Translating Marek

Marek Zulawski: artist, journalist, my father

Wawrzyniec Zulawski

Wawrzyniec Żuławski: Most Important Is To Rescue People

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A new article about Wawrzyniec Żuławski recently appeared in a French magazine. The author Piotr Paćkowski lives in France but is originally from Poland, and he posted a Polish version of the piece on his personal blog in two parts: here and here. It’s rich, long and detailed, and Paćkowski, a climber himself, is clearly an expert on the sport and its history. I’ve edited it down to create an English version which I’ve published below. Enjoy.

From Polish Soil to Chamonix

You never abandon your companion, even if they’ve just become a block of ice.

Wawrzyniec Żuławski

Legends of the Tatra Volunteer Search & Rescue (TOPR)

Initially called the Rescue Guard, TOPR was founded in 1909.… Keep reading

A birthday miracle, 1981

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Marek Zulawski would have been 107 today. Here’s what he was doing exactly 34 years ago…

The day of my 73rd birthday: 13 April 1981.

At precisely 6am, in the small attic room of the Hotel Touring in Chamonix, while you, Maria, were still sleeping, I furtively, like a villain, slipped out of bed and quietly, silently, drew back the curtains. As the window was exposed, I suddenly saw pristine whiteness.

Mount Blanc rose up straight ahead of me, above the highest roofs of the surrounding homes, like an incomprehensible giant, too tall for anyone to even believe it existed.… Keep reading

A dream about living under Nazi occupation

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Kazimiera Zulawska, Marek’s mother, was born on this day, 22 February, in 1883. In this excerpt from Study for a Self-Portrait, we get a glimpse of her stalwart attitude when she and Wawrzyniec (her youngest son) were hiding Jews during the Nazi occupation of Poland.

It’s 1941.

The German bombers have flown away, the sirens have gone quiet – a strange silence has fallen. For the moment, London has put its head back on the pillow. Only the fire engines continue putting out flaming houses, while rescue teams search for anybody alive under the rubble. Otherwise, most of the city’s inhabitants sleep.… Keep reading

Wawrzyniec Zulawski: mountaineer, composer, author, brother

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Today, Valentine’s Day 2015, marks what would have been the 99th birthday of Wawrzyniec Zulawski (pronounced “Vav-zhin-yetz”, or simply translated as Laurence), affectionately known as Wawa by all those who knew him (the much easier “Va-va”). I thought it would be a good opportunity to post up this section of Marek’s memoirs in which he talks about his brother’s passion for mountaineering, an activity that consumed his life in more ways than one.

When not climbing, Wawrzyniec was a composer and author, inspired by the peaks he scaled, as well as the director of ZAIKS, Poland’s copyright overseers. During the Nazi occupation, Wawrzyniec and his mother Kazimiera sheltered hundreds of Jews, and together they were awarded the title of Righteous Among The Nations.

… Keep reading