Sociologist Jarosz recalls such events and conditions in her life as war breaking out in 1939, Warsaw in the 1940s: the ghetto and the Aryan side, the first decade of communism, Yugoslavia: oddities and infatuation, 1968 and the aftermath, martial law: signs of social disintegration, Polish Academy of Sciences and adventures with research, democratic Poland: winners and losers, corruption: personal experience bribing Mexican police, ethnic hodgepodge: a politically correct family, and the world has changed. She has updated the English translation. Annotation ©2016 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
Bearing Witness offers personal insight into the collective experience of Poles over the last sixty years. One of Poland's leading social scientists combines objective, academic rigor with autobiographical, eyewitness accounts of historic events. Maria Jarosz reflects on the post-World War II world and how Poland and its people have been affected by changes in politics, power, and society.
More than a memoir, the book offers keen insights into how history intersects with personal life. That is because Jarosz has spent her entire life studying people. As a reviewer of the original Polish edition noted, it is not possible to understand Polish society, its views and attitudes, and the mechanisms for managing them, without reading this work. This book spans the period from World War II through the communist era in Poland to the present day. It contains a wealth of dramatic detail, including a vivid account of how the author, who has Jewish roots, survived the Holocaust as a child.
This English language edition is updated to include descriptions of recent events. The author focuses intensely on her experiences as one of a few surviving witnesses to the horrors of wartime Poland. Her sober reflections are interspersed with light-hearted anecdotes, testifying to Jarosz's resilient sense of humoura cocktail that makes the book a captivating read.
