In the United States, a translation of Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz’s now classic essay book Wieszanie (“The Hangings”) has recently been published. The translation by Mateusz Julecki was supported by the Book Institute as part of the ©POLAND Translation Programme.
The book The Hangings, as reads the English translation of the book, was published by Winged Hussar Publishing Point Pleasant in New Jersey.
The Hangings is one of the most outstanding essayist works of the last two decades in Poland. This book, the author himself wrote, is intended for enthusiasts of Polish history – those who like to read about how Polish life used to be in the old days and how our ancestors lived, what adventures they had and what customs they observed. It tells of events that took place in Warsaw over two hundred years ago, between mid-April and early November 1794. It also mentions some events a little later and a little earlier, and (to serve as an example and a comparison) the events that took place at the same time in Vilnius and Krakow. This is not to say that my story gives an account of all the important events that took place in Warsaw in 1794. This issue is sufficiently explained by the title of the book – its subject concerns events connected with hangings on the gallows, or, to put it another way, with the legal or illegal execution of death sentences – sometimes judicial, sometimes issued spontaneously by the people of Warsaw.