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A City in Ruins A City in Ruins
Experiences, Fiction

A City in Ruins

The Aftermath of the Warsaw Uprising
Ewa Pawlik
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time 5 minutes
Ewa Pawlik:

Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Manager – “Przekrój” Magazine.

Some difficulties arise when we discuss the aesthetic values of the cover of the 16th issue of “Przekrój”. It went on sale at the end of July 1945 and focused mainly on the Warsaw Uprising.

As the caption informs us, the photograph depicts the ruins of the Royal Castle seen from Nowy Zjazd. I’m glad that the caption is there – otherwise, it’d be impossible to identify this pile of rubble. There are similar photos inside, and they all depict total and utter destruction. There is also a spread with Ludwik Cieślik’s drawings from a series entitled Warszawa cierpiąca [Warsaw Suffering] with meaningful titles: Powstańcy w okopach [Insurgents in the Trenches], Atak czołgów odparty [Enemy Tanks Fought Off], Po wygnaniu z domów

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Ewa Pawlik:

Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Manager – “Przekrój” Magazine.

Translation: Joanna Figiel
Publish date: 18.09.2020

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A National Asana A National Asana
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Cover from the archives (no. 1581/1983)
Fiction, Wellbeing

A National Asana

Yoga Branches Across Poland
Ewa Pawlik
Ewa Pawlik:

Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Manager – “Przekrój” Magazine.

To make it onto the cover of “Przekrój”, you had to not only be born a human being, but also to grow up into a kitten. No boy achieved this. The collection of “Przekrój” kittens, although large, was solely comprised of girls. Anything becomes ordinary and ugly in excess so, from time to time, the kittens were interspersed with other species.

Fairly regularly, seals, whales, stray and predatory cats, dogs, elephants, birds and even ants appeared on the cover. Plants and children were the least popular and only appeared sporadically. One year in the 1980s, towards the end of spring, a really unusual situation occurred; a vertical tree and two children in the asana yogic position appeared on the cover. Yoga was a long way from enjoying the popularity it has today, but it was not a complete novelty for “Przekrój” readers. The first mention of this technique appeared in 1955 and, as with the subsequent coverage, was aimed at adult readers of the magazine.

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