Karolina Lanckoronska (1898–2002)

An aristocrat and art historian who taught at the University of Lwow Countess Carolina Lanckoranska was born in 1898 and died in Rome in 2002. In this book she writes of a short period of her life, from September 1939 to April 1945. She was active in the Polish resistance, spoke fluent German and had an international network of friends and relatives. Her humanity and intelligence shine through on virtually every page. As a people watcher and with her magnetic personality she used her intellect and background to serve the weak, comfort those around her and minister to the dying in the most horrendous of places. The book constantly engages the reader as you reflect upon her ability to relate to those from a huge cross section of ethnic, politic and social classes that were imprisoned alongside her in various prisons, notably Ravensbruck. With no signs of self aggrandisement she tells her story, or as she says in the prologue, ‘my memoir’. At the beginning of the book she claims that her writing is simply a report of what she witnessed. To the contrary this book is a compelling story of a brave and courageous women. She writes with such objectivity and understatement that the reader is constantly questioning and reflecting upon the events, often harrowing, that the author witnessed. I know that this book will be ‘alive’ within me long after it settles into my bookcase.… (altro)