"THE Gliwice MetamorPHoSES" - THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE CULTURAL HEIRDOM OF GLIWICE   
 

Horst Bienek

7.5.1930 - 7.12.1990

 
   www.gliwiczanie.pl

 

  

 

         He was a German-Silesian. His father was a railwayman, and his mother (Valeska nee Piontek) the piano teacher.

 

   Their house in the Gliwice Zatorze district stands to this day. 

   As most of the Gliwice inhabitants, he was displaced after the World War II to arrive at the Soviet Occupation Zone beyond the Odra river. He found work in the Berliner Ensemble Brecht theatre. In 1951 under the order of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) he was arrested under the pretext of espionage and anti-Soviet incitement. The Soviet military court sentenced him to 15 years of hard labour. Bienek worked 14 hours a day in the Workuta mine. He was lucky to be released in 1955 together with other prisoners under the GDR and USSR Governments agreement. Then he settled in Munich.

         

   He gained the world-wide fame with his four books telling the story of the war lot of Silesians: „The Journey to the Land of Childhood”. „ The September Light”, „The First Polka”, and „The Time Without Bells”. In 1990 the Gliwice municipal authorities meant to award Bienek with the honorary citizenship, however it was already too late. Nowadays, the street where he lived bears his name. 
   The house where he lived can be distinguished by the plaque dedicated to him.

   "The birch forest – the most beautiful in the world..."

 

 

Source:

 

Authors: 

Text: meg

Photos by: meg, Jimi

Gliwice 2005

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