Tożsamościowe ucieczki we wspomnieniach członkiń i członków Gwardii Ludowej
Identity escapes in the memories of members of the People's Guard

Summary/Abstract: This article presents and compares the strategies of hiding the Jewish identity of members of the communist resistance movement (the People’s Guard/People’s Army). It uses the example of the wartime memoirs of Barbara Sowińska (1912–2004) and Gustaw Alef-Bolkowiak (1916–1979). They both grew up in Jewish homes, but their experiences in Polish schools were key for the development of their hybrid identity. In the fall of 1939 they both fled across the River Bug, but in 1941 they did not manage to flee into the interior of the Soviet Union. They returned to Warsaw, where they soon joined the infant People’s Guard. After the war, they played a significant though secondary role in the construction of the new political system. They both wrote best-selling memoirs about the period when they had fought in the communist resistance movement, where they hid their Jewish origin. However, they chose different camouflage strategies, the discussion of which constitutes the essence of this article. The basic source materials are the following two books: Stanisława Sowińska’s Lata walki [the years of struggle] and Gustaw Alef-Bolkowiak’s Gorące dni [hot days], which are juxtaposed with archival documents (party resumes, testimonies written for the communist party history archive, testimonies, etc.), and later testimonies and manuscripts, created in exile or for a foreign audience. The comparative analysis of their content facilitates highlighting the self-strategies of escape: both during the occupation and in communist Poland.

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