Abstrakt: | The present book is a monograph on Aleksander Kaminski’s life and work. If concerns merely
one aspect of his activity, i.e. writing, which is, however, an uncommonly important and not yet
fully researched aspect
Both Kammski’s work and his life were strongly connected with his greatest love, the
movement of scouts and cub scouts. Without understanding what the Polish scouting used to
mean, Aleksander Kammski’s attitude and activity may appear difficult to grasp. This is why the
whole of his written works are shown in connection with the history of the Polish scouting,
and presented as a form of his Service to that most important of the decisions he took in
his life.
Aleksander Kamiński (1903—1978), the founder of the institution of cub scouts in Poland,
a prominent scouting activist of the inter-war period, one of tzhe founders of the celebrated “Gray
Ranks”, an editor of the famous “Information Bulletin,” and a scholar, was also a great writer.
Everything he wrote, no matter whether it was a manual for the cub scouting instructors, an
autobiographic story, a short story, or a strictly scholarly dissertation, was always authentic,
deeply thought over, and always very honest.
Even though Aleksander Kaminski used to emphasise that what he wrote was a factual
account of real people and events, yet he could construct the plot very well; he kept the reader in
constant suspense, and his style is graphic and colourful. His fictional works, such as Narodziny
dzielności (The Brith of Bravery), Antek Cwaniak (Tony, the Urchin), Andrzej Małkowski, Kamienie
na szaniec (Stones Thrown on the Earth work), Zośka i Parasol (The "Sophia” and the “Umbrella")
are so excellent that a professional writer would not be ashamed of them.
All these books form a standard set in the Polish literature for the youth. Their attractiveness
for the readers stems exactly from their being truthful accounts concerning real people. It is in this
truthfulness — historical, psychological, and moral — that we find the essence of Aleksander
Kammski’s writing. It is unique and cannot be compared with anything else, especially because of
its myth-making power; therefore it constitutes an important object of research. |