Pshimanovsky is one of those writers on whose works an entire generation was brought up. Today, few people remember his name. But thirty years ago, this surname was known far beyond the borders of Poland, thanks to the film shot on the story of Four Tankers and a Dog based on the story of Janusz Pszymanowski.
about the author
Pshimanovsky was born in Warsaw in January 1922. He studied there in high school. After the Wehrmacht campaign in 1939, he continued his studies at the 21st school of the city of Brest, received a certificate. In 1940, he was imprisoned by the Soviet authorities. He worked in a basalt quarry, at a metallurgical plant, on a collective farm as a tractor driver.
In 1943 he volunteered for the Red Army. In November he ended up in the First Corps of the Polish Armed Forces. Since November 1944, he was a special correspondent and deputy editor of military publications. Janusz Psimanowski reached Warsaw. After the war he joined the Polish Workers' Party. He worked in the editorial offices of the magazines: Skrzydlatej Polski, Żołnierza Polskiego, Wojsko Ludowe.
In 1961 he received the rank of colonel. Until the end of his life he was a member of the Workers Party, from 1980 to 1985 he was a member of the Sejm of the NDP. From 1959 he studied at the University of Warsaw as a historian, in 1966 he defended his thesis. Janusz Psimanowski was twice married. The writer died in July 1998 in Warsaw.
Creation
He made his debut in the press in 1950 with a novel about the Poles during World War II. Then, in co-authorship with O. Gorchakov, in 1960, the book “We make fire on ourselves” was written about the Seshchinsky underground, where Czech, Soviet and Polish patriots fought at a strategically important airfield in the Bryansk region.
In 1964, the story “Four Tankers” was published, which brought fame to Janusz Psimanowski. The book was reprinted several times. She went out, and like “Four Tankers and a Dog”. A film was made based on it, which was a resounding success in the countries of the social camp.
In 1966, the documentary “Studzyanki” was published about the battle between the Nazis and the Poles. Janusz Pshimanovsiy spoke about the heavy fighting near the village of Studzianka, which passed fourteen times from hand to hand. Among the participants, he mentioned Officer Zainutdinov.
The author received a letter from faraway Uzbekistan, in which the Zaynutdinov family reported that the book of Pshimanovsky became almost a shrine in their house. And then the author thought that this is how he could perpetuate the memory of the soldiers who died for the liberation of Poland.
“Calling fire”
According to the book by Ovid Gorchakov and Yanush Pshimanovsky “We call the fire on ourselves”, the Soviet television series of the same name was shot, which was a success in theaters. The name Pshimanowski became known outside of Poland. The story told by the writer is based on real events of the Second World War. She tells of a twenty-year-old resident of the village of Seshcha, Ana Morozova and her fellow villagers who did not have time to get to their own. Remaining in the occupied territory, they organized the underground.
Nearby was a military airfield, where the Nazis deployed their bombers and attacked Moscow. The Soviet command set a goal - to destroy the object. The underground group was faced with the task of extracting valuable data and transmitting it to Moscow.
Over time, Polish, Czech and Soviet soldiers joined the locals. The group commits sabotage, thanks to their data on the airfield strikes by Soviet troops. Hitler's counterintelligence goes on the trail of the underground. Together, the underground and the military managed to destroy the strategic object.
“Four Tankers”
But the true popularity and love of readers of the socialist countries brought another work - "Four Tankers." Janusz Psimanowski spoke here about the valiant tank crew of the Polish army, in which not only the side number, but also the proud inscription “Ores” was displayed on the tank’s armor.
None of the crew members had red hair: neither the commander Semenov, nor the gunner, nor the gunner Yelena, nor the second commander Kos, nor the mechanic Saakashvili. Red tan marks were in the fifth crew member - in a shepherd named Sharik. But he had nothing to do with the name of the tank. The name of the fighting vehicle with number 102 was in honor of the red-haired nurse Marusi, with whom Ian Kos was in love.
The crew of "Red"
The first crew commander Semenov was a meteorologist before the war. He was sent as an instructor to the tank brigade of the Polish army. A sensible and courageous officer, he will die in the spring of 1945.
After his death, the crew will be commanded by the shooter Jan Kos. The war will catch a young boy in the Far East, where he went in search of his father. Upon learning of the formation of the Polish units, he will flee with Sharik to the front.
Gunner Elen, a Pole living on the territory of the Third Reich, was drafted into tank troops. Once on the front, he captured the tank and went over to the side of the Soviet troops. In love with a girl whom the crew of the “Redhead” will free from German captivity. Saakashvili’s driver, tired of explaining where Georgia is, appears to be a resident of Sandomierz. Most attached to his car, a little embarrassed that he can not find a girl. But at the end of the war, fate brings him to the radio operator Lidka Vishnevskaya.
The second shooter, Tomasz, the son of a Polish peasant, plays harmoniously and, although everyone considers him a simpleton, will prove in time what he is capable of. The fifth crew member is the Sharik dog, not a very obedient dog, but smart, more than once helping his comrades out of captivity and entourage.
All crew members have some kind of talent: someone is a well-aimed shooter, someone is a strongman or an excellent driver. Together, they bear the hardships of war, where there is a place and grief, and joy, and friendship, and love.
“Memory of Poland”
In 1987, the work of Janusz Psimanowski's “Memory” was published in two volumes. In the first - stories and memories of heroes, photographs. In the second - the names of the fallen, indicating the burial place. In the first edition, 78,556 names were mentioned. After publication, letters from relatives rained down.
The second edition was supposed to have more than 600,000 - several years of work by a small group of enthusiasts led by Pshimanovsky. But with the release of materials, difficulties began - fruitless attempts to “reach out to Moscow”. Along with the “Books of Memory” archive, Janusz Psimanowski bought the rights to publish and took out a loan from the bank.
To pay, he sold the house. A few years later the materials ended up in Moscow. But the publishing house, which took up the publication, was eliminated, and work on the book was suspended. The list of soldiers who died in Poland on the website of the information retrieval center is the result of the work of Colonel Psimanowski, a talented writer and screenwriter.