Stories of Survival

Mural “Revival of Ukraine ” at Andriyivsky Uzvizstreet of Kyiv

In precisely selected information bubbles, even in Poland, we are seeing messages that cynically and arbitrarily portray victims as murderers and vice versa. How can we defend ourselves against this? The answer is very simple: let’s read books

Russia’s military attack on Ukraine abruptly changed the perception of Ukrainians, our neighbours, in Poland, and did that in a positive sense. Although dust is still wafting over frontline battles, we can observe some kind of fatigue in the war-focused Polish-Ukrainian discourse after a year of hostilities. We increasingly see how the false and toxic claims pushed by Putin’s propaganda machine make their way into the mainstream narrative. We can be more than certain that Moscow will persist in crushing the rock of language and collective imagination since this is one of its main weapons, which it uses more skilfully than tanks. Of course, Putin’s propagandists prey mainly on ignorance among the Westerners, who may still see the current war as a kind of internal conflict between some unspecified Russians. However, in Poland too, messages are being spread in carefully selected online information bubbles, cynically portraying victims as murderers and vice versa, or selling a murky conspiracy story to an under-informed public.

How can we defend ourselves against this? The answer is very simple: let’s read books. It would be better to learn more about Ukraine and Ukrainians under some other, less dramatic circumstances. But, on the other hand, this opportunity is as good as any other. Although the small stream of Ukrainian literature and essays, which have flowed into Poland for many years thanks to the work of various enthusiasts (and this work was never well paid), has not turned into a mighty river, a keen observer of the publishing market may have noticed a significant increase in the number of translated titles published in the course of last year. Taking advantage of this phenomenon, let me offer a brief guide to interesting and meaningful Ukrainian books published in Poland after 24 February 2022.