We, Polish Jews (My, Żydzi polscy)

About the Author: Tuwim (1894–1953) was a poet and translator from French and Russian, and, as author of Locomotive (Lokomotywa, 1938), the best known Polish children’s poet. He was born in Lodz in an assimilated family of Polish Jews. He made his debut as a translator in 1911, and as a poet in 1913. In the interwar period (1918–1939) he was the most famous among the poets of his generation, considered as a great artist of the Polish language. At the same time he was a victim of ruthless antisemitic attacks. Co-founder of the magazine Pro Arte et Studio (1916), the literary cafe Pod Picadorem (The Picador Café, 1918) and the poetic group Skamander, Tuwim was also a regular columnist for literary magazines, includingWiadomości Literackie. In September 1939, he escaped from Poland to Brazil and later to the United States. He coworked actively with left-wing émigré circles; returned to Poland in 1946 and settled in Warsaw, coveted by the Communist authorities. He was the chairman of the Society of Friends of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Polish-Israeli Friendship Committee.