Published : 2025-04-02

Herling-Grudziński and Monte Cassino

Aleksandra Dębska-Kossakowska

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1309-8137

Abstract

This article attempts to characterize Gustaw Herling-Grudziński’s notes on Monte Cassino. The writer is presented from two different angles: as a participant of a historic battle (based on works of historians and testimonies of other participants in the battle) and the co-creator of the legend of Monte Cassino (based on his own observations). Herling-Grudziński’s essay on the battle, his regular diary notes on the celebration of successive anniversaries of the historic victory, and stories where he directly recalls the events taking place at Hill 593 are analysed. Therefore, the author of this article aims to present the meaning of Monte Cassino as seen by Herling-Grudziński. For this reason, this historic event was presented simultaneously from two perspectives: in a broad historical, social and cultural context, and from the perspective of an individual, historical experience. In his reflections about Monte Cassino, recorded for nearly fifty years, both personal stigma and personal commitment are visible, which is why from the pages of his works glorious history acquires its human dimension.

Keywords:

Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Monte Cassino, personal document literature, post-war emigration



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Roczniki Humanistyczne · ISSN 0035-7707 | eISSN 2544-5200 | DOI: 10.18290/rh
© The Learned Society of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin & The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Faculty of Humanities

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