Timeline of Jerzy Grotowski’s life and creative work
1939
September 1939
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the Grotowski family is split, as it would prove, forever. Marian Grotowski, serving in the Polish army, is interned in Romania while Emilia Grotowska escapes with her sons to Ukraine before later reaching Przemyśl.
October or November 1939
Warned by a Soviet officer that they could face deportation, Emilia and her sons cross the border and reach Rzeszów, then under German occupation, where they move in with relatives.