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Connecting true geography and detailed unfolding of wide variety of crimes perpetrated by German/Ukrainian Nazis and jewish bolsheviks of Soviet Union on the Polish nation.
‘The Painted Bird’ by Jerzy Kosiński – Slander of Poland
Edward Reid
I recently came across someone sharing “The Painted Bird” as fact and a story of survival against savages, I’d like to clarify a few things and discuss the truth of his life and how lies can shape reality, history, and perceptions:
“I remember, many years ago, speaking with a Jewish lawyer from New York about Kosinski’s book The Painted Bird. This lawyer, based partly on the book, held the firm belief that Poles were almost sub-human. When he mentioned Kosinski’s description of eyes being torn out in a scene that would seem ‘appropriate’ in a Polish household, I responded, much to his discomfort, that such a scene would be as out of place in a Polish home as it would be in an American one. I added that the only Poles I had ever known were intelligent, civilized, and cultured. He didn’t respond, but his expression suggested that I had just told him something entirely impossible.” – James Park Sloan
Kosinski’s “The Painted Bird” portrayed Poles as inhumane, savage beings, which was and is a horrendous misrepresentation of the very people who risked their lives to save him. The real issue with the book? It’s full of lies, and unfortunately, many bought into it. Many in the Jewish community and Americans in general became captivated by Kosinski and his narrative of wartime suffering at the hands of the “Polish beasts.” The book became a bestseller, shaping the perception of wartime Poland and how Jews were allegedly treated.
The truth is starkly different. Kosinski’s experiences, as he wrote them, were fabricated. Siedlecka, a Pole who knew him and his family personally, reveals that Kosinski spent much of the war living in relative safety and comfort, thanks to the help of Polish families. She describes his father as a crafty survivor (whose life was saved by Poles) with little moral compass, willing to do anything to stay safe, including collaborating with the Germans. After the war, at the liberation of Dabrowa, Kosinski’s father collaborated with the NKVD and the Red Army, sending those who had helped him to Siberia for minor offenses like hoarding.
Still, the real tragedy lies in the actions of Jerzy Kosinski himself. He turned his back on the Polish families who had sheltered him and vilified them, as well as the entire Polish nation, to the world. According to Siedlecka, during the war, young Jerzy Kosinski spent his time enjoying the comforts of sausages and cocoa, luxuries unavailable to his neighbors’ children, within the safety of his home, far removed from the hardship endured by those who risked everything to protect him.
Sadly, Kosinski’s fabricated portrayal of wartime Poland became the narrative many people accepted about the country under German occupation, shaping perceptions for an entire generation. At the peak of his career, some even predicted that Kosinski might win a Nobel Prize. The German edition of his book was an immediate success.
So, if you’re curious about how history becomes shaped by misrepresentation and how stereotypes are born, you can look at people like Kosinski. But I assure you, he was not the only one responsible. It’s crucial for everyone to exercise due diligence before accepting such accounts as factual or forming opinions about an entire group of people.
“The Painted Bird” unfairly and falsely portrayed Poles, shaping a distorted and harmful narrative that still shapes perspectives today.
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ENOUGH LIES
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DOSYĆ KŁAMSTW
Walczmy z przejawami antypolonizmu
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