A library's secret, a grandmother's legacy

August 1st, 1939

Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Katrzyna felt her heart start to beat faster as she quietly winded through the University library’s corridors. Their train was leaving at 6 am tomorrow, what if they weren’t let on? What if one of the border agents was a spy, and stopped them for questioning? Her mind reeling with questions, and with a stack of books hiding the metal box in her arms, she tried to focus on the task at hand. It might not work, she thought. They could destroy the whole library, just as they destroyed the lives of so many. Someone could catch her with the box in that moment, and wonder if she was doing anything else besides cataloging a few first editions. She had to try, though. If she could save only one thing, she had to try and save at least this.

July 1st, 1939

Nowy Świat, Krakow

Everyone knew the Nazi’s were coming, it was only a matter of weeks. Katrzyna paced around the small studio she shared with her fiance, Maciej, thinking about the next few weeks that would change their lives forever. The apartment was small and old, the walls needed fresh paint, but she loved it nethertheless, because they had made it a home. They were happy there. She was finishing her doctorate in Polish Language and Literature at the University, he had just started working at the Wawel Royal castle as an art conservator one year prior. They were proud children of their native city, full of history, architecture, and culture. She couldn’t believe they would have to leave. Rumors were growing that Nazi officials were rounding up various intellectuals from Polish society. Her academic advisor had a colleague in Bialystok who mysteriously vanished a few weeks prior. Terrified of what could happen to them, Katarzyna and Maciej’s families begged them to leave the country while they stayed behind, hoping to ride out whatever was to come. It was too risky to try and leave as a group as there were spies everywhere along the travel route. As rumors of the danger grew louder, they reluctantly agreed.

Maciej had a distant cousin living in London, who agreed to let them stay with him while they waited out what they hoped would be a short while. Katarzyna’s uncle called in favors he had with friends to secure travel authorization documents for them along with forged identity cards. They were no longer Katarzyna and Maciej, but Anna and Janusz, husband and wife. His profession was now a dock worker, while she was now a seamstress, and he had documents confirming an offer of employment with a shipping company in London. They hoped that once they arrived, they’d be able to claim asylum and resume their identities, perhaps find jobs at one of the universities. But for now, all that mattered was getting out.

In the weeks prior to their departure, Katarzyna tried to keep busy. She continued assisting at the University Library, archiving books, doing whatever she could to keep her mind off their upcoming journey. In the evenings, she unpacked and re-packed the small suitcase she was planning on bringing with her. Her beautiful patchwork blazer, would she even need it again? Would there be room for at least one book? In the library, she had to fight back tears. Would she ever see it again, this place that taught her so much, the halls in which she fell in love with the Polish classics? Then she thought about the manuscripts. After her bachelor’s thesis defense, her tutor had told her a secret guarded by only the most trusted caretakers of the library. In the hall of rare books, in one of the protective cases, there was a hidden shelf that contained the original manuscripts of With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz. One of the most important works of the famed Polish novelist, she remembered the day she learned of the secret and had her first look at the manuscript. It was on that day that she decided to pursue a career as a professor, to one day be able to teach the work of Sienkiewicz and other great Polish authors, and to pass on the secret of the library to others who would guard it. Would the Nazis destroy the manuscripts too? It was too much of a risk to take them with her. Was there anywhere she could hide them, a place where they wouldn’t look?

December 23rd, 1998

London, England

Katarzyna looked out the window as the snow began to stick to the ground. She always looked for her family’s cars as they drove up the road and onto her driveway. They would all come this year, even her eldest grandson with his wife and newborn son. She always looked forward to the holidays, even after Maciej passed. It gave her something to look forward to. She had all their photographs neatly laid out in frames across the top of the piano. Her favorite was Ella’s, with her big grin, posing for her 2nd grade school photo. Ella had always secretly been her favorite grandchild, the most curious and free-spirited of the three. Always eager to learn, Ella began reading at a very young age and loved to tell her stories about the characters she came across in books. Katarzyna loved all her grand-children, but their shared love of books gave her a special connection with Ella.

When her first child was born, Katarzyna decided that she would give each of her children and grandchildren a copy of With Fire and Sword on their 18th birthday, and write the same note on the 3rd to last page, “Come and tell me your favorite part, and I will tell you mine.” The first person to come to her and show that they truly appreciated Sienkiewicz’s work would learn the secret she had kept since 1939. Over the years, her children did not appear interested in Polish literature, preferring other subjects and activities. No one came up to her to discuss their favorite part. Perhaps they did not read it, or perhaps they simply didn’t enjoy it. Nevertheless, Katarzyna always believed that one day, someone would love the novel as much as she did. Then, along came Ella.

On her 18th birthday, Ella received her copy of With Fire and Sword, and could not put it down. She always loved her grandmother’s recommendations. When she came upon the note at the end of the book, she told her parents she’d be visiting her that weekend. When she arrived, her and Katarzyna discussed the book for hours, going through the different plot twists, references, and meanings. Ella told her grandma that she’d love to visit Poland again and learn more about its history and culture. Katarzyna told her that when she went to university, she could apply for an exchange semester in Poland. She promised that before she’d go, she would give her a small black notebook full of her fondest memories at the Jagiellonian University, as well as the story of their journey to England. Ella was ecstatic, eager to learn more about her ancestral homeland and retracing her grandmother’s footsteps. She was set to start her semester abroad in February, and couldn’t wait to receive her grandma’s treasured journal over the holidays.

February 1st, 1999

London Airport

With her grandma's black notebook in her backpack, Ella boarded the flight to Krakow. As the plane took off, she looked out the window, excited for the adventures that were to come. She ordered a soda, and opened the journal to the last place she left off reading. About 40 pages into her reading, she saw a note written in red ink above the black text that read “Ella, be sure to read the last few pages before you leave Krakow.” Never one to have much patience when it came to a good story, Ella flipped open to the back of the journal. There, she was taken back to August 1st of 1939, where her grandmother carried a metal box to the hall of rare books at the Jagiellonian University Library. She learned that Katarzyna had taken the original manuscripts of Sienkiewicz’s With Fire and Sword, hidden in the hall for decades, and placed them in a metal box. Then, she carried the box to a nondescript study hall in the opposite wing of the library, and hidden it beneath the floorboards 3 paces from the tapestried wall. “Find it, Ella”, she wrote. Find it, and restore it to the proper hands.

February 7th, 1999

Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Ella jumped out of her bed that morning, clear on her purpose. The last few days had been chaotic with sorting out her student housing and class registrations. Finally, she had some time to go to the University library. With her student ID in hand, she entered the building and began wandering the corridors, trying to find the study hall described in her grandmother's notebook. She tried to look as casual as possible, afraid of drawing attention to herself and what she might discover. Finally, on the 4th floor of the west wing, she discovered a small study hall with a tapestried wall exactly like the one described in her grandmother’s journal. The university and it’s buildings had luckily remained largely untouched during the war. She went up to the wall, then walked forward 3 paces, and tapped the floorboards lightly with her shoes. On the second tap, she heard hollow sounds, as if there was space beneath the board. She was alone in the study hall, and as quietly as she could, she tried to lift the floor board up from the ground. After a few tries, the board gave in and lifted. There, covered in a thick layer of dust, lay a rectangular metal box, rusted around the edges. Ella quickly hid the box in her backpack, fit the floorboard back into the ground, and rushed out of the library and back to her student apartment. There, she took out the box, and carefully tried to open it. After a few tries with a knife, the rusted casing gave in, and the box opened. In it were thin parchment papers, covered only in a thin layer of plastic. Very carefully, Ella unfolded each individual parchment, and laid it out onto her floor. She discovered that they were, indeed, the original manuscripts of With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz, signed by his own hand in 1883. Ella couldn’t believe her eyes. The secret that her grandmother kept so fervently for decades was finally revealed. What would she do with it?

June 1st, 1999

Krakow, Poland

Ella walked out of the national museum with a satisfied smile on her face. She had handed over Sienkiewicz’s manuscripts to the museum curators, following discussions with her grandmother via their letters. This was the best place for them, with people from around the world able to enjoy the author’s original masterpiece. In gratitude, the museum awarded Ella a grant of 100,000 euro, to use in whatever manner she wished, as long as the purpose was educational. She decided to put it into a scholarship fund under her grandmother’s given name, for student’s of Polish Language and Literature, so that her Katarzyna’s legacy and passion for the subjects could live on for years to come.

All incidents, dialogue, and characters with the exception of some well-known historical figures, places, and events, are products of the author's imagination and are not to be taken as real. Where real-life historical figures, places, and events appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons, places, and events are entirely fictional and are not intended to depict actual events. In all other respects, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or events, is entirely coincidental.