Stempowski thanks to Józef Czapski established cooperation with Paris Culture from the beginning of its existence. He became friends with Jerzy Giedroyt and became 1 of his closest associates. He led the permanent column “The Notebook of a slow passerby”, signed by the nickname Paweł Hostowiec. In a survey of readers Culture The most highly regarded authors were placed second behind Mieroszewski and before Miłosz, Czapski and Gombrowicz.
The friend who was the diamond of the purest water in the crown of Culture, present we bid farewell – I am going through this mourning text of Józef Czapski (Culture, No II/266, 1969). Death surrounds us, we all know that, but how? – If all death of a being close to us discovers this fact again and as if for the first time. After the faith, after Mark Hlaska, after Gombrowicz, the Fast Passer left us. For us, the inhabitants of the home of Culture, this was the closest friend, and what was the relationship of the Host – Jerzy Stempowski – knows each 1 of those who had his friendship. How many of our readers have always started reading Culture from “The Fast Passerby”.
Stop knowing about life and the world, never self-confident and delicious, but versatile, insightful and quiet, a flexible and delicate language, in which the reader immediately found the charm of the kind of the 1 who was a friend of man, birds and trees, a relentless opponent of every, even verbal, tyranny – a citizen of the perfect Republic, who was the brother of Ukrainians and Hucul, hebrew or Lithuanian, this enemy of all, and above all Polish, to emergence above others. Of the people we knew, possibly the most European – he was a kid of many traditions, many cultures lived from within, the full being, this slow transition to many countries...
Long ago, surviving faces accompanied him as if on all side of his writings, grew into the very fabric of his being. The sadness, the pain of passing, the compassion, are always expressed in whisper and whisper, side by side, he besides speaks of his deaf yearning, describing the native rivers, in which “the 1 roaring and pudnay, the another ringing on a shallow day, in others there is simply a buzzing of whirls and foams moving over the depths, in others the water is mute”.
Another author, prominent critic Jan Kott, wrote: Stempowski taught me to write, read and not trust. The quickest thing I learned to write, it took me many years to learn to read, not to trust I learned only erstwhile Mr. George's voice was so quiet that it was hard to hear.. (Literary Life, 1981, No. 37).
The words of Kott, the words of Czapski, and Stempowski... Let's give the master at least a fewer of those run-over paragraphs. It's 1947, Culture, No 2 – 3, title: ‘Best recipe for losing the war to the russian Union’. To be conquered by the russian Union, the simplest course is to irritate it by incomprehensible or fanfaron declarations, disarming ourselves quietly and waiting patiently for the russian government to gather adequate atomic bombs and mobilize all its economical benefits. In order to guarantee this reception of full effectiveness, it is desirable to supply the opponent with credits to complete the weapons, acquisition the essential natural materials and grow the war industry.
The consistent usage of this expression can bring about the failure of war almost without bloodshed and failure of war material. Thus, for example, the peaceful business of Europe by the russian army can easy lead to the Moscow side of the peoples of the mediate and Far East, after which the United States will become a besieged island which can inactive be defended for a time, but from which there is no way out.
1950, Culture, No 6/32, Title: ‘Essay for Cassandra’. The ability to anticipate future political accidents does not should be a uncommon thing, due to the fact that in the interwar period I heard many predictions that had been fulfilled accurately. These predictions never came out of the mouth of those who occupied large offices, having all the material data to decently measure the situation and called to look to the future. It is so not unfounded to think that expert decisions, exhaustive documentation and secret reports can obscure even the most transparent cases.
Looking at these times from a distance, I feel that during the interwar period the ability to anticipate was an obstacle to any political career. This phenomenon seems even understandable to me today. Europe's future was dark, and whoever rightly judged it was a black man who nobody listened to. The well - raised people avoided any expanse on these subjects. It was tragic in this situation that for many years even a tiny effort of good will could reverse the disaster threatening our continent.
If a Europe ruined by so much madness is to avoid destruction, its inhabitants must learn to better anticipate the consequences of our actions and cannot underestimate those who can. It's almost indifferent to the elders. I'm reasoning of young people with their full lives ahead of them. Who of them would like to wear the coat Cassandra says to Apollon: “In this coat of the prophet have you made me laughter at your enemies”?
War and chaos can start anywhere. So there's nowhere to go, and there's nothing to... Stempowski died in Bern. His urn with drugs was brought to Poland 30 years ago.
