Dziecko Zamojszczyzny. Historiografia Anny Janko dla najmłodszych

Abstract

Oleś i Pani Róża by Anna Janko is a postmemorial narrative for the youngest. The trajectory of the fate of a several‑year‑old hero is a literary realisation of the course of dramatic events connected with displacement, separation from parents, the stay in a temporary camp in Zwierzyniec, an orphanage, and the potential danger of not only Germanisation but also death. Thus, the title character becomes a figure of the fate of Children of Zamojszczyzna (Zamość region); in some way he represents them. The piece is also an expression of the homage paid to Róża and Jan Tomasz Zamoyski in recognition of their merits for saving actions for the youngest inhabitants of Zamojszczyzna. Janko’s work is based on family transmission, that is, on inheriting the experience of great‑grandfather (former Oleś) by his great‑granddaughter Róża (namesake of Róża Zamoyska). The narrative touches upon a subject that until recently was considered a taboo, introducing Polish expressions that accentuate the category of “Children of Zamość region” — a toponymic, tragic, negative distinction of the age group, region, and history. One can see character‑related or constructional parallels between the work of Anna Janko and the novel by Éric‑Emmanuel Schmitt — Oskar i Pani Róża (Oscar and the Lady in Pink), which is also intertextually indicated by the very title: Oleś i Pani Róża.