Doświadczenie krzywdy w życiu i twórczości Józefa Szajny
Authors: Sergiej Dominika 
Published: June 2019

<p>Prace Józefa Szajny są niezaprzeczalnie związane z jego niewyobrażalnym doświadczeniem bólu, głodu i traumy, które stały się częścią jego obozowego życia w Auschwitz i Buchenwaldzie. Śmierć wielu ludzi, ich upokorzenie i dehumanizacja sprawiły iż Szajna dorósł szybciej niżby tego oczekiwał. Wszystkie te doświadczenia odbijają się w jego sztuce, zarówno rysunku jak i dramatach. W swoich pracach wielokrotnie używał fragmentów ubrań, butów, lin, ziemi, plastikowych ludzkich korpusów, fotografii. </p><p>Trauma drugiej wojny światowej dotknęła go bardzo mocno ale nie złamała. Swoim życiem i twórczością ukazywał jak się odradzać i "powstawać z kolan" jak sam mówił o swojej twórczości. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest ukazanie siły człowieczństwa i godności ludzkiej w przekraczaniu dehumanizacji obecnej w obozach koncentracyjnych.</p><p><strong>The Experience of Injustice in the Life and Work of Józef Szajna</strong></p>SUMMARY<p>For many people the experience of trauma and injustice leaves a painful imprint with which they have to grapple till the end of their lives; they are unable to move beyond the sphere of their own inner suffering. Depression, aversion to living, bitterness is its frequent symptoms. World War 2 brought people inexpressible torments and sufferings. Everybody saved his/her physical and mental life as best as he/she could. The artists tried to break away from this surrounding nightmare by artistic activity. For some of them, art was a way of keeping their mental skill and psychical balance; for others it was a means for survival (especially for those in concentration camps). Józef Szajna (1922-2008) became a prisoner in KL Auschwitz in July 1941. During his imprisonment in the camp he was engaged in the underground activity, for which he was punished and assigned to a penal company where he contracted typhus. Then he was moved to a newly built camp of Birkenau, where he worked as a cleaner. In August 1943 he tried to escape but was caught and sentenced to death. He was waiting for the execution in a death cell for two weeks. On the way to the place of execution, the sentence was unexpectedly canceled. The death penalty was changed into life imprisonment. For six weeks he stayed in a death cell struggling with all possible inconveniences and the stress resulting from the presence of people who were awaiting the execution. After six weeks he was moved to the concentration camp of Buchenwald; he escaped from Buchenwald three weeks before the end of the war. After the war, Szajna started studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. During his studies he suffered from various illnesses – the result of the years spent in the concentration camps. In 1952 he received a diploma in graphic arts, in 1953 in stage scenery. He graduated from both faculties with distinction. The traumatic experiences of the war, his imprisonment in Auschwitz-Birkenau and Buchenwald formed his personality. The experience of injustice infl uenced his later artistic output. Szajna, through art, “created himself from the beginning”. The author fi rst acquaints us with the subject matter of Szajna’s works, then analyses his selected works: Nasze życiorysy [Our Life Histories], Mrowisko [Swarms], Sylwety i cienie [Silhouettes and Shadows], Reminiscencje [Reminiscences], Drang nach Osten – Drang nach Western (a space composition). The next issues are: matter painting (implemented in Szajna’s works) and the synthesis of painting and theater ( the integral theater of Szajna). At the end, the author presents the artist’s message. His art formed a metaphorical story on the most important problems of human nature and its condition. The repercussions of the war-camp experiences were present in all his performances and plastic works. The greatness of his art consists in that this motif never acquired a naturalistic form or a form of a personal confession. Even when the artist used an authentic document, he gave it a general, symbolic sense creating a universal record of human fate.</p>