Uchodźcze dzieciństwo w Indiach we wspomnieniach Wiesława Stypuły

Abstract

The article puts forward the thesis that Wiesław Stypuła in his book In the hospitality of a "Polish" maharaja (memories of his stay in the Polish Children Housing Estate in India in 1942–1946) overcomes the traumatic experiences he experienced in Soviet Russia in 1940-1942. The change was possible thanks to the fact that the protagonist of the memories, together with other Polish refugees, moved to the Polish Children's Camp in Balachadi. They were taken care of by the Polish, British and Indian governments. A special role was played by the prince of Nawanagaru Jam Sahib Digvijaysinhji Rajitsinhji, to whom the author shows exceptional gratitude. The author of the memoirs is aware that children owe their survival to many people and institutions. The memoir narrative is directed in such a way that the reader can read it as a story about childhood regained and given back. The book contains the exotic, cultural, natural and social colors of India. The autobiographer saturates his memories with elements of a travel-adventure novel. There is a tendency to idealization in the book. The memory of childhood in exile is told from the perspective of a community member who lived at Polish Children's Camp. Living in the community allowed the children to regain not only health, but also their personal and ethnic dignity. Stypuła's autobiographical record is a rare testimony of the fate of refugees, in which the point of view of a teenage boy is taken into account.