Did This Hand Kill?

The follow up to Łazarewicz's harrowing Żeby Nie Było Śladów (Leave No Trace) depicting the case of the political murder of Grzegorz Przemyk—which earned Łazarewicz the Nike Literary Award in 2017—Did This Hand Kill? focuses on the case of Rita Gorgonowa, a cause célèbre of the interwar period in Poland.

Gorgonowa, a governess having an affair with her employer, was accused of brutally murdering his daughter, the 17-year-old Lusia on New Year’s Eve in 1931. Despite her claims of innocence, Gorgonowa was declared Poland’s ultimate villain, and eventually convicted.

But questions remain about this case—the most notorious murder trial of the Second Polish Republic—along with questions about what exactly happened to Gorgonowa post-World War II. Łazarewicz revisits the crime with a contemporary lens and recreates the furor and celebrity revolving around this murder.