Conference devoted to Zofia Kossak-Szczucka

The conference will take place on October 23^rd, 2010 at 10 am in Górki Wielkie. It will be a part of the celebrations of the 4^th Zofia Kossak Days in Górki Wielkie (October 22^nd-October 23^rd, 2010) – during this event will take place the official opening of the Center of Culture and Art “Dwór Kossaków” (“The Kossaks Estate”) in Górki Wielkie.

The participants of the conference will try to answer the question: what is Zofia Kossak-Szczucka’s place in the modern teaching process in Poland?

The Center of Culture and Art “Dwór Kossaków”, where the conference will take place, was founded in the estate of the family of Zofia Kossak-Szczucka. The main goal of this newly created institution is to revive the discourse about the Righteous and to popularize the rich history of the estate, where the Center is currently located.

Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, Righteous Among the Nations, is an example of a deeply religious Catholic, who – although before the Second World War she wrote about Jews with explicit criticism and was often accused of anti-Semitism – during the Nazi occupation risked her own life to save them.

In the thirties she published a few articles in the magazines “Prosto z mostu” (“Point-blank”) and “Kultura” (“Culture”), where she wrote that Jews are enemies of Poland and that the Jewish question does not have a religious, but racial character.

During the Second World War Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, at that time living in Warsaw, became involved in underground activity. She cooperated with the magazines “Polska Żyje” (“Poland Lives”), “Znak” (“Sign”) and “Biuletyn Informacyjny” (“Information Bulletin”). In the summer of 1941 she contributed to the creation of the Front of Poland’s Revival, an underground Catholic organization, being the continuation of the prewar Catholic Action.

It was probably in the second half of 1941 that she started helping Jews, although it remains unknown how many of them and in what circumstances she helped personally. In August 1942 she wrote the leaflet “Protest”, in which she called Catholics to protest against the extermination of Jews.

Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Krahelska founded in September 1942 the Committee to Aid Jews, which was transformed in December of the same year into the Council to Aid Jews “Żegota”.

In September 1943 the writer was arrested and transported to the Pawiak prison, and afterwards to Auschwitz (her book “Z otchłani” – “From the Abyss” – described her experiences in the camp).

In April 1944 she was deported to Pawiak once again. Kossak-Szczucka was sentenced to capital punishment, but the underground leaders paid a ransom and she was released from prison in July 1944. Soon after that she participated in the Warsaw Uprising.

In 1945 she found herself at the mission of the Polish Red Cross in London. She remained in exile for 12 years, continuing her writing. In 1957 she came back to Górki Wielkie. Zofia Kossak-Szczucka died in 1968 in Bielsko-Biała. She was posthumously honored with the title of the Righteous Among the Nations in 1982. More about Zofia Kossak-Szczucka.