PREMIERE OF
BOLESŁAW BURSKI'S MEMOIRS
Majdanek Memorial
The book serves as both an invaluable testament and a captivating narrative about the fate of an extraordinary man. His intellect, multilingualism, astuteness, and resourcefulness facilitated his survival. The memoirs offer an exceptional reading experience with their keen observations, vibrant descriptions, direct dialogue, and dynamic narration. They display a high level of literary excellence.
Bolesław Burski was born in 1905. He was
a legionnaire, scout, and activist of the Polish Socialist Party. He was educated as
a gardening engineer and lived and worked in Dąbrowa Górnicza. He served as the commander of a company in his home regiment during the September Campaign and was wounded on two occasions. In November 1939, he became actively involved in underground activities with the White Eagle Organisation and the Union for Armed Struggle.
In December 1942, he was apprehended by the Gestapo and incarcerated in the Pawiak prison. Subsequently, in January 1943, he was transferred to the German concentration camp at Majdanek. He was assigned to the camp road building commando and also worked in the prisoners' kitchen. At Majdanek, Burski encountered his fellow conspirators and collectively established
a clandestine network within the camp, enabling the transmission of reports on the situation at the camp to the Home Army command, among other things.
On 18 April 1944, Burski was deported to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. In January 1945, he fled from an evacuation convoy near Wodzisław Śląski. He joined the ranks of the partisans who operated within the Pszczyna forests. Acknowledged by the newly established authorities as a member of the Home Army, he was detained by the Security Office in Katowice and subsequently released in August 1945.
In the autumn of 1980, Burski submitted
a typescript titled "Pawiak – Majdanek – Auschwitz" to the State Museum at Majdanek. This was in response to
a competition they had announced in 1979, which focused on the operations of German concentration camps and prisons in the Lublin region. Based on the evaluation sheet, his work received the most points.
“Burski's account, which covers 1942-1945, is notable for its exceptional factual, documentary, and linguistic qualities. Burski wrote his memoirs shortly after the war, from 1945 to 1948. Consequently, he had an excellent recollection of the names of the people he encountered before his arrest, during his time in prison and in the camps. He vividly portrayed important events in the camp and skilfully depicted the profiles of his fellow prisoners, including his closest associates and friends. He used proper names, avoiding unnecessary euphemisms” – said Krzysztof Stanek of the Majdanek Museum.
The memoirs of Bolesław Burski, aka "Jasieńczyk”, a former prisoner of KL Lublin, have been recently published. The account of his time in Pawiak, Majdanek, and Auschwitz was written between 1945 and 1948. It's being published for the first time through
a collaboration between the Prószyński Publishing House and the State Museum at Majdanek.
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