Creator Bio
Julian Tuwim
1894–1953
Julian Tuwim was born into an assimilated Jewish family in Lódz. He studied law and philosophy in Warsaw, where he played an integral role in Polish modernist literary circles. In addition to writing poetry for children and adults, Tuwim was a lyricist, translator, and dramatist, active in the poetic group Skamander. Tuwim wrote exclusively in Polish and stressed his allegiance to Poland while downplaying his attachment to Judaism; in prewar years he was vilified by antisemites and tried to distance himself from Jewish culture. He lived in the United States during World War II and after the war returned to Poland, where he expressed deep sympathy for Jews who were killed in the Holocaust.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
A Prayer
I pray Thee O Lord
From all my heart,
O Lord! I pray to Thee.
With fervor and zeal,
For the sufferings of the humiliated,
For the uncertainty of those who wait;
For the non-return of the dead;
For…
Primary Source
Jewboy
He sings in the courtyard, clad in rags
A small, poor chap, a crazed Jew.
People drive him away, God has muddled his wits
Ages and exile have confused his tongue
He wails and he dances, weeps and…
Primary Source
To the Common Man
When they begin to plaster the walls
With freshly printed proclamations,
When black print sounds alarm
Calling “To the People” and “To Soldiers”
And ruffians and adolescents
Are taken in by their…
Primary Source
About St. P.
Spitting poison and frothing at the mouthHe spits, snorts and spluttersAnd writes that I am a butcherA yid and bolshevikJewboy, bacillusA baboon and a SkamandriteThat I sell out the FatherlandThat I…
Primary Source
We Polish Jews
“All right,” someone will say, “granted you are a Pole. But in that case, why ‘we jews’?” To which I answer: because of blood “Then racialism again?” No, not racialism at all. Quite the contrary.
Th…