‘Rebus sic stantibus…’ Lviv correspondence of Wacław Olszewicz and Janina Kulczycka-Saloni

Abstract

The article presents 11 letters written by Wacław Olszewicz to Janina Kulczycka-Saloni from 1965 to 1974. The sender was a distinguished affiliate of the publishing industry, an expert on the Enlightenment and an enthusiast of 19th -century Polish literature. During the Second World War, he moved to Lviv and started to work at the Ossolineum where he remained long after 1945, first helping to repatriate parts of the collection to Wrocław and then caring for the rest. His interlocutor, Janina Kulczycka-Saloni, a literary historian, was one of the most competent specialists in Bolesław Prus’s oeuvre and, at the time, the vice-chancellor of the University of Warsaw. Their letters, particularly those sent from the Soviet Union which were interesting to authorities on both sides of the border, are a prime example of closely observed’ correspondence under communism. Their tacit character, manifesting in circumlocutions, omissions and allusions used by Olszewicz, reminded both correspondents of the political situation from a century ago. The correspondence provides insight into the Polish intelligentsia in Soviet Lviv, their realities of life and research contacts throughout the second half of the 20th century, as well as some recollections about the 1905 Revolution which Olszewicz witnessed in his early youth. The letters were preceded by an extensive introduction, explaining the context of the issues raised by the correspondents as well as the research apparatus, with further remarks on notable people and events.