Wojenne lalki Marysi [Marysia’s Wartime Dolls]

Author: Małgorzata J. Berwid

Illustrator: Ania Jamróz

Year: 2019

Publisher: TADAM

Place of publication: Warszawa

Pages: 64

ISBN: 9788395148088

When war enters Marysia’s life, everything changes. The girl cannot start first grade because airplanes appear in the sky, dropping bombs on Warsaw. The character describes her life in war-torn Poland and the restrictions introduced continually by the occupant, which makes life difficult for adults and children alike. The tropes of resistance and the Warsaw Uprising also appear in this book. Importantly, Berwid’s story is based on her mother’s memories. It also contains footnotes and a foreword by Joanna Papuzińska, a researcher of children’s literature and the author of two memoirs from the World War Two period: Asiunia and Mój tato szczęściarz [My Dad the Lucky Man].

In Wojenne lalki Marysi [Marysia’s Wartime Dolls], the Holocaust is referred to episodically. The child narrator mentions that she used to live in 38 Chłodna Street with her family “right next to the Warsaw Ghetto,” which gave them opportunity to offer help to victims of anti-Semitism and repression (for example, to share food). The author does not shy away from relaying some dramatic events, such as the suicides of ghetto prisoners, which Marysia inadvertently witnesses.

Bibliography:

• Szumal, M., Ada Judytka i zaginiony tałes. Dziecięcy klucz do wielokulturowego Białegostoku, „Polonistyka. Innowacje”, no. 9, 2019, pp. 131–140.