The Jewish War and The Victory (Żydowska wojna, Zwycięstwo)

Abstract

About the Author: Henryk Grynberg, born in 1936 into a Jewish family in Warsaw, survived the Holocaust with his mother by hiding with Aryan identification papers (under the name Krzyżanowski). His father was killed by Polish villagers as a victim of distrust. In 1959, Grynberg received an MA degree in journalism fromWarsaw University, after which he worked as an actor (at Teatr Żydowski) and translator, making his literary debut with his collection of stories The “Antigone” Crew (Ekipa Antygona, 1959). In 1967, while on a tour of the U. S. with the Jewish State Theatre Company (Warsaw), Grynberg applied for political asylum on the grounds of the antisemitic campaign in Poland. He studied in the Department of Slavic-Russian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating in 1971 with an M. A. in Russian literature. After moving to Washington D.C., Grynberg cooperated with the monthly Ameryka (1971–1983), the U. S. Information Agency, and Voice of America under the pseudonym Robert Miller. He was also a contributor and translator for the literary magazines Kultura (Paris),Wiadomości (London), and Russian-language magazine America Illustrated (later Amerika). The books he wrote after emigrating would not be published in Poland until after 1987.