Modernism: Representations of National Culture

Aleksander Kamiński: Stones for the rampart

ALEKSANDER KAMIŃSKI: STONES FOR THE RAMPART Title: Kamienie na szaniec (Stones for the rampart) Originally published: Warsaw, Tajne Wojskowe Zakłady Wydawnicze – Komisja Propagandy Biura Informacji i Propagandy Komendy Głównej AK, 1943 Language: Polish The excerpts used are from J. Gorecki [Aleksander Kamiński], Stones for the Rampart. The Story of Two Lads in the Polish Underground Movement, with a foreword by Percy Hugh Beverley Lyon, M.C., M.A. (published as the 12th volume of Polish Boy Scouts’ and Girl Guides’ Library, London : Polish Boy Scouts’ and Girl Guides’ Association, 1945), pp. 58–68. About the author Aleksander Kamiński [1903, Warsaw – 1978, Warsaw]: writer and propagator of scouting. Kamiński spent his childhood in Ukraine, after which he studied history and archaeology in Warsaw. In the inter-war period, he was one of the leaders of the Polish scout movement (Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego, the ZHP). During the Second World War, Polish scouting continued its activity as a clandestine organization – the ‘Grey Ranks’ within the Armia Krajowa (Home army, thereafter AK). Kamiński worked for the AK, being responsible for ‘small sabotage’ operations as well as for information and propaganda activities of the Warsaw division. The main agenda of the underground Polish state serving this purpose was the Biuro Informacji i Propagandy AK (Information and propaganda bureau of the Home Army), led by Polish intellectuals, among which many, such as Tadeusz Manteuffel, Aleksander Gieysztor and Stefan Kieniewicz, became prominent historians in the post-1945 period. After 1945, with the exception of the Stalinist era (1948–1956) when Polish authorities banned the scouts and installed a Soviet-type pioneer movement, Kamiński worked for the ZHP and lectured on pedagogy in Łódź. After 1956, he published books about the German occupation and the small sabotage operations as well as works on pedagogy and scouting. His impact on the national literary canon is restricted to his bestknown book, Stones for the rampart. Main works: Antek cwaniak [Tony, the smart] (1932); Książka wodza zuchów [The book of the Scouts’ chief] (1933); Kamienie na szaniec [Stones for the rampart] (1943); “Zośka” i “Parasol” (1957). 242 LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS OF THE “NATIONAL CHARACTER” Context During the Second World War, Polish lands were under the occupation of Nazi Germany. This implied that certain groups within society were to be eliminated, first and foremost Europe’s largest Jewish community. At the same time, German troops and the police virtually decimated the Polish intelligentsia , aiming to reduce the country to a source of forced labor. The entire cultural and political life of the country was abruptly put to a halt. The Polish underground government resisted the German regime not only through various military activities, but also through propaganda (addressed to Polish society , Western public opinion and even to the Germans). It also succeeded in uniting most of the political spectrum (with the exception of the communists) and unifying party militias in a quasi all-national ‘Home Army’. Kamiński’s text represents one of the most successful attempts to popularize the idea of resistance in Poland and the West. The unusual trajectory of this book is even more striking if we take into consideration the circumstances of its publishing. Kamiński wrote ‘Stones for the rampart’ in 1943. The book was published as a samizdat, and republished in 1944, winning considerable popularity despite lacking the means of normal marketing. The excerpt included here is from its first English translation from 1945, with a foreword by Hugh Lyon, headmaster of Rugby School. It is striking to see how the initial idea of scouting was reinterpreted by Kamiński: the scouts were praised for their fidelity towards the ideals of the movement, for which they were ready to fight and die. While ‘Stones for the rampart’ tried to reinterpret the very idea of scouting according to the experience of war, it also drew upon important traditional features of Polish ‘Romantic’ patriotism. It raised the question of young men’s sacrifice for national values, while displaying important traces of romantic messianism. The title of the book is a quotation from a poem by Juliusz Słowacki. A short fragment contains the outlines of the whole story: “I implore the still living not to lose hope, But, when the time comes, to go forth to their death Like stones thrown by God upon a great rampart.” The outlook presented in the book is also connected to the debate on the meaning of the 1944 Warsaw uprising...