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StefanZabierowski
ofmemoriesandafundofsensationswithwhichIwastobreakviolentlybythrowingmyself
intoanunrelatedexistence.1
Forthemoment,however,letussetasidethisstatement—mademanyyears
later,whenNałęcz-KorzeniowskihadbecomeanEnglishwriter—andletuslookat
thehardfacts.ConradfirstcametoCracowon20thFebruary1869,togetherwithhis
fatherApolloNałęcz-Korzeniowski,whowasapoet,atranslatorandapoliticalac-
tivist.Fatherandsonlivedat6(now12)2,PoselskaStreet.3
Togetherwithhisparents,Conradhadbeenthroughextremelydifficulttimes.As
ayoungboy,hehadhadaveryPolish,tragicchildhood.Hisparents’ardentPolish
patriotismhadcostthemdear.ApolloKorzeniowski,whohadbeenoneoftheorga-
nizersofaPolishundergroundState,hadbeenarrestedinWarsawonthenightof20th
October1861—i.e.beforetheoutbreakoftheJanuaryUprisingof1863—and
imprisonedintheTenthAnnexe(Pawilon)oftheWarsawCitadel.4
Duringhisimprisonment,ApollowasvisitedbyhiswifeEwelinaandtheirlittle
sonKonradek.Acoupleofyearslater,afterbeingCexiled’withhisparentstoVologda
(notallthatfarfromtheArcticCircle),KonradeksenthisgrandmotherTeofila
Bobrowskaaphotographofhimselfwiththeinscription:“TomydearGranny,who
helpedmetakecakestoprisonformypoorDaddy.Yourlittlegrandson―Pole,
Catholicandnobleman―Konrad.”5Yearslater,inalettertothephilosopher
WincentyLutosławski,Conradwrote:
MyfatherwasimprisonedintheWarsawCitadelandmychildhoodmemories—anormal
thingforournation—begininthecourtyardofthatCitadel.6
HavingbeensentencedtoatermofexilebyaRussiancourt,ApolloKorzeniowski
andhiswifeEwelinahadnochoicebuttotaketheirlittlesonwiththem.Thejourney
1JosephConrad.NotesonLifeandLetters.Ed.JohnH.StapewiththeassistanceofAndrewBusza.
Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2004,p.117.
2ThehousewaslaterdemolishedtomakeroomforanextensiontotheTownHall(ratusz).Thereis
acommemorativeplaqueonthewallsofthebackoftheTownHall(inPoselskaStreet)whichisrepro-
ducedinSherry’sexcellentbook:NormanSherry.Conrad.London:ThamesandHudson,1988(1972),
p.13.
3ZdzisławNajder.JosephConrad-AChronicle.Transl.HalinaCarroll-Najder.NewBrunswick,
NewJersey:RutgersUniversityPress,1983,p.27;ZdzisławNajder.ŻycieConrada-Korzeniowskiego.
Lublin:Gaudium,2006,vol.1,p.62;FrederickR.Karl.JosephConrad.TheThreeLives.London:Faber
andFaber,1979,p.73;thequestionoftheexactlocationofthehousewheretheKorzeniowskislivedhas
beendiscussedbyB.BoguniaandAndrzejBogunia-Paczyński:“Apollo,ConradiKraków.Dwaprzy-
czynkidobiografiiKorzeniowskich”.Kraków2011,№2.
4Cf.JerzyZdrada.“ApolloKorzeniowski’sPolandandMuscovy”.YearbookofConradStudies
(Poland).Kraków:WydawnictwoUniwersytetuJagiellońskiego,2008-2009,vol.IV
,pp.38-39.
5Najder.JosephConrad-AChronicle,ed.cit.,p.18;Najder.ŻycieConrada-Korzeniowskiego,
ed.cit.,p.46:“KochanejBabuni,któramipomogłabiednemutatkowiciastkadowięzieniaposyłać,
wnuczek,Polak-Katolikiszlachcic,Konrad”.
6J.ConradtoW.Lutosławski,9thJune1897.[In:]PolskiezapleczeJosephaConrada-Korzeniowskiego.
Dokumentyrodzinne,listy,wspomnienia.Ed.ZdzisławNajderandJoannaSkolik.Lublin:Gaudium,
2006,vol.2,pp.40-41.
