https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/ Recent content in Posts on Klara Łuczka-Hanzalová Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:00:00 +0000 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/uprising-80years/ Thu, 01 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/uprising-80years/ In Death Beloved, the second book in my WWII trilogy, releases today – on the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. I wanted to do something special to commemorate this day, and publishing a book turned out to be the best answer I found. Its pages will bring to life some heroes of those days, stories of true historical figures intertwined with the fictional. While the events of August-September 1944 are at the heart of this story, there is much more to it than a simple recounting of battle details. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/monte-cristo-review/ Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:00:00 +0000 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/monte-cristo-review/ I cannot believe the pace with which I flew through this book. A classic that is gripping and entertaining but at the same time full of depth. I think it might even win over Les Misérables and become my new favorite work in French literature. The story begins in 1815 Marseille, the day Napolean leaves his first exile at the isle of Elbe. Edmond Dantès was a young man with a promising life ahead of him. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/autumn-anne/ Mon, 14 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/autumn-anne/ “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – Anne of Green Gables Something about autumn fills me with childhood nostalgia… This year it inspired me to reread a favorite book after 13 years… For what is a good children’s book if not one that can be enjoyed in adulthood? My love for Anne of Green Gables began when I was 12, about the same age as the heroine at the start. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/first-steps-motherhood/ Mon, 30 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/first-steps-motherhood/ How can I even capture this time into words? The intense joy in those first moments. Dazed and exhausted after hours of labor, I stepped into a new world. She’s here. Our daughter. I’ll never forget the moment I picked her up from the birth pool and held her in my arms. My first words to her. Kocham Cię Anielko. I love you, Aniela. But after those initial exhilarating sparks came the inevitable exhaustion. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/uprising-just-war/ Mon, 29 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/uprising-just-war/ Can war ever be just? If we agree that justice is necessary to any human society, then the question is merely under which conditions war would become just. St Thomas Aquinas wisely assembled three necessary conditions for war to be just. Let us have a look at these. 1. Waged with sovereignty War ought to be waged by command of a sovereign, not an individual. In this way, will of the selfishness of an individual does not lead to redress. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/historical-fiction-limits/ Mon, 22 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/historical-fiction-limits/ Writing the second part of my trilogy came with a new challenge – integrating more historical figures and events within a fictionalized narrative. Doing a wide amount of research came with the temptation of just rewriting a textbook, forgetting about my storyteller’s voice. It took me time to gain confidence in painting these historical players as real people rather than marble statues. Like anyone of us, they too had their own unique friendships, loves, joys and sorrows. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/favorite-historical-fiction/ Mon, 15 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/favorite-historical-fiction/ In comparing my experiences as a writer and reader of historical fiction, I realized that there was little overlap between the two. I noticed something I paid little attention to earlier – that when directing myself towards this genre, I rarely chose novels set in the era I write about – the Second World War. Perhaps that’s simply because I search for fresh air and need to set my eyes on something new. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/june-sacred-heart/ Sun, 16 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/june-sacred-heart/ June has always carried a unique sweetness. Long summer days, eating as many strawberries as possible, loud but warm thunderstorms, the scent of elderflower soaked by rain… My favorite time of the year for long strolls around town. Across the half-open church doors, I hear voices singing the litany to the Sacred Heart… During my summers in Warsaw, every evening I would try to find a daily Mass followed by June devotions. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/pentecost-celebration/ Sun, 26 May 2024 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/pentecost-celebration/ Pentecost had a more special place in our family calendar this year, as we tried to truly bring the feast to life. And what a great joy it was to prepare a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, as we anticipated His coming for the nine days since the Ascension. Guided by the Spirit The Third Person of the Trinity can seem so abstract and volatile, difficult to grasp. I had to sit back in quietude to become more aware of His place in my life. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/motherhood-mary-may/ Sun, 19 May 2024 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/motherhood-mary-may/ No matter what comes along next, remember you are and always will be a mother. These words I heard from my husband on the evening we made the sweetest discovery… of our little baby’s life, slowly growing inside me. Those first weeks were something of a surreal wonder at the miracle of Creation, but there was also a vague, hardly distinguishable anxiety. The enormous gift we had been entrusted with at the same time appeared so fragile and uncertain. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/frankl-search-for-meaning/ Wed, 21 Feb 2024 08:00:00 +0000 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/frankl-search-for-meaning/ As a future psychotherapist, and writer of WWII fiction, I’ve been drawn for a while towards discovering Viktor Frankl’s work. I did not know much about his school of psychoanalysis, apart from the fact that his experiences from Auschwitz and other concentration camps were a catalyzer in the birth of logotherapy. Man’s search for meaning offers a vivid image of the endurance of the human spirit in the face of adversity. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/kolumbowie-poets/ Fri, 15 Sep 2023 08:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/kolumbowie-poets/ I remember sitting in a Polish literature class early on in high school, hearing for the first time the story of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński. The young talented poet who fought in the Warsaw Uprising, tragically killed at the age of 23. Immediately, I fell in love with this symbolic figure, merging the age-old themes of love and death. Little did I know that his verses would inspire the title of my first novel years later. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/cichociemni-parachuters/ Fri, 08 Sep 2023 08:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/cichociemni-parachuters/ Largo House, Fife, Scotland. Out of sight of villager passersby stands an abandoned edifice, overgrown with bushes and trees. A labyrinth of fences, fields and barbed wires must be crossed before reaching the deserted premises. But in the 1940s, the lost in-the-middle-of-nowhere hidden nature of this place was perfectly suited to its purposes. Largo House, past and present Decades ago, these grounds were the training center of the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/warsaw-uprising-79-years/ Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/warsaw-uprising-79-years/ August 1st, 5.00pm. Every year, for one minute, the city of Warsaw freezes. The sound of sirens reverberates across the heavy summer air. Gathered in contemplation, we look back to those who, in 1944 at that same hour, initiated a battle to liberate their beloved city and homeland. The Warsaw Uprising. 63 days of perseverance, honor, and bloodshed. Fighting to their last breath, Varsovians watched their home crumble to ruins. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/wolyn-80-years/ Fri, 14 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/wolyn-80-years/ July 11th marks Poland’s National Day of Remembrance of the Volhynia massacre. This year, we commemorated 80 years from the tragic Krwawa Niedziela (“bloody Sunday”) - culmination point of a mass extermination action against Polish civilians, led by the Ukraine Nationalistic units OUN and UPA. This cruel episode from the Second World War is little spoken of today. Approaching it is intimidating, especially in these times when Ukraine is fighting again, rightfully defending its territory. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/kutscheradiversionaction/ Fri, 07 Jul 2023 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/kutscheradiversionaction/ February 1st, 1944 Halfway through their ride across the bridge, the two young men noticed a blockade formed by German police on the opposite edge. The blood-covered car with gunshot marks would immediately unmask them… Retreat to the right bank? A panicked attempt to maneuver their way out, but the machine unexpectedly stalls. The agitated turning about did not go unnoticed. Already, German policemen start running towards them. Danger is also arising from the other side – first, the sound of gunshots, then the sight of even more uniformed figures… The men hurry out of the car, feverishly shooting around themselves in defense, throwing a last grenade into the crowd of soldiers approaching. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/travelcroatia/ Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/travelcroatia/ It began simply as a family visit, to a country I saw as overrated among tourists – growing up in Poland I never stopped hearing about people’s holidays in Croatia. At the time the destination seemed quite attractive, but with the years my interest faded away, until a new motivation appeared – to walk the roads along which many of my husband’s childhood summers were scattered. So we waved goodbye to Scotland to discover a new destination. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/attachmenttheorywar/ Fri, 23 Jun 2023 09:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/attachmenttheorywar/ With a background in developmental psychology, I sometimes feel an implicit pressure to make scientific knowledge shine in my work as a writer. Do I ever achieve that goal? Perhaps not directly, but back in my final year of university I definitely enjoyed applying developmental theories to my characters… That was a good motivation to study! One of the topics that has fascinated me since the start of my journey with psychology is attachment theory. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/polishscoutswar/ Fri, 16 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/polishscoutswar/ As a teenager in Poland, I was part of the Scouting movement, which through its ideals and lifestyle, left a profound impact on who I grew up to be. The values helped me in supporting my faith and moral framework, even in the shakier times of adolescence, when every voice around you seems to be calling for rebellion. Oftentimes people associate scouts simply with an image of kids running around the forest playing games. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/inspirationfornovel/ Fri, 09 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/blog/inspirationfornovel/ <> (weight = 10) Since childhood, the history of my hometown has profoundly impacted my imagination. Wandering around the streets of Warsaw, every footstep was permeated by the weight of the past, the scars left on the city during the Second World War. A city once enslaved by the German Nazi invaders, its buildings still carry the impressions, both tangible and invisible, of fervent combat. I remember developing a fascination for a symbol depicted on countless memorial plaques and walls. https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/stories/shortstorywar/ Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0100 https://klaraluczkahanzalova.com/post/stories/shortstorywar/ October 1939 The prison wagon was overcrowded with Polish soldiers. They were held in the dark as to their destination. Having been passed from the hands of the Russians to the Germans, they wondered which of the two evils to fear more. Sebastian shut his eyes, trying to catch up on the rest and sleep he had been deprived of in the previous days. Slowly, the continuous murmurs faded away, and he saw once again his hometown, Warsaw, the loving faces left behind…