Teresa Ferenc

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Teresa Ferenc
Ferenc in 1975
Born	(1934-04-27)27 April 1934 Ruszów-Kolonia, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
Died	1 August 2022(2022-08-01) (aged 88)
Occupation	Poet
Notable awards	Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis[1]
Spouse	Zbigniew Jankowski

Teresa Ferenc (27 April 1934 – 1 August 2022) was a Polish poet.^[2][3][4]

Ferenc was born in Ruszów-Kolonia^[5] in the administrative district of Gmina Łabunie, within Zamość County^[6] in Lublin Voivodeship in Poland on 27 April 1934.^[7][8] She lived with her parents and family in the village of Sochy, Lublin Voivodeship in the Zamość region.^[9] During World War II, as a 9-year-old child, she survived the massacre of the village of Sochy^[10] by Nazi Germany on 1 June 1943 during German occupation of Poland.^[11] Her parents were murdered then.^[12][13] The village was also bombed by German Luftwaffe planes.^[14][15][16] As an orphan, she was raised by relatives and in orphanages.^[17] After graduating from Teacher's College, she taught at the Lyceum in Rybnik.^[18] In 1956 she married the poet Zbigniew Jankowski.^[19] She raised two daughters, also a poet: Anna Janko^[20] and Milena Wieczorek.^[21]

As a poet Ferenc debuted in 1958.^[22] Her first published book of poems was Moje ryżowe poletko ("My rice field") in 1964.^[23][24] Her works have appeared in dozens of anthologies and other collective publications in Poland and abroad.^[25] She also published books with poems for children.^[26] Together with her husband Zbigniew Jankowski, she founded the poetic group "Reda".^[27] In 2004 and 2009 she was the laureate of the President of the City of Gdańsk Award in the Field of Culture.^[28]

She was a member of the PEN Club and a founding member of the Polish Writers' Association (SPP).^[29] The poet publishes, among others in Twórczość ("Creativity"), Odra (magazine), Topos.^[30]

In 2016, Ferenc with her husband Zbigniew Jankowski was awarded the silver "Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis".^[31][32]

Dramatic events in the life of Ferenc, when she survived as a 9-year-old child, the Sochy massacre by the German occupiers on 1 June 1943, in which she lost both parents^[33] – were described in a book titled Mała Zagłada ("A Little Annihilation") written by her daughter, poet Anna Janko.^[34][35][36]

The book Mała Zagłada ("A Little Annihilation") by Anna Janko became the canvas for the creation of the film Natalia Koryncka-Gruz entitled "A Minor Genocide" (Mała zagłada).^[37][38] The film reminds of the tragic fate of Ferenc and the inhabitants of the village of Sochy in the Zamość region, victims of the massacre. The consequences of war and war crimes in subsequent generations, families of victims of genocide are also shown.^[39][40][41]

• Moje ryżowe poletko ("My rice field") (1964),^[42][43][44]
• Zalążnia ("Ovary") (1968),^[45]
• Godność natury ("Dignity of nature") (1973),^[46][47]
• Ciało i płomień ("Body and flame") (1974),^[48]
• Małżeństwo ("Marriage") (1975),^[49]
• Poezje wybrane i nowe ("Selected and new poetry") (1975),^[50]
• Wypalona dolina ("Burned Valley") (1979),^[51][52]
• Poezje wybrane ("Selected poetry") (1980),^[53]
• Pieta ("Pietà") (1981),^[54]
• Najbliższa ojczyzna ("Nearest homeland") (1982),^[55]
• Grzeszny pacierz ("A sinful prayer") (1983).^[56]
• Drzewo dziwo ("Amazingly tree") (1987),^[57][58]
• Nóż za ptakiem ("Knife behind the bird") (1987),^[59][60][61]
• Kradzione w raju (1988),^[62][63]
• Wybór wierszy Swallowing Paradise. Poems. (1992) (in United States),^[64][65][66]
• Wiersze ("Poems") (1994),^[67][68]
• Boże pole ("God's field") (1997),^[69][70]
• Psalmy i inne wiersze dawne i nowe ("Psalms and other old and new poems") (1999),^[71][72][73]
• Dzieci wody ("Water children") (2003),^{[74][75][76][77]}
• Stara jak świat ("Old as the world") (2004),^[78]
• Ogniopis. Wybór wierszy ("Ogniopis. Selection of poems") (2009),^[79][80]
• Widok na życie ("A view of life") (2012)^[81][82][83]
• Wiersze. Wybor ("Poems. Choice") (2017)^[84]

In her poetry, Ferenc touches on topics related to love, corporeality and motherhood. In her poetry she also often returns to the tragedy of her childhood – in 1943, as a nine-year-old child, she witnessed how almost all residents (including her parents) were shot by the Germans; the village itself was then bombed and burned (hence the fire motif returns in its poetry).^[85][86]

Ferenc wrote in the poem Wieś skamieniała (poem: "The village is petrified") about the Sochy massacre, which she survived in her childhood:
"1 June 1943 on the edge of the Zwierzyniec forests my village was shot.
Sochy – like in Oradour in France,
Sochy – like in Lidice in Czech Republic,
Sochy – like in Mezzinote in Italy."^[87]

• 1979 – Nagroda im. Stanisława Piętaka (Gdańska Książka Roku 1979 w dziedzinie poezji) za tom poezji Wypalona dolina ("The prize Stanisław Piętak ( Gdańsk Book of the Year 1979 in the field of poetry) for the poetry volume "Burned Valley"")^[88]
• 1997 – wyróżnienie przyznane przez Fundację Kultury za Boże pole ("distinction awarded by the Culture Foundation for "God's field"")^[89]
• 1997 – nagroda Media Książce (Gdańska Książka Wiosny) za Boże pole ("Media Book award (Gdańsk Spring Book) for "God's field"")^[90]
• 2004 – Nagroda Artusa 2004 za zbiór Stara jak świat (""Artus Award 2004" for the collection "Old as the World"")^[91][92]
• 2004 – nagroda Media Książce za rok 2004, za zbiór Stara jak świat (""Media Book" award for 2004, for the collection "Old as the World"")^[93]
• 2013 – finał Nagrody Poetyckiej Orfeusz za tom Widok na życie (final of the Orpheus Poetry Award for the volume A view of life)^[94]
• 2016 – silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis^[95][96]

• "Polska Bibliografia Literacka. Ferenc Teresa" [Polish Literary Bibliography. Ferenc Teresa] (in Polish). Retrieved 14 February 2020.
• "Rzeź w Sochach: ... i rozstrzelali ich wszystkich" [Slaughter in Sochy: ... and they shot them all] (in Polish). 15 April 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2020.

• Anna Janko
• Zbigniew Jankowski
• Sochy massacre
• Ethnic cleansing of Zamojszczyzna by Nazi Germany
• Pacification actions in German-occupied Poland
• List of Polish-language authors
• List of Polish-language poets
• List of Poles
• Zamość
• Zwierzyniec

• Home as Artistic Figure in Teresa Ferenc’s Poetry. A Critical Introduction to the Issue, author Pawlik-Kopek Aleksandra: Dom jako figura artystyczna w poezji Teresy Ferenc. Wstęp do problematyki.
• PL Teresa Ferenc, poetry
• Ciurysek, Agnieszka (13 August 2015). "Teresa Ferenc ze wsi Sochy" [Teresa Ferenc from the village of Sochy] (in Polish). Retrieved 12 February 2020.
• Zagalski, Jakub (23 April 2018). "Wojna nie umiera nigdy. Traumatyczne wspomnienia przeszły z matki na córkę" [War never dies. Traumatic memories passed from mother to daughter] (in Polish). Retrieved 12 February 2020.
• "Gdańska Książka Roku 2004" [Gdańsk Book of the Year 2004] (in Polish). 25 February 2005. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
• Gruszka-Zych, Barbara (27 September 2010). "Miłość nie mija" [Love doesn't go by] (in Polish). Retrieved 12 February 2020.
• "Polska Bibliografia Literacka. Ferenc Teresa" [Polish Literary Bibliography. Ferenc Teresa] (in Polish). Retrieved 14 February 2020.
• "Dzieci Wody: Wiersze Z Morzem. Ferenc Teresa" [Water Children: Poems With The Sea. Ferenc Teresa] (in Polish). Retrieved 14 February 2020.
• ""Wiersze. Wybor." Teresa Ferenc" ["Poems. Choice." Teresa Ferenc] (in Polish). Retrieved 14 February 2020.
• Ferenc, Teresa (2017). "Wiersze. Wybor." Ferenc Teresa ["Poems. Choice." Ferenc Teresa] (in Polish). ISBN 978-8364708251.
• (in Polish) Mała Zagłada film about Sochy massacre "A Minor Genocide" (Mała Zagłada)
• Mała zagłada at IMDb  "A Minor Genocide" film about Sochy massacre
• A Minor Genocide, Film A Minor Genocide in TVP
• "Mała zagłada" ["A Minor Genocide"] (in Polish). Retrieved 15 February 2020., Teresa Ferenc in a documentary film Mała zagłada