Why, oh God, Why

[StefanM]

Are Halina's original diary pages also in the folder you photographed? If not I wonder if these and her tape recordings were left with Jerzy Klinger when he was translating everything to produce the finished manuscript?

Does Joanna have any photos of Halina from WWII or pre-war?

[tailor marc]

Thanks so much for that info on the medals. I will do alot better pictures hopefully this weekend
Im looking into seeing where the original diary is. I heard some horrible news that it could of been thrown out by someone else. Lets pray that its still there. I will do my best to see if we can locate it. I hope the polish editing of the typed up version of the diary is exact as i thing the translated one wasnt done right

[tailor marc]

Im pretty sure joanna said the other night she has the video tape of the interview. This i will have to get put onto dvd asap for her and you all.
Not to sure about photos. I will definatly ask her

[StefanM]

Thanks so much for that info on the medals. I will do alot better pictures hopefully this weekend
Im looking into seeing where the original diary is. I heard some horrible news that it could of been thrown out by someone else. Lets pray that its still there. I will do my best to see if we can locate it. I hope the polish editing of the typed up version of the diary is exact as i thing the translated one wasnt done right

It would be a great tragedy if the original diary pages have been thrown out.

There were only a handful of people that that took part in both the Ghetto Uprising and the Warsaw Rising and she might have been the only person from these few to have recorded her experiences in a dairy as both events unfolded. That her diary pages survived to enable the writing of the book makes her whole story even more remarkable.

I believe Halina made voice recordings of her story (in Polish) in which she fleshed out the diary pages and it was these along with the diary fragments Jerzy Kilinger translated into English.

Good luck with trying to locate the original diary pages!

Any ideas why both the medal frames have name labels with "MT. Lawley Inglewood R.S.L" - Returned and Services League of Australia logo on them? Were the medal groups on display with the RSL at one time?

[tailor marc]

Yeah thats the first thing i thought when i heard. Definatly do my best. I offerd her anyhelp she needs to get this back up and running. She is very dedicated as Helinas wish to her was to get it published

About tghe medals, i think they must of been on display back in the day. I know Jo has had them for a long time hidden under lock and key so im glad they are safe now. Up on a wall somewhere wouldnt be good this day and age

[StefanM]

Yeah thats the first thing i thought when i heard. Definatly do my best. I offerd her anyhelp she needs to get this back up and running. She is very dedicated as Helinas wish to her was to get it published

About tghe medals, i think they must of been on display back in the day. I know Jo has had them for a long time hidden under lock and key so im glad they are safe now. Up on a wall somewhere wouldnt be good this day and age

Hi Marc, Any further discoveries? Cheers, Stefan.

[MJ Martin]

I found this discussion on Google, searching on the term "Halina Gorcewicz." Though it is 18 months old, I wanted to add some info.

I wrote a novel -- The Firecrackers of Lilliput -- based in part on Halina's diary -- "Why, Oh God, Why?" -- discussed here. In so doing, I corresponded by email with its translator, Jerry (Jerzy) Klinger, several times. I read, digested, dissected, and referenced every page of "Why" a few times, when he had published it at

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I had done extensive, years-long research on Varsovian travails during WW2, and found two sources that stood head and shoulders above the rest, primarily for their deeply personal, daily life details: "Why, Oh God, Why?" (about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising); and "Bellum Vobiscum: War Memoirs" by Zygmunt Skarbek-Kruszewski, about the wider Warsaw Uprising about a year later (Bellum Vobiscum). They form an intimate match set of recollections that prove to be surprisingly uplifting.

I downloaded "Why Oh God Why?" in its entirety back when Jerry had it up, and slowly but surely, I've been restoring it on the new website referenced at the first part of this discussion, Why, Oh God, Why?. (Be sure to press the "Read More" links at the bottom of longer entries that have them).

What I have up so far is only a fraction of the total. I'm guesstimating that all told, it's around 250,000 words, or about half the length of War and Peace.

Originally, Jerry had published 36 website pages and a table of contents. It was not an easy read; not well-formatted; etc. I've broken those pages up into smaller sections for easier readability; added reference links; photos; and so forth. I've no doubt the total number of pages will be in the hundreds.

I became aware Jerry had died several years ago, after I sought him out to send a promised copy of my book. He was kind and helpful, and so pleased Halina's story -- and his extensive work on it -- were getting out to the wider public. Thanks for the discussion here, which has helped inspire me to take this back up and finish it. It's something to which I've been able to devote limited time here and there. I hope to have it complete over the summer and if I remember, will post updates here. I've added several new entries the last few days. -- Mike Martin

[tailor marc]

Hi Marc, Any further discoveries? Cheers, Stefan.

Hi mate, so sorry i never got back into this. Joanna left Perth but now she is back and just about to have a baby so i will most definatly go and visit her. I have the camera ready to photograph each medal back and front and post anymore info here. I also know her mum really well and i will try see if i can get any documents and info . This all will happen in the next couple weeks

[tailor marc]

I found this discussion on Google, searching on the term "Halina Gorcewicz." Though it is 18 months old, I wanted to add some info.

I wrote a novel -- The Firecrackers of Lilliput -- based in part on Halina's diary -- "Why, Oh God, Why?" -- discussed here. In so doing, I corresponded by email with its translator, Jerry (Jerzy) Klinger, several times. I read, digested, dissected, and referenced every page of "Why" a few times, when he had published it at

Website Hosted by WestNet Hosting

I had done extensive, years-long research on Varsovian travails during WW2, and found two sources that stood head and shoulders above the rest, primarily for their deeply personal, daily life details: "Why, Oh God, Why?" (about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising); and "Bellum Vobiscum: War Memoirs" by Zygmunt Skarbek-Kruszewski, about the wider Warsaw Uprising about a year later (Bellum Vobiscum). They form an intimate match set of recollections that prove to be surprisingly uplifting.

I downloaded "Why Oh God Why?" in its entirety back when Jerry had it up, and slowly but surely, I've been restoring it on the new website referenced at the first part of this discussion, Why, Oh God, Why?. (Be sure to press the "Read More" links at the bottom of longer entries that have them).

What I have up so far is only a fraction of the total. I'm guesstimating that all told, it's around 250,000 words, or about half the length of War and Peace.

Originally, Jerry had published 36 website pages and a table of contents. It was not an easy read; not well-formatted; etc. I've broken those pages up into smaller sections for easier readability; added reference links; photos; and so forth. I've no doubt the total number of pages will be in the hundreds.

I became aware Jerry had died several years ago, after I sought him out to send a promised copy of my book. He was kind and helpful, and so pleased Halina's story -- and his extensive work on it -- were getting out to the wider public. Thanks for the discussion here, which has helped inspire me to take this back up and finish it. It's something to which I've been able to devote limited time here and there. I hope to have it complete over the summer and if I remember, will post updates here. I've added several new entries the last few days. -- Mike Martin

Thanks so much Mike, i will take a look now and stay tuned for more pictures and info that i can dig up soon