Igor Newerly
Igor Newerly (born March 24, 1903 in Białowieża , † October 19, 1987 in Warsaw ; actually: Igor Abramow ) was a Polish writer and educator .
Newerly spent the years 1915 to 1923 in Russia , where he witnessed the October Revolution and became a staunch communist. Between 1918 and 1921 he worked in the All-Soviet Communist Youth Association. After returning to Poland, he studied law in Kiev and studied education at Wolna Wszechnica Polska in Warsaw . In 1925 he took up work on progressive educational projects and got into the circle of pedagogue Janusz Korczak , whose secretary he became in 1926 and from whom he took over the editing of the magazine Mały Przegląd (Kleine Rundschau) in 1932 .
After the beginning of the Second World War Newerly went underground, but was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and spent the time until the end of the war in the concentration camps Majdanek , Auschwitz , Oranienburg and Bergen-Belsen . After 1945 he naturally placed himself in the service of the new communist leadership. He took care of young “progressive” writers and worked in the Związek Literatów Polskich (Association of Polish Literatureists). He earned special merits as a savior and later editor of Korczak's ghetto diaries.
As early as 1932, Newerly began a parallel writing career. In his novels he combined educational and enlightenment tendencies with a classic description of different milieus - also in the spirit of romanticism, whereby the political aim of "creating a better person", i.e. communists, was mostly clearly recognizable. Because of this he was able to become one of the leading representatives of Polish socialist realism after 1945 . Especially because of its descriptions of nature and the struggle of people against their rigors, Newerly was also popular with young people. Some of his works have also been translated into German (especially in the GDR).
Yad Vashem honored him in 1982 as Righteous Among the Nations , as he was able to save the lives of several Jewish fellow citizens during the Second World War.
His son is the writer and composer Jarosław Abramow-Newerly .
Works
- Chłopiec z Salskich Stepów (1948) (German: The boy from the salt steppe , East Berlin 1952)
- Archipelag ludzi odzyskanych (1950) (German: Archipelago of Reclaimed People , East Berlin 1951)
- Pamiątka z Celulozy (1952) (German: One man's way , East Berlin 1953)
- Leśne morze (1960) (German: The sea of forests. In the kingdom of the tiger , East Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-353-00086-0 )
- Żywe wiązanie (1966)
- Rozmowa w sadzie piątego sierpnia (1978)
- Za Opiwardą, za siódmą rzeką ... (1985)
- Wzgórze Błękitnego Snu (1986) (German: The Hill from the Blue Dream , Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-353-00633-8 )
- Zostało z uczty bogów (1986)
literature
- Konrad Weiß: How Igor Newerly got to know Janusz Korczak . In: Die Weltbühne, Volume 83, No. 11 of March 15, 1988, pp. 339–341
Web links
- Literature by and about Igor Newerly in the catalog of the German National Library
- Igor Newerly on the website of Yad Vashem (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Newerly, Igor |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ivan Abramov |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish writer and educator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 24, 1903 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Białowieża |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 19, 1987 |
| Place of death | Warsaw |