of the assault during and afterward on her sovereignty. In that vein, I offer you Debrianna Obara’s Blok 42, not as a remembrance of those dark days, but as an understanding of the everlasting hope and determined will that is the embedded ember forever burning within the Polish culture.
Blok 42 is in many ways an unusual tale. Its cover professes it to be, “A Story of Love, Loss, and Redemption in the Shadows of the Brothels of Auschwitz.” It is surely all that, but only the last 75 or so of its 320 pages take place in Auschwitz, culminating in the author’s detailed research of the brothel called Blok 42, but known more casually within the camp as “The Puff.”
Most of the book is a vivid representation of the culture of Poland before and during the war, and its resilience during the barbaric occupation of its invaders. Obara has done a fantastic job of making this defiant but adapting culture the true protagonist of this novel. She is well-equipped to do so, being the middle child of Polish immigrants and a student of Poland’s language, history, and literature. She earned a degree in journalism from the University of Florida, with a minor in Slavistics. She was both an exchange student and later a language instructor at Adam Mickiewicz University.
Blok 42 details the love story of Aniela and Henryk, schoolmates before the war in Kraków. Henryk’s family is from a farm in nearby Wieliczka, the town famed for its renowned salt mines. This is an interesting premise established by the author, because it allows her to not only contrast the different perspectives of the maturing young man and his “dancing girl” within the culture, but also that of the city-educated elites versus the down to earth simplicity of the country folk.
The true gift of this novel is the way it rubs one perspective against another, creating a literary dynamic tension, which is only ramped up more once the Nazi invasion takes place and Kraków is transformed into Hans Frank’s capital of the Nazi General Government. I am intentionally not giving away too much of the story line, because it moves so fast, in mostly short chapters of four to six pages that it will quickly ensnarl the reader. The book is a truly fascinating “can’t put down” read that will ring true to all of us already knowledgeable in the places, events, and cultural references within its pages.
I whole heartedly encourage the reading of Blok 42. However, be aware a handful of its scenes, in both its pre-war peacetime and later wartime environs, detail sexual encounters in a somewhat explicit description. In my mind, it may not be suitable for the younger readers due to this. That said, I applaud Obara on her debut novel and can only hope we see much more from her pen over time. Her respect for and treatment of the Polish culture is exemplary.
Topedo Season
reviewed by Catherine Hamilton
The Torpedo Season:
Growing Up During World War II
by Richard C. Lukas
Independently published (October 26, 2021)
English, pb., 216 pp
ISBN-13: 979-8721020223
When a renowned retired professor of history wakes up one spring morning and returns to his writing table, we are promised something truthful, something that will whisk us past mundane historical fact, something exquisite, something personal. And this is exactly what we find in Dr. Richard C. Lukas’s memoir, The Torpedo Season: Growing up During World War II.
This historian and author has published nine books, and numerus articles, and short stories including: Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles under German Occupation 1939-1944, Did the Children Cry: Hitler’s War against Jewish and Polish Children 1930-1945, and Forgotten Survivors: Polish Christians Remember the Nazi Occupation, just to name a few.
A collection of short stories, Lukas’ memoir is written in first-person viewpoint, from the boy child, Richard. Set in the Polish immigrant neighborhoods of New England at the onset of World War II, Lukas brings to life the heartwarming tales of a boy who grew up immersed in Polish American culture under the dark cloud of war.
In one story, Richard’s tale carried me away to the Fisherman’s Beach, beachcombing with his boyhood friend Johnny—blissfully and willingly into the adventures near the sea I followed these curious young fellows. There is a “squadron of pelicans flying overhead,” snatching up fish, there are life vests, binoculars, ration tins, bullet cartridges … Suddenly I realized before little Richard did, that his curiosity was on a collision course with a partly submerged torpedo that could detonate unexpectedly. Confronted with my own fears, I read on, hoping the bomb disposal unit would arrive before “Child’s Play” turned into collateral damage from German U-boats. Thankfully, the boys lived to tell the tale.
Two of my other favorites are about the Polish traditions around the Christmas holidays. In the chapter entitled “Wigilia,” we enter the extended Lukas family living under one roof as their Christmas Eve celebration begins. I could almost taste the mushroom soup, pierogi and nalesniki (all my favorites)! Best of all is the arrival of an unexpected guest that fills the empty chair at the table one very special Christmas Eve. To my delight, Lukas writes a heartwarming vignette dedicated entirely to the blessed nativity scene, the crèche, or szopka.
This enchanting collection of short stories by Dr. Richard Lukas — our very own renowned Polish historian and author of countless nonfiction books about World War II Poland, is the most delightful of memoirs I’ve ever read.
If you’re one of those people who rarely purchase a memoir, perhaps these words from the synopsis will persuade you: “From the somber bell of his parish church that marked the funerals of soldiers and sailors returning for burial, to the hilarious cast of characters making up his extended Polish American family all living under one roof, this story brims with vivid and poignant descriptions about the people who profoundly influenced… [Richard Lukas].” But if that doesn’t convince you to add this book to your home library, maybe the fact that Dr. Lukas is donating 100 % of all the book sales to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital will! Bravo Dr. Lukas!
From the bombing of Pearl Harbor to a visit from Polish RAF pilots from England on leave from fighting the Germans, to beach combing, quintessential Polish Christmas Eve celebrations, and parochial school capers, all through the eyes of a child whose curiosity, wonder, and humor resounds on every page.
I first met Dr. Lukas and his lovely Polish wife Marita in 1997, while on my own World War II Poland research trip, having read everything I could get my hands on the subject, including all Lukas’s books, I wanted to pick his brain about a few unsolved mysteries.One: why didn’t the West know the truth about how the Polish Christians suffered in Poland during the Second World War? We both surmised, the information lockdown was created by the Soviet Union’s iron curtain for more than forty years after the war was over. Information on the events in occupied Poland, such as the fact that more than 1.7 million Polish-Catholics were kidnapped and forced into slave labor, sent to German factories and farmers for the duration of the war. Sadly, the Germans also kept this act a secret. I never imagined back then, that one of my Polish idols on the subject of Polish war history would ask me to contribute to one of his books (Forgotten Survivors,) and review another.
The Torpedo Season is an upbeat World War II / immigrant family memoir that has a message for all of us: belief in hard work, love of family that binds us, and loyalty to all our truths we hold dear. Waiting in the wings far too long, it is my distinct pleasure to have reviewed and to highly recommend this book to all Polish Americans, and everyone who loves to read short stories and memoirs.
