{"id":596,"date":"2019-02-11T22:09:59","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T21:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oczamidziecka.al.uw.edu.pl\/?page_id=596"},"modified":"2023-12-06T10:10:33","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T09:10:33","slug":"bombka-babci-zilbersztajn-grandma-zilbersztajns-christmas-bauble","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oczamidziecka.al.uw.edu.pl\/index.php\/en\/bombka-babci-zilbersztajn-grandma-zilbersztajns-christmas-bauble\/","title":{"rendered":"Bombka babci Zilbersztajn [Grandma Zilbersztajn\u2019s Christmas Bauble]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Author: Katarzyna Ryrych<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Illustrator: Anna Rudka<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Year: 2018<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Publisher: EZOP<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Place of publication: Warszawa<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Pages: 155<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
ISBN: 9788365230201<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Cover courtesy of the publisher. \u00a9Wydawnictwo Ezop Sp. z o.o.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ninka along with her parents and older brother Alek moves into an apartment where her recently deceased grandmother used to live. The apartment, located in an old tenement house, hides many secrets which are further exaggerated by the girl\u2019s imagination. At one point, Ninka\u2019s relationship with her brother and parents weakens. The only person who still has time for Ninka is Grandma Zilbersztajn, an elderly woman who lives upstairs and still remembers wartime. Around Christmas, she presents Ninka with an old, hand-painted bauble, which is later hung on the Christmas tree with other decorations. On the same day, Ninka discovers a secret passage hidden behind coats in a bedroom wardrobe. There is a hungry, scared little girl waiting for Ninka on the other side, and she does not want to reveal her name. Ninka continues to visit the world “on the other side of the wall”, learning new details about the tenement house and Grandma Zilbersztajn\u2019s story. It turns out that the journey through the wall leads her to the past, to the time of the Holocaust.<\/span><\/p>\n

Katarzyna Ryrych\u2019s novel follows the trend in children\u2019s literature to describe the Holocaust indirectly. Similarly to Joanna Fabicka\u2019s Rutka<\/i><\/a>, this novel explores the motif of spreading testimonies of war experiences from woman to woman, and shows the mechanisms of memory transmission. The girl from behind the wall involves Ninka in a game, making her lose awareness of the space she belongs to \u2013 whether past or present. The game trope leads to questions on the randomness of death, especially during the Holocaust. On the other hand, it suggests that abiding rules (such as quiet behavior in a hideout or concealing one\u2019s identity) can help win the game, that is: to survive. Unfortunately, as Ryrych shows, bystanders often benefitted from someone\u2019s loss in the game. She contributes to the social and political discussion on Poles\u2019 participation in the Holocaust by alluding to the appropriation of former Jewish property by looters.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bibliography:<\/h6>\n