Jerzy Kosinski: Are his works popular in Poland?

His much tanished reputation notwithstanding
along with his sporadic successes in the US, I'm curious
as to how Kosinski, a Polish Jew who wrote in English and who as an adult always lived abroad ,
is currently received in the land of his birth.

Appreciated by few, I am afraid. Most people still remember a slur campaign against him when the Painted Bird was published - quite a lot of Polish reviewers accused him of tarnishing the image of Poles and Polesses by alluding in the novel it was them who oppressed Jews.

Thanks so much for your timely response. His biography, not to mention
his professional resume, is indeed impressive. Never quite understood why
he was ever so dogged by plagiarism during the latter phase of his relatively
short life.

Why are you suggesting that because he was Jewish that any plagiarism he committed should be overlooked?

He even claimed to have met that other fraudster, Laura something and she of course was quick to pretend the same. Neither had been in the awful place they'd claimed to be; both were happy to make money from it.

If he'd wanted to write fiction about those terrible times it wouldn't have been a problem. Falsely claiming to be a victim of them is very much a problem.

When he was working no one in the west knew anything about Polish literature beyond Quo Vadis.... had he acknowledged (in a foreword, for example) that 'Being There' was 'inspired' by 'Kariera Nikodema Dyzmy' then no one would have cared


exactly

To be fair I think that it was inspired more than plagiarism, he walked a very thin line dividing one from the other but I think ( and that is my opinion) he pulled it off. I would say that he was accused of plagiarism because of his general attitude and his other 'deeds'. Like lies about his experience and the past and made-up stories presented as based on real-life experiences.

So no wonder that exposed as a fraud, everything he has done has been seen as tainted.
It is sad in a way.
I guess the real diamonds shine regardless of their origin or surroundings and fake ones depend on their frame.

@Poloniusz, please try to resist twisting my words! You're trolling, that's all.
Where did I ever imply what you claim I stated??

I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't had a very clear example of how Slavs used to live in these glorious old times, a first hand experience of sorts. we can be scary sometimes.

You are a twat. Use words that describe reality, not your internal 'truth'. It caused a backlash because he survived thanks to the generosity of Poles in a relatively good environment. While his book was styled to be based on his personal experiences he distorted reality(lied) for his gain, No wonder it caused a backlash.

Slur it is what you do because your mind is a gutter and your soul is rotten and if anyone should change and repent before it is too late it is you!

---


monciciel, stop trolling and register.

@pawian, the word "Polasses" doesn't exist in English. For female Poles, English
simply uses "Poles".

Do you really, even for a second, think that Pawian doesn't know that?

Yes, and had he mentioned the inspiration people would have no problem with it. But the lying elsewhere caught up with him.....


Or "Polish woman" "Polish women" its hard for me to think of any nationality where -ess is used for women (-ess is usually used for professions). The closest I can think is Jewess (which is very archaic and barely used now AFAIK).

Kosinski remind me in some ways of this guy. There are differences of course, but similarities too.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragments:_Memories_of_a_Wartime_Childhood

It was this guy I was thinking of rather than Kosinski when I mentioned the appalling 'Laura Grabowski'. They both backed up each other's lies since neither was in a position to disprove them, both of them being fakers.

Exactly, Maf! "Jewess" sounds hopelessly old-fashioned nowadays!

By starting a brand new thread about this character and his plagiarism when one (which you posted in numerous times) already exists and isn't closed: Jerzy Kosinski - Polish author and liar

Not only that but you simply couldn't resist calling out attention in your first post that he was Jewish when it has no relevance.

You made no mention that he spent most of his life in America vice Poland and admittedly faked official documents in order to migrate. Wow! What a coincidence for someone who was also plagiarist!

You absurdly stated he was "dogged" by plagiarism as if he was some sort of victim of other people who discovered his wrongdoing and then talked about it publicly.

Face it, you were hoping through the passage of time that his ignominy would be forgotten by older generations and be unknown to newer generations.

But since you are okay with plagiarism when committed by the likes Jerzy Kosinski does this mean you will also never quite understand why Claudine Gay was ever so dogged by plagiarism during her relatively short term as president of Harvard University?

You're merely taking offense for zero reason in order to appear politically correct......as usual!
Being Jewish has EVERYTHING to do with Kosinski's heritage, especially as he was nearly
forced into being an altar boy in a small village in order to survive!

What you posted, as with certain others here in PF, is merely to spread garbage as to my
person without the slightest scintilla of evidence.

The rest will back me up and show your type up for what you really are, and it's nothing
to be proud of, I can assure you.

No, you are always taking offense because you are a raving Zionist and a reactionary Jewish identitarian.


Nope. Being Jewish has EVERYTHING to do with yourself.

He turned his back on Poland (even lying in order to leave) and became a US citizen.

He only used his Jewish identity as a convenient cudgel to bash and defame Poles and make money off doing so because he got tired of driving a truck for a living.


You don't know what you are talking about. That or you are trying to be as big of a fibber as your hero Jerzy Kosinski (real name Jozef Lewinkopf).

Being Jewish meant nothing to him because he actually served as an altar boy and clearly wasn't willing to die for the sake of your Jewish conviction.

"They were sheltered temporarily by a Catholic family in Rzeczyca Okrągła. The young Jerzy even served as an altar boy in a local church."

goodreads.com/book/show/18461.Conversations_with_Jerzy_Kosinski

See, this is how rabid you are about being Jewish. You will outright lie and exaggerate events (i.e., "nearly forced into being an altar boy in order to survive!") as well as completely ignore the good deeds of a Catholic family and other Polish locals who literally put their own lives at risk to help him and his family.


Nothing and no one are going to back you up.

@Lyzko


Lyzko, I am afraid that @Poloniusz is right and that no one on here will back you up.

You guys are like two burrs on a donkeys tail.

Poloniusz is wrong. But it's hard to convince others of the truth.

A completely unsatisfactory reply which comes as no surprise.

So here is your one and only chance to redeem yourself.

Rather than ask if Jozef Lewinkopf's works are popular in Poland you need to explain why you believe his works should be popular in Poland.

A sad thing is that individuals with little experience of the world and often out of touch with reality fail to grasp the complexities and contradictions in the life experiences of people in truly dreadful situations.

Some things are black and white, easy to grasp and relate to. The experiences of a Pole of Jewish heritage during the Shoah is not among them.

So true, jon ol' man, so true indeed.

But what does Kosiński have/add that Polish writers haven't? Why prioritize his works (which have to be translated) over those written in Polish?

Jewish, albeit hidden Jewish, heritage. Surely nobody here is foolish enough to believe that a Jew in Poland, even an assimilated one,
has had the identical experience with that of a rank-and-file Polish gentile!

By the way, those who claim others are "projecting", are usually guilty of same, but are unwilling to admit it.

I wouldn't personally prioritise them; stories of that time do deserve to be told, though of course fiction is fiction, non-fiction is non-fiction and fictionalised events are fictionalised events, assuming they're honest about what they are. There's a place for all on the bookshelf.

If they're fiction, it all depends on literary merit. He's Polish of course and his perspective of course differs from someone who isn't of his particular heritage however each and every perspective help us see a broader picture of those times.

Some gentiles (Tadeusz Borowski, author of one of the most devastating works on the holocaust) had it pretty bad....

Again, why should Kosiński have any kind of notable readership in Poland?

I don't think I've ever heard of him, to be honest...


I read only two books about the Holocaust - both written by Polish gentile survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau and those two books were enough for me...:

1.Tadeusz Borowski's short stories - one scene from "This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen" made me cry out loud like a baby... It was literally un uncontrollable sobbing... No book has ever made me cry like that... It was an obligatory reading when I was at high school for Polish classes.

2. "Smoke over Birkenau" by Seweryna Szmaglewska:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_over_Birkenau

I found it on a bookshelf at my grandma's house in the countryside and decided to read it... It included the gruesome details of everyday camp "life" that they don't show in Hollywood films...

Btw, out of curiosity - what is "the Holocaust book" that kids have to read at school in the West? Anne Frank's diary? I'm asking about this one, because it seems to be very popular in the West (I personally have never read it).

Yes.

Most kids don't read it at all however they are (or in fact we were) taught about Anne Frank.