The work of Nobel Prize laureate Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004) is autobiographical. Therefore, his poems, novels, letters, interviews, and essays are viewed by the author not only as literature but also as testimony. Grudzińska-Gross seeks in them descriptions of events that shaped ideas and feelings related to violence and suffering, as well as reflections and conclusions Miłosz drew from this experience.

As contemporary public life unfolds in the shadow of World War II, the author attempts to find examples of how to think about the violence present in our daily lives and the threats it poses.

"Miłosz was a poet who could convey the brutality of war without resorting to comforting clichés. His assessment of wartime events and actions differed from the narrative presented by today's official Polish policy regarding history. This divergence is one of the reasons for the creation of this book."