BETWEEN BOROWSKI AND ZOFIA KOSSAK: TADEUSZ NOWAKOWSKI'S 'THE SHED BEHIND THE YASMINS'

This article is concerned with 'The Shed behind the Yasmins', Tadeusz Nowakowski's debut, published in London in 1948. Before offering his own analyses and interpretations, the author tries to clear up a web of misunderstandings, which has marked the reception of that novel both in Poland and in expatriate publications. While arguing that 'The Shed behind the Yasmins' occupies a middle ground between the concentration camp stories of Tadeusz Borowski and those of Zofia Kossak, he also calls for a rejection of the generally accepted typology of Nazi and Soviet concentration camp literature which uses Borowski's Auschwitz stories and Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski's 'World Apart'.