HOLY WEEK A Novel of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

“During the Nazi extermination campaign in the Warsaw Ghetto, architect Jan Malecki takes in a young Jewish woman – and former lover – Irena Lilien, putting his own life and the safety of his family at risk. Over a four-day period, Tuesday through Friday of Holy Week 1943, as Irena becomes increasingly traumatized by her situation, Malecki questions his decision to shelter her in the apartment where he, his pregnant wife, and his younger brother reside. Added to his dilemma is the broader context of Poles’ attitudes toward the ‘Jewish question’ and the plight of the Jews locked in the ghetto during the final moments of its existence. ‘Holy week’ is a troubling story of failed human possibilities set against the backdrop of the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. No other Polish novel treats the range of Polish attitudes toward the Jews during World War II with such unflinching honesty. Presented here with thoughtful and compelling commentary by translator Oscar Swan, ‘Holy Week’ is one of the foremost literary treatments of prejudice, patriotism, moral incertitude, and the interventions of a perverse and indifferent fate.”