Émigré Testimonies and Memories: WWII through Józef Czapski’s Diaries and Zygmunt Haupt’s Short Stories

• In Event: Trauma of War, Trauma of Exile: Early Testimonies and Witness Accounts of Wartime Émigrés and Refugees from Poland

Abstract

Józef Czapski and Zygmunt Haupt shared many identities: both were Polish writers, painters, soldiers, and émigrés who had lived through World War II as witnesses to its devastation. Both were closely associated with Kultura. Czapski’s work reflects his trauma as a prisoner in Starobielsk and other Soviet camps. Haupt, in contrast, presents war as the backdrop for his stories. At times, he depicts an almost idyllic officer’s life—first in France, then in the UK.

Author

• Barbara Brigida Krupa, Stanford U