In the article, the authors analyse the strategies and techniques adopted in the process of translating into English and German mining short stories by Gustaw Morcinek. Out of many short stories touching upon the writer’s youthful ex­periences as a miner, only two have been translated into English: „Silence” in 1934 and „Faith” in 1935. Both translations were done by Monica Gardner, an English translator of Polish literature. More mining short stories have been translated into German. The analysis covers the translations by Henryk Bereska of two short stories: „Silence” and „Bootleg mining” („Na bieda‑szybie”). All three short stories are part of the first book by Gustaw Morcinek, a collection of short stories. Never before had a literary work offered us such a powerful and vivid image of miners at work. The short stories in question are interesting not only literary‑wise but also as a testimony to the life of miners and as a tribute to their tenacity, courage, and goodness