The work of the Nobel Prize laureate Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) is autobiographical, so the author considers his poems, novels, letters, interviews and essays not only as literature, but also as evidence. Grudzińska Gross seeks in them descriptions of events that have shaped ideas and feelings related to violence and suffering, as well as reflections and conclusions drawn by Milosz from this experience. And since the current public life takes place in the shadow of the Second World War, the author tries to find examples of how to think about the violence present in our everyday life and the threats it generates.

"Milosz was a poet who could convey the brutality of war without replacing it with comforting cliches. His assessment of military events and actions differed from the one that the official Polish policy on history represents today. This discrepancy is one of the reasons for the appearance of this book."

The publication was carried out with the support of the Polish Institute in St. Petersburg.