Before the war she stood out because of her broad interest in culture. She used to read Wiadomości literackie338 and had a quite broad knowledge of literature and art. She attended exhibits. But first and foremost, she was a bookworm. Now she freely uses the capital of knowledge that she accumulated before the war. It seems, however, that she does not absorb anything new. Obviously, there is no possibility for her to make systematic efforts at self-improvement. She has become interested in politics, following her friends’ example, and this manifests itself in her careful reading of Das Reich.339 However, she does not seem to be particularly interested in politics. She reads novels taken from the house library she has organised, but its books are mostly mediocre romances. I once heard her say that she borrowed The Magic Mountain,340 but she was unable to get through even the first volume. By contrast, during the war she devoured Gone with the Wind.341
Her pre-war political views were quite vague: she supported democracy but had leftist sympathies in the spirit of Czarno na białym.342 Her political views have not become any clearer. She often talks favourably about the USSR, but has no definite political orientation.
Her current milieu is key to understanding the psychological changes she has undergone. Before the war she used to be rather lonely, while now she is surrounded by a whole lot of people. At the same time, she is clearly the leader. In the past she neither had the opportunity nor knew how to socialize with men, while now she is always surrounded by a lot of young men who work with her in the tenement. Her acquaintance with one of them, the Leon K. mentioned above, a handsome man from Katowice, had an influence on the changes in her appearance and behaviour.
On the whole, she acts in a very determined and clear way. She does not like to think about the future, though she is rather optimistic. She completely
