This is, of course, not a political matter at all, but a philistine one. Olga Tokarczuk, who was subjected to a wave of hate for reminding Poles of their participation in massacres of Jews, could hardly appear at the “Orzeł” Religious Integration Center. Oh, I’m sorry, a mistake. Of course, I meant the “Orzeł” Cultural Integration Center Kulturalnej, a building belonging to our Bolesławiec Cultural Center–International Ceramics Center.
Karol Stasik, head of Civic Platform, invited people to an evening with the winner of the Nike Literary Award (although judging by Stasik’s literary tastes, he probably has not read Tokarczuk’s prose, and perhaps had even heard of the woman for the first time).
However, it is not this that connects him with the author of The Books of Jacob, but an incident from the 2006 elections. Stasik went before the court because a photograph of Piotr Roman appeared in Civic Platform’s election leaflet, in which the mayor saw sidelocks. He believed that his opponents had maliciously added them, and that his electorate had certainly not voted for people with sidelocks. It had to be explained before the high court that they were not sidelocks, but the fringe of a colleague whose haircut had been cropped by the frame of the photograph. I wonder whether Piotr Roman believed this explanation, or whether he still remembers those sidelocks against Stasik? We will never know. New experiences unfortunately show us that one phone call from Dr. “Dżender” to the mayor is enough for Poles of the “worse sort” to be thrown out of the holy premises of the city’s cultural institution.
A question was asked in the hall about why the writer speaks about Poles’ participation in massacres. It was asked by historian and councillor Eugeniusz Kowalski.
“Why do you say that Poles murdered Jews?” asked the councillor of Piotr Roman’s Forum directly.
The writer explained that after receiving the Nike Award, she had two minutes on television to sum up her novel The Books of Jacob, and spoke very briefly about how, as a society, we must face historical facts: serfdom, which was slavery; the colonization of the East; and the documented massacres of the Jewish population.
The councillor agreed about colonization and serfdom, but justified the massacres by saying that Jews formed the apparatus of the Security Office. The subject was not pursued.
Olga Tokarczuk was asked how she had coped with the threats and hate directed at her after her television appearance.
The writer said that it hurt her physically. She was sore, as if she were being struck with words, but after the difficult days she began to rationalize the attack, and support, words of encouragement, and protection came from many quarters.
Tokarczuk also pointed out that words are very important to Christians and should be weighed carefully. She emphasized that God created the world through words and that our bodies respond to a verbal attack as if they were being physically harmed.
It was an unforgettable, exceptional, and beautiful meeting at which the writer touched on many subjects, shared numerous anecdotes, and patiently answered the questions of curious readers. We had a wonderful guest in Bolesławiec. Perhaps Karol Stasik and Civic Platform should be thanked.