Conrad and Karola Zagorska

Borys Conrad during WW I

'Chance' was published at the beginning of 1914 and it was the first real - financial - success for Conrad. Critics and readers acclaimed the story as a brilliant tale. Only the publishing of 'Chance' made it possible for Conrad to pay his debts and to stabilize his financial situation. After many years of living from borrowing money now time had come to withdraw himself from these circumstances. The very same year the first biography about Joseph Conrad was published (written by Richard Curle), and the work on the novel 'Victory' was ended in June 1914.

In July 1914 Conrad and his family visited his homeland Poland - first time for him since 1893. This trip ended up in disaster. The Conrad's got involved in the first battles of beginning World War I. The trip was made upon invitation from Otolia Retinger, the wife of a Polish friend. After visiting some places of his youth and five days in Cracow the family had to escape to Zakopane on August 2nd, where Conrad's cousin Aniele Zagorska lived. There the Conrad's hid for some time. On October 7th they organized a horse-carriage and left Zakopane, holding a travel-permission signed by General Kuck, the Austrian commander in Cracow. They arrived in Vienna on October 11th - with plenty of luck and under great danger - on a train, carrying mostly wounded soldiers. From Vienna the Conrad's proceeded to Genoa. They arrived back in England on November 3rd.

Back to his literary career: The work 'Within the Tides' (published February 1915) helped some more to make the name Conrad known to a wider audience. It was also greatly respected by critics.

German version

The same year Conrad's son Borys - not even 18 years old - joined the British Army as a volunteer. Conrad identified himself clearly with his new home during the war. Especially from 1916 on, when Germany more or less took over command in WWI, he was seriously concerned, while he was kind of neutral towards Austria. 1918 he wrote an article, called 'The Crime of Partition', in which he demanded more solidarity from England and France with Poland. He wrote this article with great loyalty to his Polish heritage, hardly hiding how upset he was.