In the last issue, we took a closer a look at the background of the Polish foundation sire Kuhailan Haifi, his son Ofir, and one of Ofir’s four sons born in 1938, Wielki Szlem. Of the other three sons, two – Wyrwidab and *Witez II – were displaced from their native Poland by the repercussions of World War II. Wyrwidab (out of Jaga II) ended up in Germany, where his name was changed to Wind and he was mostly used for upgrading the somewhat heavy East Friesian warmblood breed. For a brief time, he also stood at Marbach, where he sired two extremely influential broodmares, Winarsad and Winette.
*Witez II’s story is much longer, more complex, and certainly more international. Foaled on April 1st at Janów Podlaski, he was out of Federacja, a daughter of the desertbred stallion Burgas and Koalicja, a mare combining old Polish, Bábolna, and Weil bloodlines. He was only a yearling when Hitler’s troops invaded Poland and took over Janów Podlaski. The Poles tried to escape with some of the horses, including the yearling *Witez II, but the attempt failed and ended with the horses’ return to Janów. Fortunately, the German men placed in charge of the stud were knowledgeable horsemen. They knew a good horse when they saw one, and *Witez II was chosen as a future sire. In 1943, when he was five years of age, he was transferred from Janów Podlaski to Hostau, a German military stud located on the German-Czechoslovakian border. Hostau at the time was home to several hundred horses of various breeds, including the famous white horses from Lipica and a hundred Arabians.
Only two years later, *Witez II was on the move again. When in 1945 the Russian army
