Correspondece between Józef Wittlin and Roman Brandstaetter

Abstract

Preserved correspondence between Józef Wittlin and Roman Brandstaetter comprising 27 letters and postcards dated since the end of the 1950s is a testimony of their acquaintance since the middle of the 1920s and also of the epoch they both lived in. In those letters three topics are dominating, namely: exile, Assisi and literature. Wittlin was in New York as a political immigrant without any chance to return to Poland and in case of Brandstaetter exile meant being on the margin of the writers’’ environment and harassment of various sort from the authorities. The author of Sól ziemi (Salt of land) inspired Brandstaetter’s interest in saint Francis of Assisi which later was abundantly reflected in the young writer’s literary output. In their correspondence Assisi often returns as a spiritual enclave against the chaos of the world, a space for moral revival and for happiness. Both writers also knew well and appreciated each other’s literary works. Brandstaetter viewed Wittlin as his literary mentor and confidant in difficult experiences and a judge in moral matters. In turn Wittlin willingly read Brandstaetter’s pieces and praised them because he found something of his own spirit and esthetical inclinations in them.