Author honoured at Polish embassy
LEXI LANDSMAN
CHILD Holocaust survivor Diane Armstrong was six weeks old and living in Poland when World War II broke out.
This month, seven decades later, the award-winning author — whose fiction and non-fiction books have since chronicled the war – has been invited by the Polish embassy to speak at two functions in Canberra to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.
“Receiving this tribute from the Polish embassy feels as though the wheel of my life has turned full circle,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong will discuss her recently published novel Nocturne, which is set in Warsaw and London during the war, at the embassy on Wednesday September 9, with guest speaker and fellow Jewish author Arnold Zable.
On September 10, Armstrong will speak on the subject of “betrayal” at the National Press Club.
“I wrote Nocturne to explore Poland’s tragic wartime experiences, to tell the story of the heroic people of Warsaw, and also to come to an understanding of my own past,” Armstrong said.
“Being invited by the Polish embassy to speak about my novel and my life, on the anniversary of the outbreak of the war, illustrates the power of destiny.”
Polish Ambassador to Australia Andrzej Jaroszynski told The AJN it was a natural decision to invite Armstrong to speak at the embassy — both as a leading Australian literary figure, and also as a child survivor who witnessed firsthand the war in Poland.
“Her book Nocturne is specifically dedicated to World War II and it is a very important voice in the discussion of the complicated history of the war, especially recently, [since] there is a revival of this theme in German, Russian and Polish literature.”
He added that with mass culture being flooded by visuals of the war Hollywood-style, the war can be trivialised and appear “too simple or too homogenous to be true”.
“Literature is a powerful means and tool to shape human imagination and human memory. Her voice is both personal and very serious, therefore I think it’s very appropriate that here in Canberra we could present her perspective, sensibility and experience.”
Armstrong was born in Cracow just before the war began, and survived the Holocaust with her parents thanks to a Catholic priest, who refused to let the villagers turn them over to the Gestapo.
Nocturne was published last year, with a second edition released in May. Although Nocturne is a work of fiction, the characters have been inspired by real people, and the story is set against a backdrop of historical events such as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Warsaw Uprising, and the English bombing missions over Germany.
Dianne Armstrong will discuss her novel Nocturne at the Polish embassy in Canberra on Wednesday September 9. Then on Thursday September 10, Armstrong will speak on “Betrayal” at the National Press Club.
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