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Edward Małłek (1907-1995) made significant contributions to the development of Masurian culture and Protestantism in Poland. He came from East Prussia, and his family was notable for cultivating Polish traditions within the German state. Before the war, Robert Małłek was a Masurian activist; during the communistic rule his brother, Karol Małłek, a gifted writer, collaborated with the authorities and was often referred to as the “king of the Masurians.” Janusz Małłek, Karol’s son, is a well-known Polish historian from Toruń. Edward Małłek, however, was subject to a complex metamorphosis of his ethnic identity. He was born as a Masurian – a loyal German citizen, speaking Polish (but in the Masurian jargon). Soon, however, following in the footsteps of other family members, he chose Polish culture, became a teacher of Polish and later – an officer in the Polish army. After the fiasco of the September Campaign of 1939, Małłek was first interned in a German oflag and later released. During the war, he became involved in clandestine activities of the Masurian Union (reactivated in 1943), which aimed at smoothing a way for Masurians to seize power in East Prussia after the expected fall of Hitler. After the war, he received a degree in theology and became a pastor in Ełk. Persecuted by the communist regime, the secret police, and Polish newcomers (by whom he was often treated as a German), Małłek’s identity experienced yet another volte-face – he renounced the Polish part of his background and started to emphasize his belonging to the community of Protestant Masurians. He referred to himself as a “Prussian Masurian,” whom – as he would emphasize towards the end of his life – he had always been. Together with his family Małłek left Poland and went first to Canada, then to Germany, where he was still active in Protestant circles and in the community of Masurian expatriates (Umsiedler). While in Hamburg, Germany, Małłek wrote his Reminiscences (in Polish). This memoir sketches the life of a Protestant Masurian who had been looking for a native land all his life. The text abounds in pathos, passion and grudge against Poles. Małłek’s subjective and mythical vision of East Prussia’s and Masuria’s history is informed by simplifications and harsh, unfair judgments. At the same time, however, it is an outstanding achievement – it has a strong polemical edge and brings the author to reckoning with his own life choices. Małłek’s fault-finding knowns no “sacred cows” – he criticizes Poles, Germans, Masurs, Protestants, Polish newcomers to Masuria, politicians, members of the Masurian Union, and even his own brother, Karol Małłek. Reminiscences have an undoubted literary value and belong to the so-called Masurian current within Polish literature. The author himself thought of his book as a “Masurian odyssey.” The idea of publishing the volume came from Edward Małłek’s son, Andreas Małłek. The edition was possible thanks to Father Dariusz Zuber from the Parish of God’s Love Evangelical Methodist Church in Ełk, Kazimierz Bogusz from the Museum of History in Ełk, and, last but not least, Professor Jarosław Ławski, head of the Chair in Philological Studies ‘East-West’ at the University of Białystok, who is native to the region (Szczytno, Spychowo, Ełk). The present critical (and reviewed) edition includes two introductions (by Jarosław Ławski and Dariusz Zuber) as well as “Editorial Remarks,” and the index of names and places. The original spelling has been modernized, but the peculiarity of Małłek’s style has been retained. It needs to be mentioned that in the past the book Where Is My Native Land? Reminiscences circulated in the form of copies and was known only to few historians and Protestant activists. Hopefully, the reader will appreciate the representation of complicated fortunes of one man, the historical testimony, and the outstanding literary work of a pastor who did not aspire to become “an author,” but who yearned for the mythical “Native Land” – Masuria.

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