Deszczowy chleb. Wiersze z wygnania

The book contains Polish translations of 40 poems from Maja Trochimczyk's volume of poetry, "The Rainy Bread: More Poems from Exile." Published in 2021 (first edition in 2016), the collection of 63 poems describes the tragic experiences of Poles during and after WWII, especially the author's family, originating from the country's eastern Borderlands (Baranowicze and the surrounding areas). Some poems capture the trauma, resilience, ordeals, and miraculous survival stories of the author’s immediate family. Their experiences of displacement, hunger, cold, and poverty during the war are typical of Polish civilians. They were killed, deported, imprisoned, or starved after the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939.. They were deported to Siberia, the Arctic Circle, or Kazakhstan. Some left the Soviet Union with the Second Corps of the Polish Army under the command of General Władysław Anders. Others were transported to refugee camps in India or Africa; and ended up in Argentina, Canada, Australia or the U.S. The focus is not the tragedy itself, but the power of will, the resilience, and the strength of character that safeguarded their survival. The book is an expanded edition of The Rainy Bread: Poems from Exile (2016) and a companion to Slicing the Bread (2014).