Halina Chmielewska

The Faithful River

Set during the insurgency of 1863, the story focuses on a tragic romance between a poor gentlewoman and a rebel noble. After a bloody battle a unit of insurgents have been wiped out and only one survived, but badly wounded. He eventually finds shelter and care from a landsteward's daughter, hiding in a burned-out manor with an old servant.

Quiet Is the Night

A psychological detective story about a police hunt for the murderer of young boys. The police comissioner ends up tracing the clues to his own home, where he has an adolescent son he has not been able to communicate with.

I Hate Mondays

An acute case of Mondayitis in Warsaw. Interwoven stories of a few inhabitants of Warsaw, including one very unlucky Italian on a governmental mission and a charitable Polish American.

How I Unleashed World War II, Part II: Following the Arms

After escaping across Europe from Stalag camp, Dolas's ride to Cyprus is stopped when his ship in sunk by an Italian submarine. Although he and some of his fellow sailors are rescued by an Allied ship, they find themselves conscripted into the French Foreign Legion in Beirut, Dolas becoming a cook.

How I Unleashed World War II, Part III: Among Friends

Disguised as an Italian medic, Dolas finds himself on a ship evacuating wounded Axis soldiers to Italy. He leaves the ship disguised as a Nazi soldier, but is found out, declared a deserter and sent to the Eastern Front. However, on the flight to Russia, he is able to escape with a parachute, and finds himself back in Poland, now occupied by Nazis.

How I Unleashed World War II, Part I: The Escape

On the night of August 31, 1939, Dolas, from a platoon reinforcing a train station on the German border, falls asleep in a train car and unknowingly crosses into Germany. The moment he shoots a German, who he thinks is a saboteur, the German invasion of Poland begins, and Dolas is convinced it was his fault. He is taken to Stalag POW camp, the first destination in his odyssey around Europe.

Cooked Doves

A young poet is hired to boost the morale of water pump workers.

Where is the General?

Wacław Orzeszko is unlucky soldier, who one day decides to desert his platoon and hide out in a castle, where he meets a Red Army soldier Marusia. They discover that a German platoon is also hiding in a castle and together they must stop the Nazi soldiers from reuniting with the main army.

The Knave of Spades

A reclusive lighthouse worker accepts the offer to swap jobs with a police inspector for a while, just to help him catch Teston, the so-called criminal of criminals.

The Knave of Spades

A reclusive lighthouse worker accepts the offer to swap jobs with a police inspector for a while, just to help him catch Teston, the so-called criminal of criminals.