SOPOĆKI, K. M.

Teka Partyzancka: 8 odbitek wg drzeworytów [Partisan Portfolio: 8 prints after woodcuts]

Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Prasa Wojskowa [Military Press Publishing House], 1950. 35x25.3cm (portfolio); 34.5x24.8cm (woodcut prints). Eight loose woodcut prints, laid in a printed portfolio. Printed in a limited edition of 5000 copies. Light wear and toning to portfolio edges, with a small nick at spine tail and another along spine edge. Previous owner’s name in ink to front cover. Inconsequential creasing, faint toning, and an occasional speckle to some prints. Near Fine in a Near Fine portfolio. Scarce, with no copies available in commerce and no institutional holdings (OCLC) in the United States.

A series of powerful and well-executed woodcuts depicting various actions of the Gwardii Ludowej, or the People’s Guard, an underground Polish communist resistance force active in occupied Poland during World War II from 1942 to 1944. The Gwardii Ludowej was established with sponsorship from the Soviet Union to support the Red Army and Polish communists against Nazi Germany. Most of the Gwardii Ludowej operations focused on sabotage, ambush, and other guerrilla tactics. These included disassembling train tracks, bombing German-frequented coffee houses, and printing clandestine documents and flyers, which are depicted in some of these woodcuts. Although much of the Gwardii Ludowej’s retaliatory activities relied on violence and were executed with little thought for civilian casualties, it was the largest and most organized partisan force on Polish soil and its strength was essential to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II. The uprising was unsuccessful and brought appalling consequences and deaths to the Jewish community at the hands of the Nazis, but in its aftermath, the Gwardii Ludowej remained to help Jews escape. Though not without its failures, the Gwardii Ludowej were a hopeful force in one of the most besieged parts of Europe, recognizing the importance of grassroots activism and, as demonstrated here, of the press.

Price: $650.00

Item #10604