Swimming in the Dark

In America, Ludwik cannot sleep through the night, thinking of Janusz and disturbed by the sirens that remind him of Warszawa and the country he left only one year ago. As he sits up, he hears on the radio that martial law has been declared in the Socialist Republic of Poland because of the strikes and pro-democracy protests associated with the rise of Solidarność, the first independent trade union. Ludwik begins writing to Janusz because he can never forget him, although he is unsure if Janusz will ever read it. Ludwik begins by writing about Beniek, a boy he meets at nine years old.

Ludwik grows up in Wrocław. His is one of the many families forced to relocate there from other parts of Poland. Ludwik has known Beniek for almost his entire life, sometimes playing together but only becoming actual friends as they prepare for their First Communion. After classes, they go into the city and explore, and Ludwik occasionally goes to Beniek’s house. At the Eisenszteins, Beniek shows him records sent from his cousins in the West. It is where Ludwik is introduced to the Beatles.