Robinsonowie : ludzie ukrywający się w gruzach Warszawy po upadku powstania w 1944 roku

Studniarek, Michał (1976– )

doi:978-83-66911-37-6

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Robinsonowie : ludzie ukrywający się w gruzach Warszawy po upadku powstania w 1944 roku

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Title: Robinsonowie : ludzie ukrywający się w gruzach Warszawy po upadku powstania w 1944 roku

Abstract:

The book is devoted to the survival of people in Warsaw’s ruins after the fall of the Uprising from October 1944 to January 1945. The so-called Robinson Crusoes (or Robinsons) of Warsaw were the people who remained hidden in ruins after the failed Warsaw Uprising (1 August – 2 October 1944) and the city’s subsequent destruction by the Germans. The book is based mainly on the accounts and recollections of the Robinsons but also on the studies and press articles published after the war. It also presents the current state of research and a survey of source literature. Thea uthor attempts to define who could be called a Robinson Crusoe of Warsaw and to characterise this group. He also tries to determine their number on the basis of collected memoirs and archival material. Starting from the description of the city’s situation after the Uprising’s capitulation, the author presents the conditions determining the decision to hide, then the selection and the preparation of the hiding place. In the subsequent chapters, the author discusses the living conditions of the Robinsons – how they perceived their hiding places and their own person locked in them (according to Marta Cobel-Tokarska), how they organised their life, acquired food, water and other necessities during organised night-time trips, how the hiding places were heated, how they coped with falling snow or the problem of having weapons. Considering the long periods in the hideout, it was essential to idle away the dragging time, so the ways of spending free time are described. Equally important were the relationships between individual members in the group (sometimes it was agreed who was the group’s leader and a division of tasks was introduced) and between groups, as it was not unusual to meet outside other Robinsons. There were also encounters with people from outside the German cordon surrounding Warsaw, who sneaked in to loot in ruins or with forced labourers cleaning the streets. Although everyone avoided it, there were also encounters with Germans. The Robinsons also made successful attempts to leave the destroyed city. In the next part of the book, the author describes the post-war fate of the Robinsons; he also analyses how the media and the public depicted, recorded and passed on the memory of the Robinsons’ fate. Next, he presents how the Robinsons perceived their life in hiding years later and the significance of this period compared to other events of their lives; he also describes how the hiding impacted their bodies and psyches. In conclusion, the author discusses the importance of hiding for the symbolic continuity of the city’s habitation. Survival posed a substantial challenge to the Robinsons’ psyche, their ingenuity and their ability to improvise. It is a testimony to the people’s immense will to survive and their perseverance in overcoming obstacles. The work includes an alphabetical list of the Robinsons mentioned in the sources and two maps of Warsaw with the Robinsons’ hiding places marked. Most of the people in hiding, about 1,100, were civilians, with almost half of Jewish descent.