Between Absence and Memory: The Synagogue of Kępno”

The past whispers; the present remembers.
In my Small Town series upcoming in English (translation Longia Milosz Miller)I explore tragic story of the Kępno Synagogue—a silent witness to loss, destruction, and a vanished community erased by war.
Illustrations:William Miller

Small Town by Malgorzata Pospiech beautifully translated from the Polish by Longia Milosz Miller, with stunning illustrations by William Miller.
Set in the aftermath of WWII Poland and inspired by events that took place in the author’s childhood hometown, this psychological thriller traces the tragic legacy of war and October 1945, when—in brutal act of retaliation for the assassination of two Secret Police agents—eight innocent townspeople were brutally murdered- a trauma that echoes across generations.
At the heart of the story is deeply moving a daughter’s search for the father she never knew and the truth about the traumatic events he witnessed. The reader is also drawn into the life of Nora, the author’s passionate and headstrong alter ego, as she navigates love, family, and identity —from her childhood in 1960s–70s Poland to her years as a writer in New York.
From the haunted streets of a small Polish town to the vibrant literary circles of New York, Small Town explores themes of memory, silence, identity, and resilience.
Blending historical fiction, family saga with emotional depth, political thriller and semi-autobiographical narrative, this novel is a must-read for fans of post-WWII stories, Polish history, and literary fiction rooted in truth an is a moving exploration of memory, silence, and resilience—and the first installment in an unforgettable literary journey.
text and reading Jaroslaw Anders
Jaroslaw Anders is the author of Between Fire and Sleep: Essays on Modern Polish Poetry and Prose (Yale: Yale University Press, 2009) and numerous reviews and literary essays in The New York Review of Books, The New Republic, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Liberties, and other publications. He has translated several books from English into Polish and from Polish into English. In the past, he served as an editor in Literatura na świecie (Literature in the World) review, feature writer and broadcaster for the Voice of America, and policy officer in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. Department of State. Born in Warsaw, he currently lives in the United States.
Longia Miłosz Miller
As a student of the Polish language and literature, Longia has translated two of Malgorzata Pośpiech’s novels: Small Town and Rifts of Time. Longia is currently translating another of Pośpiech’s novels: The Seventh Ring.
Along with her enjoyment of Polish literary expression, Longia has both a dual career as a soft toy designer and engineer and as a multimedia artist spanning forty-seven years. She was a designer at Knickerbocker Toy Company and a design director at Hasbro. Subsequently, she founded Longia Miller Design, developing soft toys for major American toy manufacturers and creating craft projects for leading pattern companies.
As an artist Longia creates paintings, sculptures and utilizes photography as a means of self expression. Her work has appeared in juried exhibitions at the Phillips’ Mill, the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, the Hunterdon Art Museum, New Hope Arts, Arts Of Yardley, and the Perkins Center for the Arts.
Longia is a graduate of Pratt Institute.

William Miller Biography
William Miller was born in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute. He began his career as a graphic designer for General Motors Styling Division, and later managed a team of multimedia designers at AT&T.
Bill was a national advertising manager at AT&T from 1979 to 2007, responsible for TV, radio, print, direct mail and web advertising. As an illustrator, Bill’s drawings have appeared in Conde Nast’s Traveller magazine and Małgorzata Pośpiech’s psychological thrillers: Small Town and Rifts of Time.
Bill’s paintings have been exhibited in group exhibitions at the Hunterdon Art Museum, the Phillips’ Mill, and the City of Trenton Museum at Ellarslie.
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Copyright © 2025 by Malgorzata Pospiech

Copyright © by William Miller

Copyright© by Longia Miller