Polish Adventurer

By Jan Kobylarz

Invariably for many years, memoirs have had a large group of devoted readers. Thanks to reading memories of people who were active participants or simply observers of great historic events allows us to maintain contact with the past, which usually fades under the pressure of everyday business.

A reader who should pick the self-account by Jan Kobylarz, a signaler of the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division, will take a fascinating journey into the past marked by some of the most tragic events in history; World War II.

The writer took active part in the war. It engulfed his youthful years and proved to be a tough school of life. As a direct witness of the described events he went in his Polish Army uniform along the great combat route from the right bank Warsaw through Pomerania fortifi ed region, foregrounds of Berlin towards the Laba where he celebrated the end of war.

This frank, simply written soldiers account is impressive for the detail in which the events were memorized. It gives description of dramatic struggle for the east-bank Warsaw borough of Praga, the dearly paid attempt to help the insurgents fi ghting in the westbank part of Warsaw, ferocious fi ght for the town of Kolobrzeg and the region of Pomerania fortifi ed by the nazis. The author takes us along to relive the most diffi cult moments, the happiness for successful actions or the bitter disappointment when He was deprived of meeting the allied brothers in arms on the Laba River.

Besides descriptions of the daredevil combat actions the book is particularly interesting for accounts of work of the so- called political offi cers, popularly called the politruks. Frequent training sessions, chatty lectures, and press briefi ngs were an important elements of the ideological second front. The authors account suggests those lectures, aimed at educating the soldiers, often changed into heated political discussions in which mature opinions mixed with somehow naive trust in good fortune and good will of the politicians who then were making decisions about Polands future.

The author, Jan Kobylarz, has remained in the business of connecting people. Just as 55 years ago when he was using telephone lines to connect units with the command centers, he now makes a connection between the reader and the Great History. His colorful story could became a valuable addition to textbook, academic descriptions of our war time history.

Wladyslaw Sobecki

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 27, 2008
• ISBN: 9781452090801

Book preview

© 2010 Jan Kobylarz. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 9/30/2010

ISBN: 978-1-4343-2643-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-9080-1 (e)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Jan Kobylarz

Signaler of the III Romuald

Traugutt Division

of 7th Kolobrzeg Infantry Regiment

Polish Adventures

Invariably for many years, memoirs have had a large group of devoted readers. Thanks to reading memories of people who were active participants or simply observers of great historic events allows us to maintain contact with the past, which usually fades under the pressure of everyday business.

A reader who should pick the self-account by Jan Kobylarz, a signaler of the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Division, will take a fascinating journey into the past marked by some of the most tragic events in history; World War II.

The writer took active part in the war. It engulfed his youthful years and proved to be a tough school of life. As a direct witness of the described events he went in his Polish Army uniform along the great combat route from the right bank Warsaw through Pomerania fortified region, foregrounds of Berlin towards the Laba where he celebrated the end of war.

This frank, simply written soldier’s account is impressive for the detail in which the events were memorized. It gives description of dramatic struggle for the east-bank Warsaw borough of Praga, the dearly paid attempt to help the insurgents fighting in the west-bank part of Warsaw, ferocious fight for the town of Kolobrzeg and the region of Pomerania fortified by the nazis. The author takes us along to relive the most difficult moments, the happiness for successful actions or the bitter disappointment when He was deprived of meeting the allied brothers in arms on the Laba River.

Besides descriptions of the daredevil combat actions the book is particularly interesting for accounts of work of the so- called political officers, popularly called the politruks. Frequent training sessions, chatty lectures, and press briefings were an important elements of the ideological second front. The author’s account suggests those lectures, aimed at educating the soldiers, often changed into heated political discussions in which mature opinions mixed with somehow naive trust in good fortune and good will of the politicians who then were making decisions about Poland’s future.

The author, Jan Kobylarz, has remained in the business of connecting people. Just as 55 years ago when he was using telephone lines to connect units with the command centers, he now makes a connection between the reader and the Great History. His colorful story could became a valuable addition to textbook, academic descriptions of our war time history.

Wladyslaw Sobecki

Contents

PART I

House on the Hill

The Boys’ Childhood

The Family Circle.

Farewells

Occupation

The School in Dobryn

Between Kijowiec and Dobryn

The Tempest of War

The Laborers

The Brushmakers

The Outlaws

Digging the Trenches

Near the Frontline

PART II

Towards the Vistula

Soldiers’ Debates in Saska Kepa

The Bunkers Near Jablonna

Wartime Christmas Carol

In the Snow and Frost.

Kolobrzeg

Military Training

Towards Berlin

March Towards the Laba

Return with no Reunion

Eight Months at Home

PART III

On the Regained Territories

Two Years behind Walls

West Germany

Ingrandes- Chatellerault

Normandy

The Beginning of Life Together

Farther and Farther Away from Homeland

PART I

House on the Hill

After 123 years of foreign dependence restored Poland experienced rush for land. The impoverished peasants from central Poland pushed towards the eastern border, to acquire land from the partially parceled out estates of local aristocracy and nobility.

Franciszek Kobylarz, a policeman of the town of Radom, whose father was a relatively well off peasant of Brzoza in Kozienice County, left the force to use some peasant freedom.

That’s it for wandering in the streets with a rifle, he told his friends Now I will be a master of my own acres, he would say jokingly, paraphrasing a well-known proverb.

Some of Franek’s friends took his decision seriously, some with laughs.

He’s right; it’s a dog’s service here in the force. It certainly won’t make us very proud. Franek will be plowing his own land, listening to skylarks when we will be, perhaps unwillingly, involved in quelling revolts and riots with bullets buzzing around, said Wladek, Franek’s best friend

A few days before Franek left Wladek asked him: ’How far from the Bug River and the Russian border will you get the farm?"

Don’t think I’ll live very far, Wladek, I’ve got a letter from Biala Podlaska; its just before the Bug.

Well, Franek, I’ve heard that the soil is better in Volhynia across the river and closer to the Russian border.

Land is land, for now it’s ours but the people aren’t. It does matter who lives there. I was in the Czar’s army over there, as well as in the regions of Volhynia and Podole. That’s exactly where the future for us can be uncertain. Our aristocrats didn’t befriend the people. Some hate us there. It’s their land not ours- You know it well, Wladek.

Franek, what are you talking about? We’ve ruled that land for centuries, even Kiev used to belong to us and we developed it a lot.

Sure! The land belonged to ours, and converted Russian lords, not to the peasants. One day the peasants and workers will rule. I’ve heard there are a lot of Ukrainians as well, most of them Roman Catholics where I am going.

You were to be a commanding officer somewhere out of Radom.

Too late, It’s been rumored for a year and there was nothing of it.

I liked you, Franek, said Wladek with tears in his eyes.

He’s got some spirit, whispered Wladek to himself.

Kobylarz had been trying for a few weeks to convince his young wife, Zofia. They had got married two years before; she was the second out of five Cieslakowski sisters who lived in Franek’s home village. Zofia had given birth to the first son, Tadeusz.

Franek Kobylarz was not moved by Zofia’s laments and weeping over quitting a steady job and moving into the unknown. He had the new address from the press, he knew that the community of Dobryn with the office in Zalesie had in its disposal 23 parcels in the village of Kijowiec. One could get there by Chotylowo train.

Zofia, look! cried Franek joyfully, that’s where we’re going, not to the place near Kodno I told you about.

Chotylowo train station, one can hear the voice from the platform. Franek on his way to Zalesie even got a ride on a horse-drawn cart, invited by a Mr Bondaruk.

Sit here, Sir, there is enough room

Thank you

Franek settled next to him. Bondaruk spoke in broken Polish and Kobylarz with broad Mazury dialect. They were talking all the way along the five- kilometer route to Zalesie. His wife later laughed at the notion of this bizarre conversation.

Franek got a map of the future Kijowiec settlement and went across the Krzna River. The area between the villages of Kijowiec and Dereczenka was just fields and what else. Swathes of land were covered with weeds and sometimes with shrubs. It was a vast wilderness, perhaps three by one and a half kilometers.

The first registered settler hewed out the shrubs up to the Dereczenka fields. Some two hundred meters before he had noticed he was at the top of a small hill, he turned around and saw that in fact there was lower ground spread all around him. He stood rooted to the ground and said aloud to himself: "

I shall build my home right here on this knoll. My children will be born and raised here. This will be their homeland."

Deeply moved by his own words he slowly paced his way towards another farmer, who was plowing his field about a kilometer away, near Ogrodki. The peasant stopped the horse and waited for the coming visitor.

May God prosper you, said Franek.

Oh, Where from and where to does the Lord lead you? responded the farmer gladly, shaking his hand as if they had known each other for years.

I am called Franciszek Kobylarz.

And my name is Aleksander Drygulski.

Dear Alexander, I have come from Radom, in central Poland, from across the Vistula for land. They announced in a paper that they parcel out a major property here. The lot behind that ditch is much to my liking as well as that hill, he pointed at where two birch trees grew.

"This lot comes from parceling as well. I’ve been working on it for a year. I am not a settler- I live in the village of Ogrodki. I have a few sons and I am a Catholic that’s why I got it. They are parceling the large estates around here. There, across the river in Dobryn, by the forest in Kolczyn, across the forest in Olszyna, they’ve started everywhere already. People are coming in from Central Poland- I have the feeling there will be a lot of Catholics around one day.

Franek hadn’t expected to meet such a good man. When invited to supper he got to know the most honest family in the area: Alexander’s wife, Jozefa, and his sons, polite youngsters who spoke in a melodious local accent. When they were parting, Alexander said:

Come here with your horse and cow, you’ll live with us until you build your own house. You’ll be the first settler in Kijowiec

Thank you for the invitation and the lodging. I have to go back. Stay with God Aleksander

The next day the settler called at the office on his way to the station to reserve the lot no. 21, which he was given immediately.

On the train back home he had a lot of time to think over his next moves and ways to convince his wife to contentedly share the new fate with him. The farmer– to- be had a lot of ideas. I will throw a farewell party and invite my sisters, her sister’s husband; and her sister, Miss Felka; the young Antosia, and that little lass Wladzia. They all like me so they should support my plan and gladly visit us in the future.

I have saved some money during the four years of my service, pondered Franciszek, "I must get some inheritance from my father. Pajak, the brother- in- law, sits on the whole of the property. I remember that when I came back from the war later than the others he said that I was filled with the revolutionary ideas, that I disliked property and thus went to the town to serve in the police. I wonder what he‘ll say when he learns he ought to give back what’s mine.

There are no exceptions here. There have been many a peasant’s brawl for a patch of land and wars were waged for large territories."

Franek! exclaimed his wife when she saw him at the door to her parents’ house.

They kissed, and the little toddler, Tadek, crawled to his daddy’s feet.

Why are you back so soon? she asked. It must’ve come to nothing, right?

On the contrary, Zofia, we’ve been a allotted 12 hectares. Look here at this paper, it is a great deal of land, let me tell you, a vast area. I would live from hand to mouth here, but there you will be a wealthy woman.

I could be a good policeman’s wife here, she responded somehow angrily.

The farewell feast took place at the beginning of May 1923. Brother, Jozek, brothers- in- law, Sinior and Pajak were sitting at the table and raising glasses wishing Franek good luck in Kijowiec on this side of the Bug.

Good thing it’s on this side, brother, said Jozek.

They say that there are only Polish there, said Sinior.

I don’t think so, whispered Pajak, I’ve heard there are a lot of Ukrainians in those quarters.

I met a very good man there, said Franek, he invited me to supper, and gave lodgings for the night. He told me that the locals don’t know what nationality they belong to. There are Ukrainians, he said, there are Belarussians, for it is closer to Belarus than to the Ukraine. Others converted from the Unitarian to the Catholic faith, so they are called Poles.

Zofia’s younger sisters approached Franek and asked,

Have you seen any children there in the east?

Yes, of course, The Drygalskis, where I spent a night, have a few boys and the neighbors have some girls who played with the boys outside. And they are nice and cute just like you.

Did you see any bigger boys? asked Antosia.

There were a lot of them, strong, handsome lads. Do visit us when everything is settled. I will pay your fares

The now radiant sisters asked Zofia: We’ll visit you, can we?

All right, all right, blurted Zosia reluctantly.

The rest of the company, especially women, ate drank and wept for the Franek’s family

On the day after the party Franek knocked to Pajak’s door.

Brother I don’t need much from you. I know that you almost paid off Jozek and that you have a lot of time before the younger sister, Felka, comes of age. As for me, I need my share now, for I want to plough the fields right after returning there. What I need is a horse, cow, cart and a roof to sleep under. The cow- shed is empty; you’ve got a new one. I would like to dismantle the old one and take it with me

You want too much from me, brother. Take everything but not the horse

So, I am to go without a horse and you will stay here with three of them?

They agreed that Franek would pay half the price of the horse.

The neighbors later commented that it was very smart of Franek to squeeze Pajak into the tight corner in the barn and get what was rightfully his.

In a few days a loaded freight- carriage was ready at the Kozienice train station. As for the last leg of the journey, Franek traveled it proudly from Chotylowo to Drygulski’s house on his cart carried by his horse with a cow mincing behind. The horse slept in the stable the cow in the cowshed; and Mr Kobylarz, after a day of hard work, slumbered in the barn on the hay covered with a duvet.

The most urgent thing was to plough the large swath of the unbroken land to use the weeds as a fertilizer. The neighbors, Mrs. Drygulski’s daughters helped and even refused to take payment for planting potatoes.

In three months’ time the first house in Kolonia was finished: kitchen with bedroom, stable, cowshed and pigpen divided by walls. One month later the well was sank too. That’s the end of carrying water for the animals in a barrel whispered the master of his acres.

On Drygulski’s advice a hectare of the forest in Kolczyn was purchased. It would supply wood for construction and heating even if the state forests were free to use for everyone in need.

Mrs. Drygulska’s neighbors were curious who that handsome Franek was; he could be divorced, as he had been working alone for months, sometimes hungry, certainly tired and cold during chilly spring nights.

Don’t worry ladies, he’s got a duvet for the nights.

What is that? asked Julka.

Don’t you know?

No, I don’t.

Let’s go to the barn, you’ll see.

They entered the barn, and saw the sheets tumbled, bachelor way in the right corner of the corn- bin. They saw the pillow and the wide fluffy duvet. The four girls cried with surprise. Nina was the first to say a joke.

That Mazur needs a hot Ukrainian girl to feel warm not only under but also on the duvet,- the girls laughed.

Julka, as adventurous as usual, for she had already dumped two boyfriends, sneaked under the duvet to warm herself up.

Stay here and pretend having a nap under that warm duvet, advised her Nina. Even the religious Mrs. Antek laughed.

When Franek comes and touches your nose with his moustache you’ll be squeaking with pleasure.

The nice girls burst with laugh again.

I don’t think he is a lady- chaser, he seems to be serious, added Mania.

Remember, when we planted the potatoes he would tell some spicy jokes, and he didn’t only look into our eyes but also at the more prominent parts, even legs when one of us stood with her back towards him.

Listen to your priest, girls, advised Mrs. Drygulska, you can sin not only with your body but also with filthy thoughts.

No one can find fault in what we thought or did. I chased away two men, but I would keep this one. He must be a good man.

After this visit some older women called to see that strange lodgings of Franks. We shiver under blankets when they sleep like lords, said they. In a few years the number of geese increased in the area.

The Drygulskis burst into Frank’s house.

I can see that you already have a cooking stove but there is nothing to heat the place.

I will buy an iron stove for now, but in the new house we will make a proper stove even for making bread. I am getting the wood in and the saws are already ordered.

When are you getting your wife here, Franek?

The maidens who were interested in Franek’s duvet were interested in him too. They said that someone so handsome and polite had to be a good man. Even that woman who was the most religious in the whole parish couldn’t imagine that Franek left his young wife and the child on the other bank of the Vistula River.

And there, on the other bank...

Zoska, said her oldest sister, Siniorka, to Franek’s wife. You are wasting your time here. Pack up and go to Frank. Do you remember what he said when he returned from Russia and the Ukraine about the women of the East who were chasing after the men from Poland as they were earnest and not drunken. And now you should remember that he lives in the East

Franek wrote to me that he will come here for me in a few weeks and that he longs for me. And he wrote it in Russian apart from the words about love.

At the end of September, after almost five months of lonely struggle with getting the soil ready for rye and wheat, lifting potatoes, building the house and preparing the wood for the new barn, Franek finally decided to bring his beloved Zofia and show her that she will be a lady of a great home after all.

The welcome party at Drygulski’s was as sumptuous as any. They raised toast for the health and the future, and sang Russian songs, which were known better than Polish ones, as they were more melodious.

On the next day Franek took his wife to show her the results his work brought in such a short time. He touched up his horse to get there sooner. He was curious of his wife’s impression.

Zosia, look, there on the horizon, can you see?

I can only see one building on this vast emptiness

Don’t worry, I have already seen our future neighbors, they come from the area of Kozienice. Some from the other lots have already came to marvel at my farmstead, said Franek proudly.

I do not think anybody marveled at this cowshed brought from Brzoza.

Whoa. The stallion stopped. The master jumped off the cart to help his wife down.

Do get inside, Zosia, and you’ll see. Let me tell you, it all looks good.

I want to walk around first. I can see that the chimney is high, you have fitted a large window and a few doors.

Zosia proceeds further weeping heavily, and those were certainly not tears of joy or affection.

They came inside; Zofia was a bit tearful so Franek tried to comfort her.

See Darling, here is the kitchen combined with the bedroom, we’ll be warm in winter. Behind the wall is the stable, next the cowshed, and at the end the pigpen with no pigs yet. The potatoes are on hand, we only have to buy the hay for the livestock.

How much of that livestock do you have?

Just a horse and a cow for now. I plan to have a couple of horses, a lot of cows and a great deal of pigs to breed. They say such husbandry enriches the farmer. Look over there, behind the well; they are already bringing in the building material for the new house and the barn. So? Do you like it here at all?

They said you worked like a dog every single day. You chose a nice place and the house ’s quite neat if a bit small. That Pajak fellow couldn’t recognize his own cowshed. she finally laughed.

He embraced her heartily and said:

I am sure you won’t be bored here in the future. Our kids will brighten your life. How is Tadzio? Is he good? Does he cry?

He is quite good and funny. He was much liked by other children in Brzoza

"I thought that it would be a good thing to have more sons and two daughters. The Drygulski boys would wait for them.

What are you talking about, Franek? Your friends from the police were right when they said that my husband is a dashing man and that I must cool him down a little.

Kobylarka, as she was later dubbed, befriended Mrs. Drygulska and, at the end of lifting potatoes, the girls. They said that she was an experienced, nice and shapely lady. Julka was the only one to dislike her Roman nose.

The Boys’ Childhood

The first years of farming in a new and desert land couldn’t be easy. They had a roof for the three of them, their horse, two cows, pigs and a few hens. Stove for heating the main room provided with some heat the animal pens, which were not perfectly airtight. The warm air from the kitchen wafted towards the animals and, slightly smelly, returned home.

Zofia found out that Franek is able to plan and that he stuck to what he had said. She didn’t want to bother him with questions about what he was going to do or build that winter and spring; the shed they were using wasn’t particularly good, but to him she would only say:

You know, so far there are enough comforts.

You have noticed Zosia that we have so much potatoes that we’ll be able to sell a couple of dozen bags. There is enough oats for the horse. I sowed three hectares of rye; it’s the third of the whole parcel. What’s sowed now will ripen next year, for the time being we should buy bread. If you want to, we can get some flour and make pancakes. Do you know what I want to tell you?

Something good, I hope."

Sure. In the spring and summer we’ll build the house and a new barn. This ex- shed will still serve as a cowshed and stable. We’ll eventually build a new pigpen. Do you remember my brother, Jozek’s house; the spacious one with a large winter kitchen and a small summer one. It also had a great hall. That’s the one I decided to build for us.

What are you going to start with?

Good of you to ask.

You know what? The barn will be necessary for the rye, oat, and the hay that I have to buy before I crop the first clover or buckwheat. The house will be built right afterwards, before the winter. The lady of the house will feel better then, he added kissing her in the cheek.

Will you make the floors too?

Of course; the world is more and more modern by the year, the old ways are out. It’s a good thing that Drygulski advised that I should buy that piece of forest in Koczyn. That’s where I am getting the lumber for the barn from. I will get the lumber for the house from the state forest; it should be thicker. I have met some good people: Szledak, who lives right by the forest, ierczuk, who came back from America and has got a large farm here and some others. They are all very honest people. You will see when you go there. When we clear some of the land we will be able to sow grain there.

"Don’t worry about sowing everywhere, we’ve got 12 hectares here and it should be enough. We haven’t got so many children yet.

On the 30th of October 1924 the second son was born and was baptized Henryk. This child was lucky for he was born in the first week after the family moved from shed- like room to the luxurious new house. His godfather was Antoni Lustyk of Kolonia Dobrzyn; one of his mother’s sisters was his godmother. The winter wasn’t very severe so the child wasn’t often bothered by illness.

The stove heated the spacious room, it was in constant use for they cooked for themselves and boiled potatoes for the pigs.

The master and mistress of the house looked out of the window and marveled at their farmstead. They were both proud that they, the first settlers, achieved so much.

You don’t regret now that I quit the police force, do you? asked Franek.

"Anyway, what you earned there and the inheritance helped a lot at the beginning. If not for that we would have to live in the shed for a couple more years.

Almost all newcomers were facing the same difficulties in the first years of farming. A single- room home, the cow shed behind the wall and the barn under the same roof. The homesteads like theirs were few. The Swiader brothers divided father’s property and were at their beams ‘ends. The owners of the bigger farms could overcome the difficulties easier.

The barns and sheds erected near the house gave farmsteads a distinguished look.

The smallest group who had some savings were able to purchase more hectares from the landlord or someone who was willing to sell them. Milosz and Blachnio become large –scale farmers this way.

Kolonia Kijowiec was a large area dotted with 23 new farms. The land had been the property of some tycoon and was leased to Mr Jackowski who was a colonel in the Czar’s army.

None of the settlers had an officer’s rank even though most of them had served in the Czar’s army too.

The only exception was Jozef Swiader who had been a non- commissioned officer. He would constantly speak about the army and knew a lot about politics. He was dubbed goddamnit for frequent use of this phrase, and generally liked.

It was impossible to breed a lot of cattle for the lack of pastures and meadows. The land had to be used to grow potatoes, rye and oat to breed pigs which could bring the farm good profit. Kobylarz didn’t even have to transport the porkers to the town of Piszczac; the buyers would come at the agreed time and take the animals from the new pigpen.

Frank built a poultry- house with perches for the hens for Zofia to have something to sell on the markets in towns such as Biala Podlaska, Terespol, Brzesc or Piszczac. Eggs and chickens were in demand; Zosia- that was the way Franek called his wife-plucked the gees for new duvets for herself, Franek and the boys. There were two milk cows too, so there was enough milk. Some butter and cheese

was sold. Rye and potatoes gave good profit in the early spring so Piszczac, the town which was the nearest place to sell the produce was often visited by Franciszek and his little sons, who were always looking forward to getting some candy.

The mistress of the house felt happier every year. One day, aware that somebody would be born in a month’s time, she said to her husband:

It wouldn’t be too bad, I think, if the third child was a girl.

Whoa, you’ve finally got my drift, said Franek, delighted.

I don’t mean what you once said about the Drygulskis’ boys; just forget about that plan.

So, why do you want a girl, Zosia?

I feel that the boys on a farm will always follow the father, but a daughter would for sure spend more time with her mom.

Trust me, we have to bring them up to respect both mother and father alike regardless of what might happen. We too have to treat them impartially and love them as they are our children; they are what we wanted from life, said Franek.

On the 21st of January 1927 the severe Siberian wind augured harsh winter.

Mrs. Frank asked her husband to fetch Mrs. Lustyk as she felt sudden pains. The lady who was the best midwife in the settlement arrived in half an hour. Two hours later a boy was born. One hour later the two