Too much noise about nothing

The dispute over the Tuwim street in the municipality Zejuny continues. Most of the inhabitants of the village nearby Vilnus, wants to remain with the same name. Is this a problem? Unfortunately, yes. Government representative in the district of Vilnius Jurgis Jurkevičius immediately asked for an appeal decision by the government and promised to challenge this decision in court. It is worth to look at the poet, if indeed it is “guilty”?

The whole campaign against the Polish poet seems to be trivial and unnecessary. The man himself would probably reply: “Let the law is always right, and justice and righteousness.” Blatant falsehood and injustice strikes in this situation, after all, the artist was not entirely indifferent to the Lithuanian state.

Julian Tuwim was born on September 13, 1894 in Łódź city. He came from a bourgeois family of Jewish origin. The poet’s parents were Lithuanians – Izydor Tuwim was born at Calvary (Kalwaria), was the first attorney in one of the major banks at that time, graduated from the school in Königsberg, and later studied in Paris, knew several foreign languages. He was a clerk and correspondent of the Azov-Bonn Commercial Bank. The poet’s mother, Adela of Krukowscy born in Marijampole, was the daughter of the owner of the printing, came from an educated family, her four brothers were lawyers and doctors. After the death of her husband fell in after-serious mental illness, she tried to commit suicide. The last period of life spent in a mental hospital in Otwock. During the liquidation of the Otwock ghetto was shot by the Germans.

Another element of the “Lithuanian ties” was the work of the artist in the Press Office of Józef Piłsudski, the Polish-Bolshevik war, where fighting took place also for the liberation of Vilnius, which succeeded, in 1920 the Russians approached the capital of Lithuania.

Author of The Flowers Polish (Kwiaty Polskie)”nice poems he wrote,” (said this opinin about Tuwim Jurgis Jurkevičius) it is true, however, was a remarkable individual. Alexander Bruckner said after his debut collection of poems of the poet lying in Wait for God (Czyhając na Boga) in 1918 that “since The Ballads and Romances of Mickiewicz was the first revolutionary act of literary triumph for some scandal to others. Name the poet once a triumph. ” The writer became involved in this period of cabaret “picador” – wrote lyrics, sketches, and was a close associate of the weekly “News of literature.” He entered the group of poetic “Skamander.”

Tuwim as you can see, the current situation, once again, can not hope to peace. During the interwar period became the subject of constant attacks. Despite growing popularity it was considered that Tuwim was not a Jew, a Polish poet, who only accidentally created in the Polish language. As can be seen even after death can not find peace, and remember – de mortuis cars cars nihil bene!

It is also worth noting naming of some streets in Vilnius from the names of people who have absolutely nothing to do with the merits of the Lithuanian state and its culture. An example can be square of Dzhokhar Dudayev or plaza of Sakharov in Vilnius.

Tuwim same as stated in the To line a simple man (Do prostego człowieka): “My neighbor with one or another of the earth!” Tuwim considered himself a citizen of the world, he did not feel that it is associated with any nationality. Evidenced by the war years Tuwim, which he spent in exile, including in France, and later in America. Perhaps because the poet does not assign a value to a particular nation. It is possible that it will be enjoyable even with the newly formed street, as evidenced by one of the fragments of The Flowers Polish (Kwiaty polskie), where he speaks favorably about Lithuania:

Michał Sadowski
This article is within the practice of the European Foundation for Human Rights, www.efhr.eu