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"But this language of yours,” said one of the instructors, himself an obvious Britisher, “where does it come from?” …
“From the mouth of Polish mothers,” I replied.
-- William Carlos Williams, The Autobiography, p. 311
Edward J. Jesko
Edward J. Jesko was born in Poland and came to the United States, for the first time, in 1943. He was then ten years old. A US Navy ship brought him to San Diego, California, straight from a concentration camp. Unfortunately, the United States government did not let him remain. So he went to Mexico, where he lived in a refugee camp for five years. When the camp was terminated, he was compelled to struggle. In order to survive, he held many jobs. At fifteen he worked as a roofer, a logger, and a sawmill helper, neglecting his formal education because of lack of time and opportunity. He finally immigrated to USA in 1951. Here, because of his Polish origin, he suffered rejection, degradation, and discrimination. Here, for the first time in his life, he was called a Dumb Polak and a White Nigger. Here, he was subjected to the so-called offensive Polish jokes. This plus discrimination, rejection and degradation made his life a never-ending torment, a hell on earth! He described his experiences in two autobiographical novels.
Performance
Publications
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iUniverse, 2006
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Gardners Books, 2007

iUniverse, 2006