Kisielewski Józef - Earth gathers ashes [first edition].

Kisielewski Józef/ Earth gathers ashes/ Poznan [1939]/ Ksiazarnia. St. Adalbert/ first edition/ half leather binding/ pp.501, [6]/ numerous photomontages, photos, drawings, fold-out map after the text/ very good-, minor scuffs on side page trims pp.21-30, provenance stamp in front of text.

Artistic bookbinding, spine made to resemble publisher's binding (gilded eagle, soldier and wide signboard with titlepage); pasted-in original booklet cover by Waclaw Boratynski. In the text, numerous photomontages, illustrations and photographs by, among others, Gwidon Miklaszewski, Stanisław Jakubowski, Bolesław Cybis, Kazimierz Grus.

First edition of a prophetic reportage from two trips by Jozef Kisielewski in East Germany (Silesia, Pomerania) in 1937 and 1938 foreshadowing aggression against Poland. The book depicts living conditions in Germany under Nazi rule, with a special focus on the situation of Slavs in Pomerania and Mecklenburg. Kisielewski documents social changes, aggressive German policies toward Slavic minorities and warns of the coming threat. The book also includes historical and ethnographic analyses depicting the former presence of Slavs in the area and questions some German historical narratives, such as the 700th anniversary of Berlin.