THE CHAMPION OF LETTERS. JULIAN KRZYŻANOWSKI AS LECTURER AT THE UNDERGROUND UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW

After the fall of Warsaw and the closing down of the University of Warsaw under the German occupation, underground courses became the only means of educating Polish students during World War II. Despite being punishable by death, underground education in the capital of Poland continued until the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, with almost 300 scholars and 3,500 students active in 1944. One of its organisers and lecturers was the Polish literature and folklore scholar, Julian Krzyżanowski (1892-1976), actively involved in establishing and teaching underground Polish studies. The purpose of this paper is to expound on the nature of his educational activities along with that of associates and students through a detailed analysis of the professor’s own memoirs.