Czarny ogród

Giszowiec was built in 1905 by the Giesche mining company: cottages modelled on village houses, gardens and a park, unusual for Silesia then. The book follows it in order, like a chronicle: the First World War, the Silesian uprisings and the plebiscite, the interwar years, the occupation, expulsions, nationalisation, Solidarity, martial law, 1989 and recent evictions. Above all it follows families of Silesian, German and Polish miners, such as Rozalka Kajzerówna, the estate's best swimmer, who went to the 1928 Olympics and later worked at the mine as a telephonist.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Nonfiction

Length

547 pages in the original

Genres

Historical, Family (assigned by AI)

Set in

Poland, 1905 to the 2000s

First published

2007 by Znak

Author's age

71 when first published

ISBN

9788324008964 (original)