| dc.description.abstract | Capturing Warsaw by the Nazis at the end of September 1939 considerably limited and forced
a significant modification of the activities of the ”Nasza Księgarnia” publishing house. The
publisher had to function in completely different, obviously disadvantageous conditions.
The company’s official activity consisted chiefly in running a book and stationary store. Its
clandestine activity, however, was selling the banned school textbooks e.g. in Polish, history,
or geography, as well as publishing the banned titles. A common strategy was dating the books
with an earlier date, and printing “Lviv” or “Vilnius” as the place of publishing. This effectively
prevented the occupant authorities from verifying the falsified data. Since the company
obtained unregistered income from the illegally distributed books, it was in the position to
support financially the authors and illustrators who co-operated with the publisher before
the war. Despite many dangers and great organizational obstacles, “Nasza Księgarnia” did not
cease to function during the WWII, and constituted an essential link in the Polish resistance.
The company’s close connections with the Clandestine Teaching Organization and numerous
cooperatives allowed it to conduct multidirectional struggle on an impressive scale, to spread
the national spirit by publishing and distributing Polish books, addressed mainly at children
and youth. | en |
