Author: Michał Rusinek
Illustrator: Ola Cieślak
Year: 2012
Publisher: Opera i Filharmonia Podlaska – Europejskie Centrum Sztuki w Białymstoku
Place of publication: Białystok
Pages: 12
ISBN: 9788363806019
Notes: Published in a joint case with the “Korczak” musical playbill (eds. Joanna Gdowska, Tadeusz Płatek, Białystok: Opera i Filharmonia Podlaska – Europejskie Centrum Sztuki w Białymstoku 2012, pp. 75, ISBN: 9788353806002).
The protagonists of this short story, set in an unidentified time and place, are grey field mice, whose mundane, arduous existence is one day interrupted by a strange smell. One mouse, “more mousy than grey” decides to climb a nearby hill, which allows it to see fire and a mass of dark smoke in the distance. Because there is nowhere to run, the mouse encourages its frightened companions to lie down on the ground calmly and watch the clouds glide through the sky. This view will stay under their eyelids forever.
Although the text never mentions the Shoah explicitly, such an interpretation is suggested by the subtitle “A tale dedicated to the memory of Janusz Korczak” and the star of David interwoven into one illustration. Moreover, the book was published as an addition to the playbill for the musical Korczak with music by Chris Williams and libretto by Nick Stimson, directed by Roberto Skolmowski and staged in Poland at the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic in 2012, which again puts it in the context of the life and death of Janusz Korczak.
Bibliography:
- Rybak, K., Obrazowanie Zagłady. Narracje holokaustowe w polskiej literaturze XXI wieku dla dzieci i młodzieży, Warszawa 2023;
- Wójcik-Dudek, M., W(y)czytać Zagładę. Praktyki postpamięci w polskiej literaturze XXI wieku dla dzieci i młodzieży, Katowice 2016 (p. 121 fn. 48).