Tag Archives: Poland

Two Symbols of the Jewish Warsaw: the Wall and the Palm Tree

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Symbol Reader

I. THE WALL “In Rome on the Campo dei Fiori baskets of olives and lemons, cobbles spattered with wine and the wreckage of flowers. Vendors cover the trestles with rose-pink fish; armfuls of dark grapes heaped on peach-down. On … Continue reading →

Posted in The Jews, Uncategorized, Warsaw | Tagged ghetto, Jews, Poland, Polin, Simon Schama, symbolism, symbols, the ghetto wall, the Holocaust, the palm tree, Warsaw | 11 Comments

In Defense of the Primeval Forest

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Symbol Reader

“The edge of the cancer Swells against the hill-we feel a foul breeze-And it sinks back down. The deer winter here A chainsaw growls in the gorge. Ten wet days and the log trucks stop, The trees breathe. Sunday the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bialowieza, Uncategorized | Tagged Bialowieza forest, ecology, EU, European Court, logging, magic, nature, Poland, primeval forest, self-regulation, shamanism | 8 Comments

Deeper and Deeper into the Heart of Darkness

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Symbol Reader

On 10 July 1941, the most shameful chapter of my native Poland’s history was written. In a small town of Jedwabne, occupied by the Nazis, its sizeable Jewish community was brutally murdered by the Poles. For years, the perpetrators shifted … Continue reading →

Posted in Jedwabne | Tagged Bikont, depth psychology, evil, Gross, holocaust, Jedwabne, Jews, massacre, perpetrator, pogrom, pogroms, Poland, Poles, terror, victim | 21 Comments

Hope, Faith and Sublime Beauty in the Clamor of Suffering: “Ida”

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Symbol Reader

Recently, the Polish movie Ida made a tremendous emotional impact on me. It is the sort of movie about which the less is known before seeing it the better, in order to approach it without any expectations. It is wonderfully … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Review | Tagged film, Ida, movie, Pawlikowski, Poland, Polish cinema, review | 20 Comments

1 September

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Symbol Reader

“About Troy“ by Zbigniew Herbert Troy O Troy an archeologist will sift your ashes through his fingers yet a fire occurred greater than that of the Iliad for seven strings– too few strings one needs a chorus a sea of … Continue reading →

Posted in Krakow | Tagged Adolf Hitler, history, Hugo Jaeger, Nazi invasion, photography, Poland, second world war, War | 23 Comments

The Gift of Otherness

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Joseph Conrad, a Polish writer who wrote in English and lived in England, summarized beautifully what I also feel to be the role of an artist: “The changing wisdom of successive generations discards ideas, questions facts, demolishes theories. But the … Continue reading →

Posted in Krakow | Tagged Agora, astrology, Buber, dialogue, Kapuscinski, Levinas, maidan, Mars retrograde in Libra, nationalism, otherness, Poland, symbolism, symbols, the Other, tolerance, Ukraine | 31 Comments

A Tribute to Home

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Symbol Reader

Krakow I am spending a few days in Krakow, Poland, where I was born and where I grew up. I am reminded of the myth of Antaeus, a Titan who renewed his strength by touching the earth. I have been … Continue reading →