Ważyk, Adam

Adam Ważyk born Ajzyk Wagman (17 November 1905 – 13 August 1982) was a Polish poet, essayist and writer born to a Jewish family in Warsaw. In his early career, he was associated with the Kraków avant-garde led by Tadeusz Peiper who published Zwrotnica monthly. Ważyk wrote several collections of poetry in the interwar years. His work during this period focused largely on the losses of World War I. As a member of the Communist Party of Poland, Ważyk belonged to a group of left-wing writers active in Warsaw in the 1930s. At the onset of World War II he escaped to Lwów in the Soviet occupied part of Poland, where he published articles for Czerwony Sztandar (Red Banner). Later, he joined the Berling Army as political officer. After the war he was a very influential person. Initially a strong supporter of communism he became very critical later on. His "Poem for Adults" marks the end of the socialist realism era in Polish literature.