From the village

In the collection of the Jozef Czechowicz Museum there is a set of seven letters written by the author of Poemat o mieście Lublinie [The Poem about the Town of Lublin] to Władysław Sebyła. Czechowicz's letter, sent from Lublin on 10 December 1932, begins this correspondence.

Czechowicz probably made contact with the addressee of the correspondence during his studies at the Institute of Special Pedagogy in Warsaw in the school year 1928/1929.

Władysław Sebyła (1902-1940) studied Polish philology at Warsaw University. He was associated with "Kwadryga", a poetic group with slogans of social poetry, also drawing inspiration from the works of Norwid. In 1929-1931, he was the editor of the group's organ of the same name. He published poetry collections: Pieśni szczurołapa [Songs of the Rat-Catcher] (1930), Koncert egotyczny [The Aegotic Concert] (1934) and Obrazy myśli [Images of Thoughts] (1938). He published in "Kwadryga", "Zet", "Pion" and in dailies, while on the Polish Radio he hosted broadcasts devoted to new poems. He considered Czechowicz to be "one of the most outstanding poets of the young generation, completely independent in his style of expression and poetic expression".

The poets established contacts in the editorial field. Czechowicz printed poems in "Kwadryga", and together with Sebyła also collaborated with "Zet", a magazine edited by Jerzy Braun, which was largely devoted to national philosophy and the so-called absolute philosophy of Józef Hoene-Wroński, messianism and the Romantic tradition. Sabina Sebyłowa wrote about Sebyła's contacts with Czechowicz in her book Okładka z Pegazem [The Cover with Pegasus] (Warsaw 1960) and in the sketch Niedokończone wątki [Unfinished Threads], included in the collective volume Spotkania z Czechowiczem [Meetings with Czechowicz]. The author recalls that the last meetings of the poets usually took place in "Zodiac", a cafe opened shortly before the outbreak of the war on Traugutta Street. Apparently, Czechowicz and Sebyła, foreseeing the imminent war, agreed to meet a week after it ended in "Zodiac". Unfortunately, this did not happen. The author of nuta człowiecza [The Note of a Man] died in Lublin on 9 September 1939, Sebyła a year later in Katyń. The Warsaw café, the poets' favourite meeting place, was also destroyed during the war conflagration.