Kamienie na szaniec (lit. Stones for the Rampart, also translated as Stones on the Barricade) is a 1943 non-fiction novel by Polish writer Aleksander Kamià Âski. Published by the Polish underground press during the World War II occupation of Poland, the book describes the history of the Polish underground scout movement, the Grey Ranks (and the affiliation, in particular with the Polish Underground State and Home Army, of whom Kamià Âski was one of the instructors and leaders), from his experiences and several members in particular, from the time before through the occupation until the publication.
Already immensely popular during World War II, after the war the book entered the canon of Polish literature and remains a recommended reading text for Polish students in the secondary school curriculum. It was adapted into two feature films, in 1977 and in 2014.
Kamienie na szaniec was published by the Polish underground press in 1943, during the period of German occupation of Poland in World War II. The author Aleksander Kamià Âski was a member of the Polish Armia Krajowa (Home Army) resistance movement, editor of the underground Biuletyn Informacyjny magazine, and one of the instructors and leaders of the Polish underground scout movement, the Grey Ranks, which took an active role in the resistance through various acts of minor resistance known as small sabotage. Kamià Âski based his story on the memoirs of Tadeusz Zawadzki ("Zoà Âka"), a 22-year-old member of the Grey Ranks.
The story portrayed in the book is a slightly fictionalized account of real lives of Gray Rank members (known by their noms-de-guerre of "Rudy", "Zoà Âka", and "Alek"), with the final act centred on the Operation Arsenal. The book tells the story of a group of Polish boy-scouts taking part in resistance movements in nazi-occupied Warsaw. A major part of the book revolves around trying to rescue "Rudy" from Gestapo captivity. Despite the success of the operation, "Rudy" dies shortly afterwards from grave injuries caused by torture during German interrogations, with "Zoà Âka" by his side. "Alek" dies at the same time from wounds sustained during the rescue, while "Zoà Âka" is killed a few months later in another operation.
The title of the book comes from Testament mój (My Testament), a poem by Juliusz Sà Âowacki, and refers to the insurrectionist traditions of Polish romanticism. In that book, Kamià Âski redefines the meaning of scouting in times of military conflict. According to the critic Maciej Górny, describing the book's role in the complexity of subsequent events of Polish history, it became "one of the main Polish narratives of the Second World War, appealing to sentiments of national heroism as well as contributing to symbolic self-victimization."
The relevant passage from SÃ Âowacki's poem is:
Kamienie na szaniec was published in Poland twice before the war ended, and 17 times before 1993. The book was published in English as Stones for the Rampart: The story of two lads in the Polish underground movement in 1944, and in Czech in 1948.
Despite difficulties in distribution, it quickly gained popularity in occupied Poland. Over the years the book, described as "canonical", became a recommended reading text for Polish students in the secondary school curriculum. At first, however, the book's popularity had been of concern to the Polish communist authorities after the war, due to their ambivalent or even hostile attitude towards the Home Army tradition. In the first years of communist rule, it was either criticized as irresponsible, or suppressed. It was republished following the liberalization of 1956, and eventually it was included in the recommended texts for schoolchildren even before the fall of communism in Poland.
The book was made into a movie, Akcja pod Arsenaà Âem, directed by Jan à Âomnicki in 1977.
A new film based on the book, directed by Robert Glià Âski, was released in Poland on March 7, 2014. It was promoted by the song "4:30" by Polish singer Dawid Podsiadà Âo.