Representing the Warsaw Ghetto in Polish Literature

Abstract

This article discusses depictions of the Warsaw ghetto in Polish poetry, prose fiction, and drama. Of all the ghettos established by the German authorities in the former Second Republic of Poland, the Warsaw ghetto is portrayed most frequently by writers. Here, representations of the Warsaw ghetto are presented in chronological order. The article covers portrayals of the Warsaw ghetto during the war, in the immediate postwar years, in the period between the 1950s and 1980s, and after the fall of communism in 1989. The article also discusses selected literary topoi related to the Warsaw ghetto. The biggest changes in the literary portrayal of the ghetto took place after 1989 and were related to the abolition of censorship, the influence of popular culture, and the emergence of writers born after the war, including representatives of the “third generation.”