For Poland
Memoirs of Madame Pilsudski. (Hurst and Blacken. ios. 6d.) THOUGH the enslavement of Poland by Hitlerism was the imme- diate occasion of the present war, few English people have had the opportunity or the patience to follow Polish history. It is a difficult task. The country is not inviting for tourists. Even the Carpathians in the south are seldom climbed. The language is seldom spoken or studied. Except for musicians, Polish art has little attraction, and the politics are hard to understand. Few could say off-hand how many times Poland has suffered "par- tition," and what is worse the divisions among her own political parties would be thought needlessly binet even in Ireland. Worst of all, Poland has nearly always felt the heavy pressure of two Great Powers on the east and the west, and now by Hitler's absorption of Austria into Germany the pressure on the west has become heavier than ever.
We should all the more welcome this volume as illuminating an obscure period of recent times. For Madame Pilsudski writes mainly of the events during her famous husband's life, which ran from 1867 to 1934, and was mainly occupied with Poland's struggle for freedom from the domination of Russia, first Tsarist and then Soviet. She writes with natural enthusiasm and with intimate knowledge, for she played a considerable part in the struggle, shared its dangerous conspiracies, suffered long imprison- ment, and showxl all the spirit and courage of a Slav revolu- tionist. Pilsudski was often blamed by British Liberals and Socialists for his encroachment upon Lithuania and his military opposition to the Russian Soviets. But here his widow Main- tains that his one object in life was to secure the independence of his country, and that high object was secured for a period of years) which she reckons as twenty-five. Perhaps happily for himself, this heroic and far-sighted general and statesman died soon after the curse of Hitlerism was beginning to blight the world. With what appalling violence it fell upon Warsaw ank the rest of Poland we have seen. Between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany Poland now lies vivisected once again, and in spite of our pledges we were unable to avert her present fate. H. W. NEVINSON.
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