Between Katyn and Auschwitz

By M. B. Szonert

“A joint decision of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union from August 1939 that sentenced Poland and other states to death was not without a precedent. It was the reverberation of what (Poland’s) neighbors from the West and East once decreed at the end of the XVIII Century and had been patronizing to the onset of (the XX Century). In th

• Language: English
• Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
• Release date: Nov 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643679761

M. B. Szonert

Ms. Szonert publishes extensively in English and Polish languages, focusing on legal and historical subjects, current affairs, and Polish diaspora. She is a law graduate of the University of Warsaw and Rutgers University, with post-graduate training in journalism. She authored many English language publications on Poland, including 'Null and Void; Poland: Case Study on Comparative Imperialism' (University Press of America 2008) and 'Was Katyn a Genocide?' 44 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 633 (2012). In 2012, she testified as a legal expert before the European Parliament on the investigation into the airplane crash that killed the President of Poland in Smolensk, Russia, in 2010. http://smolenskcrash.eu. She is also the author of 2012 Smolensk Crash Status Report and 2014 Smolensk Maze - Status Report. www. smolenskcrashnews.com. Ms. Szonert is the founder of several Polish American organizations and holds leadership positions in many of them. In 2016 she was recognized for her scholarly contributions with the Professor Honoris Causa Degree by the Jagiellonian College in Torun, Poland.

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Between Katyn and Auschwitz

Copyright © 2019 by M. B. Szonert. All rights reserved.

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Published in the United States of America

ISBN 978-1-64367-977-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64367-976-1 (Digital)

28.10.19

Contents

Guide To Polish Names

Introduction

Foreword

Chapter 1: Prewar Warsaw

Chapter 2: 1939 Vacations

Chapter 3: Border Guard from Racki Bór

Chapter 4: Defense of Warsaw

Chapter 5: Regrouping

Chapter 6: Katyn

Chapter 7: Wedding

Chapter 8: Round-up

Chapter 9: Hope and Despair

Chapter 10: Auschwitz

Chapter 11: SS Leash

Chapter 12: Murder

Chapter 13: Ela

Chapter 14: Warsaw Uprising

Chapter 15: Soviet Revenge

Epilogue

Bibliography

List of Illustrations and Maps

Guide To Polish Names

Polish nicknames are not just the shortened versions of the formal names. Frequently nicknames are longer and almost always contain softer consonants such as ni or ń and si or ś. Below are listed Polish names used in this book and their nicknames.

Alek – Aluś

Andrzej – Jędrek, Jędruś

Bronisława – Bronia

Danuta – Danusia, Danuś, Danuśka, Danka

Eugeniusz –Gienio

Janina – Jasia

Józef – Józek, Józio

Maria – Marysia, Maya

Regina – Renia

Stanisław – Staszek, Staś

Zbigniew – Zbyszek, Zbyś

Introduction

The sympathy of the Western public opinion towards the Soviet Union had been growing steadily since the German attack on the Soviet Union, reaching its peak in early spring of 1943, after the Soviet victory at Stalingrad. ¹ During this pro-Soviet euphoria, the German Army stumbled over mass graves in the Katyn forest near Smolensk in Russia. The graves contained thousands of bodies of Polish officers in their military uniforms. The Goebbels propaganda machine rushed to announce the gruesome discovery to the world, naming the Soviets as the perpetrators of the crime.

The Polish Government in London called upon the International Red Cross to conduct investigation of the Katyn crime scene. Capitalizing on his favorable public image, Stalin labeled the Polish move as anti-Soviet and broke off diplomatic relations with the Poles. The Polish Prime Minister responded: Force is on Russia’s side, justice is on our side. I do not advise the British people to cast their lot with brute force and to stampede justice before the eyes of all nations. For this reason I refuse to withdraw the Polish appeal to the International Red Cross.²

In the summer of 1943, the political tension over the Polish matter was at its peak. Poland’s Western allies found the Katyn affair most inconvenient. A perception was growing that the Poles were playing into the hands of German strategy. The United States treated the Katyn matter as a German attempt to divert international attention from the German losses on the Eastern Front.³ Goebbels who kept a close look at the Allied press wrote in his diary: The Poles are given a brush-off by the English and Americans as though they were enemies.⁴

In July of 1943, a plane carrying Polish Prime Minister Sikorski plunged into the sea over Gibraltar, instantly killing the Polish head of state and his only daughter but sparing the pilot. With Sikorski’ untimely death, Poland lost the most influential statesman, politician, leader, and patriot at the most critical moment for the country’s future.⁵

The Roosevelt Administration was determined to contain the public debate over Katyn. British and American press consistently kept ignoring the Katyn subject but the issue represented an open wound for the Polish community. In 1944, President Roosevelt stepped up efforts to quarantine explosive debate over the Katyn massacre. The Polish-American radio stations received directives from Washington requesting restrain concerning sensitive issues like Katyn.⁶

At the Nuremberg Trial the Katyn crime was also effectively contained. The victorious coalition chose the Soviet Union as the lead prosecuting nation with respect to crimes against humanity. This decision meant that the Katyn crime was to be submitted for prosecution to the Soviet Government, the suspected perpetrator of the crime.⁷ During the trial, the counsel for the German General Staff asked: May I have a question put to the Prosecution? Who is to be made responsible for the Katyn case? The President of the Court, Lord Justice Lawrence, replied: I do not propose to answer questions of that sort.⁸

After the demise of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin presented the Polish Government with a top-secret document dated March 5, 1940. Signed by Stalin and the members of his Politburo, the document revealed that on Stalin’s order 14,700 Polish officers and 11,000 Polish government officials were executed in April and May of 1940. The Polish officers were murdered in three main locations: in the Katyn forest, in the NKVD prisons in Kharkov, and in the NKVD complex in Kalinin.⁹

Foreword

At the twilight of her life, Danuta entrusted me with her dramatic life story. This book had been evolving over the period of several years, endless days, and countless hours of digging into Danuta’s remarkably vivid memory of the most brutal war ever fought. All the events and facts described in this story are true, and all the characters represent the real people with their real names. By the time the last chapter of this book was written, Danuta’s health deteriorated rapidly. She passed away on April 20, 2002, several months before the first edition of this book went to print.

She left us knowing, however, that the lessons of her tragic life would not be forgotten. Let us draw wisdom from her tragic life. Let us strive for a better understanding among the people and the nations. Let us always remember the price of senseless brutal war.

1. Katyń Monument Over the Smoldering Ruins of the World Trade Center, Jersey City, New Jersey, September 11, 2001.

Chapter 1

Prewar Warsaw

Danuta looks through the window of a suburban house. It’s very beautiful here. Neatly cut grass and the strip of wild forest embracing a small creek surround a large deck decorated with baskets of perennials. It is very quiet here. In fact it’s so quiet that it’s too lonely. A few years ago, she and her sick husband moved to live with their son in this elegant suburban house in Ohio. It is very comfortable here. In fact it’s so comfortable that she has become lazy.

At the turn of the millennium, Danuta spends most of her time in the armchair, waking up only to check the mail and make phone calls. She cannot write anymore but loves to read letters and watch TV Polonia. Only recently, TV Polonia began to broadcast, directly from Poland via satellite, a regular Polish TV program for worldwide audiences. Danusia watches TV Polonia non-stop. It gives her and hundreds of thousands of other Polish people scattered all over the world some sense of belonging, a distant and abstract community of their own, more of a virtual or semi-imaginary world.

Breathing heavily, she slowly scuffs along towards her armchair, her face twisted from exhaustion. The glare of the television screen brightens the gloomy room. As she slumps into the chair, a sonorous voice abruptly awakens her consciousness.

On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Katyn Massacre… She turns around confused. What occasion? What anniversary? A young reporter from the TV Polonia Evening News yells from the screen. A special train carrying families of the Katyn victims arrived today at Katyn for the first official memorial ceremony. Danusia holds her breath, staring wide-eyed at the screen. The camera zooms on a newly erected memorial wall covered with thousands of small plaques listing the names of the Poles bestially murdered by the Soviets in 1940. This is my husband, a woman in her eighties cries out pointing to one of the plaques. Danusia hastily draws nearer the screen. You see, the woman continues, I was a happy wife for two years and a widow with two children for sixty years. This is a priceless moment in my life. I feel as if I am at last reunited with my husband. I brought with me today our two sons… They are already… in their sixties.

Danusia freezes. The Evening News starts reporting on the official speeches given at the memorial ceremony by the Polish Prime Minister and a Russian official. My God! Finally, we got them back! She whispers, quivering with emotion. Hastily she turns towards the closet, pulls out a small metal case, and scuffs back to her armchair.

The image of the aged woman pointing to her husband’s name on the Memorial Wall haunts Danusia as she opens the compact box. The icy chill of the metal frame penetrates through her fingers. Her hand gropes frantically inside the box. Here it is, on the very top. She takes out a white piece of paper and unfolds it with devotion. In the brightness of the television’s screen, a circled portion of the text shines at her: Sierzant Julius, born 1912, son of Pawel, Second Lieutenant, N 462/21, T 653.¹⁰ Julius, her first true love, her dream. Only now it occurs to her that his name must be listed on the Katyn Memorial Wall. But she still cannot grasp it or, rather, she doesn’t want to. Only a few weeks ago, her son brought home this piece of paper–a copy of one page from the list of thousands of Katyn victims slaughtered by the Soviets in 1940.

Throughout all these years, she has wondered what could have happened to Julius. Never ever could she imagine that he met such a cruel martyr’s death. The memory of the magnificent officer vividly comes back. Closing her eyes, she tries to recall those happy summer days back in 1939 spent with Julius near Braslaw. His tall silhouette in the military uniform flickers in her memory. This fragile image of the handsome officer melts quickly with imagination and soon vanishes in cloudy recollection.

She folds the paper and looks inside the box. Where should I put you? she ponders. As her fingers caress different photographs and documents inside, she instantly recognizes each of them just by a slight touch. Each one is distinct. Each one conjures up a unique emotional feeling. The collection starts with photographs from her 1939 vacation, and continues with her first marriage wedding pictures, the Auschwitz letters, the German death certificate, the Soviet death certificate, pictures of her cousins deported to Siberia or lost in action in Great Britain, snapshots of her friends and neighbors killed during the defense of Warsaw, in the Warsaw Uprising, and in numerous concentration camps. The collection ends with the wedding pictures from her second marriage.

Now, sixty years after the crime, she adds to her shrine of martyrs yet another face – a victim of the Katyn Massacre, a name from the list of about fifteen thousand Polish officers barbarically exterminated by the Stalin’s henchmen. That shot to the back of the head of the prisoner of war standing over the mass grave in an obscure forest is one of the most hideous crimes of World War II. Yet, it has been effectively kept from the public eye for generations, a cowardly policy not to upset the Russians at any price. This thought makes her shiver.

She pulls out the wedding photograph from the first marriage. Joseph, darling, I am going to place Julius next to you and Dad. She talks to a man looking at her from the wedding photograph. Julius has just returned from oblivion and needs our extra care. I am sure you will welcome him here, next to you. The dark content of the metal box is her most treasured possession. In moments of despair, she always reaches for this box, finding comfort within and deriving strength from it. A loud noise of the opening garage doors fills the room signaling the arrival of her son. She puts the photograph back and hurriedly places the white piece of paper next to it. Yes, that’s precisely what you want me to do, good! she whispers with relief. Doors open and a man in his forties waves to her.

Daddy, Daddy, look, I’ve just won the battle, Danusia’s grandson yells from another room. Look at the score!

Danuta’s son slowly moves to the computer room and pats the boy on the shoulders. Very good, Konrad! But that’s enough for now. Did you practice piano today?

Konrad gets up grumbling something.

Grandma, did he play?

Danusia makes a puzzled face. I guess he has played, a little, she replies with some hesitancy. In fact, she has been so preoccupied with her husband and then overwhelmed by the news that she doesn’t really know. There was this news today about Katyn, she relates quietly. An official memorial at the Katyn Forest. The camera briefly showed this new memorial wall with all the names listed.

Really? Her son glances at her, unpacking his suitcase. An uncomfortable silence sets in.

Grandma, I need your help! Konrad’s energetic voice breaks the discomfort. I have a project to do. I must write a biography of a famous person. I thought I would write about Marshal Pilsudski and his victory in the Battle of Warsaw.

"Battle of Warsaw, that’s right. The 1920 defeat of the Red Army near Warsaw¹¹ and the Katyn slaughter twenty years later, striking coincidence…" Danusia sighs with bitter sadness. She had been a history teacher for almost forty years. She bravely taught Polish history under the Communist regime and later in the Polish Sunday School in New York. History is her passion. She loves to tell the stories from the distant and not so distant past, and she does it with great eloquence and zeal. But today she doesn’t feel like talking.

"You love those battles, don’t you, especially the victorious ones. But you know, Konrad, the essence of history is what’s really behind those battles. What’s most important is why people fight those battles. Bring me that big red book from upstairs, I’ll show you something."

Konrad already knows the big red book. That’s Grandma’s teaching manual. He finds it instantly. She opens the book ceremoniously and slowly turns the pages.

You see Konrad, to me Pilsudski is not the symbol of war but the symbol of peace, the symbol of resurrecting and rebuilding the nation, and most of all, the symbol of my happy childhood…

The red book on the table is opened to a page entitled Poland Resurrected. Konrad looks at Grandma totally unimpressed. Peace, who cares about peace? She guesses his thoughts and adds. Yes, he fought all those battles to assure sovereign peace for his nation. Slowly, she puts her glasses on and starts reading from the red book.

On November 11, 1918, Poland reemerged from the historic chaos through a complicated plot of events of the World War I and Bolshevik Revolution. The ancient nation was reborn after over one hundred years of partition, degradation of the nation, and deprivation of rights and happiness of millions of Poles. Poland was resurrected through a series of local wars conducted by newly formed, mostly voluntary Polish Armed Forces, through distant peace conferences, and despite German objections and pre-packaged plebiscites. This was yet another historic time that called on the Polish people for great sacrifice.

At this decisive moment, the country was blessed with the great leader. Jozef Pilsudski emerged as a great military and political talent. His job was monumental, though. First, he had to recover and preserve ethnic Polish lands from three partitioners: Austria, Prussia and Russia. Next, he had to unify three different provinces with different official languages, different laws, different administration, different schools, and different political systems.

His greatest military challenge came from the East. The leaders of the Bolshevik revolution decided to spread communist ideology to Western Europe and viewed Poland as the first target in their military advances into the West. In the summer of 1920, the Red Army staged a full strength attack on Warsaw. Many volunteers joined the Polish Army to defend their homeland. Thanks to a brilliant defense strategy designed by Marshal Pilsudski, the Polish Army defeated the Red Army. The Polish victory effectively put an end to Bolshevik expansion into Western Europe. In the Battle of Warsaw, the very existence of Western civilization was at stake. Lord d’Abernon would later call this battle the 18th most important battle in the history of the world.¹²

Danusia’s voice dies out. That’s fantastic! Konrad yells proudly. She looks at him with calm resignation. Two decades later, Great Britain withheld a helping hand in Poland’s moment of need and later closely cooperated with Stalin in burying forever the memory of his sweet revenge… the Katyn Massacre. But perhaps he is too young to grasp this complexity.

Do you know, Konrad, that Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was born at the time of the Battle of Warsaw? Half a century later, he would become the driving force behind the Solidarity Movement that put an end to the era of Soviet Communism… One may wonder… She sighs with a hint of sadness in her smile.

The military activities ended in 1920, and an era of vigorous rebuilding of the nation followed. A new Constitution was adopted and popular elections were held. The elections revealed deep political divisions between the conservative right and liberal left. In December 1922, Professor Gabriel Narutowicz was elected as the First President of resurrected Poland against the objections of the radical right. A few days later, a fanatic killed President Narutowicz.¹³ The country was boiling.

Konrad fidgets on his chair. Grandma, I don’t need that much information. I just need to know about Pilsudski, he complains. Danusia closes the book and tenderly touches his golden hair. Well it’s enough for now. Let’s take a break. He gives Grandma a hug and rushes to his room.

Danusia follows him with her eyes. He is such a happy boy, full of warmth and creative energy. At his age, she was also a very happy kid. She remembers her mother often telling her about all these dark and tragic years of Poland’s partition, the failed uprisings, resurrections, and tragic oppressions. It wasn’t fun at all. In fact back then, when she was his age, all these stories seemed so remote and unreal. They didn’t apply to her anyway because she was born in independent Poland, in true liberty and freedom, with plenty of opportunities smiling to her.

A bell rings and Danusia shuffles noisily to the door. A mail woman hands her a long box and a pile of today’s mail. Greeting cards from Poland! Danusia whispers with excitement.

Her fiftieth wedding anniversary approaches. Suffering from severe Alzheimer, her husband has been in the wheel chair for several years but he will most certainly make it. To celebrate their golden anniversary, their son will drive them to a Polish church in Cleveland for the special Polish mass. A brand new elegant outfit already hangs in the closet for this occasion. But Danuta is somber. She has always dreamt of celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in the Old Town in Warsaw with all her family and friends, the church full of guests. In reality though only one guest is coming for their anniversary celebration in Cleveland. There will be just six of them, that’s all…

Konrad takes a curious peek at the fancy box. What’s that?

I don’t know. Could you open it, please? she asks, opening the letters in great rush. A dozen of purple red roses in a crystal vase emerge from the elegant box. Danusia’s eyes are getting round. Konrad finds a small pink envelope hidden between the leaves.

This is from my Elunia, my dearest baby, Danusia exclaims with tears. The rosy aroma spreads through the house. Fancy greeting cards are piled on the table. Danusia reads them one by one with great diligence.

Wishing you many more happy years in good health, her friends write. We hope you will come to Poland soon, her oldest son writes from Poland. Another card says: Wishing you not only material wealth but more importantly spiritual wealth. Danusia looks at the handwritten note on the small card. Spiritual wealth… That’s right… After all, there was plenty of spiritual wealth in her life back then, before or even during the war. Her eyes wander around the big house. This special feeling of spiritual wealth, one’s soul, where is it now…?

Danusia is a Warsawian. Born in Warsaw at the time of the first presidential elections in resurrected Poland, she is the first child born to a middle class couple. Her mother, Janina, nickname Jasia, works as a hair stylist and wigmaker. Jasia comes from a noble family named Zmigrodzka. Unfortunately, through a complicated plot of family events her noble roots are of no use to her whatsoever. But Jasia is a self-made and entrepreneurial young lady who relies only on herself.

Danusia’s father, Alek, has recently settled in Warsaw after years of adventures. His family lives near Braslaw, northeast from Vilnius, at the farthest northeast corner of the Second Polish Republic. His family had been living on those lands for centuries. In 1918, Poland recovered those lands from the Soviet Union. Subsequently, Stalin will invade this territory in World War II, and after the demise of Communism Lithuania, Latvia, and Belarus will share this land.

Alek speaks broken Polish with a heavy Russian accent. He knows he needs to improve his Polish quickly in order to get a decent job. While he attends language classes, Jasia runs her own beauty salon in the center of Warsaw. Business is good and Jasia is very busy. Before long, Alek gets a job as an electrician in a publishing company.

Unfortunately, inflation runs high and the economy is worsening. In the fall of 1923, a wave of strikes sweeps through Poland. Economic stability becomes the goal of all political parties and a strong unifying force. The non-partisan Economic Council is formed under the leadership of a prominent economist, Wladyslaw Grabski. Within one year, he manages to curb inflation, restore national currency, improve collection of taxes, balance the budget, and initiate a period of relative economic stability.¹⁴

During Grabski’s tenure, the publishing company in which Alek works becomes the official State Mint for the country, a holy place where the national currency, zloty, is printed. Overnight, Alek’s job becomes more lucrative and more secure. The times are stable and Danusia’s parents decide to have a second child.

In 1925 Danusia gets a present–a little brother. The boy receives a very special name, Zbigniew, nickname Zbyszek. By naming their children Danuta and Zbigniew, the parents make a statement of national pride and patriotism. Danusia and Zbyszko are the heroes of the great Polish novel Teutonic Knights written by the Nobel Price winner, Henryk Sienkiewicz. The book is known by heart by all the Poles. It’s a national bible. In this tragic story set in XVth Century Poland, Danusia is kidnapped and tortured by Teutonic Knights. Zbyszek makes heroic efforts to save her. In their worst nightmare, the parents of little Danusia and Zbyszek do not anticipate that the horror of the story in its modern version may actually repeat itself.

Jasia works hard looking after two young children and the business. The family needs a bigger apartment but apartments are very hard to come by these days in Warsaw. In the meantime, little Zbyszek becomes very sick and requires extra care. Jasia quits working and sells her business. The family moves to the suburbs of Warsaw to get a cheaper apartment. Alek commutes to work.

Over their heads and beyond their horizons, the world is slowly moving towards the disaster. The international situation of Poland worsens. The unification process left the country isolated from its neighbors–most of them former partitioners. The tide of western politics moves invariably against the vital national interests of the young Polish Republic. In England, John M. Keynes, a prominent economist, argues that the policy of war reparations reduces Germany to servitude for a generation, degrades the lives of millions of human beings, thereby depriving the whole nation of happiness. Accordingly, the reparation policy is abhorrent and detestable. By 1924, England decides to support the war-weakened Germany and thereby prevents France from growing in influence. The United States, through the Charles Dawes Plan, supports Germany by forgiving war reparations and offering new loans. ¹⁵ The German economy grows rapidly and looks into Poland for new markets that can absorb German goods. As a result, Polish markets suffocate and a tariff war is triggered.

The 1925 European Peace Conference in Locarno brings a big blow to the security of Poland.¹⁶ The resulting pact confirms the permanency of the German northwestern borders with France and Belgium but remains silent on the German southeastern borders with Poland and Czechoslovakia, thereby opening the door to German expansion east.¹⁷ The German propaganda effectively promotes the idea of unjust separation of Eastern Prussia from German lands and calls the Polish Corridor connecting Warsaw with the Baltic Sea a strip of flesh torn from German blood.

The fact that Germany itself reduced the Polish nation to servitude for more than one century, that Germany itself had degraded the lives of millions of Poles for several generations, and that the so called Polish Corridor is the Birthplace of the Polish Nation with Gniezno–the homeland of the first King of Poland, is of no relevance. The Polish voice is not heard on the international scene. The international community remains silent with respect to German demands towards Poland and silence in politics is a gesture of approval. Germany knows it and takes advantage of it. While growing in strength, Germany raises more territorial claims to Polish territories and develops new alliances. The dark clouds gather over Poland.

Danusia’s family doesn’t look at those clouds though. Preoccupied with their daily chores, the parents raise Danusia and Zbyszek with great care and love. After moving from one apartment to another, the family finally settles in an apartment at the State Mint. An excellent electrician, Alek becomes indispensable at work and is awarded a nice apartment on the premises of the State Mint. Their new apartment is located in Powisle, the prominent neighborhood of Warsaw near the Vistula River.

2. Danusia with Parents, Warsaw, 1926.

Danusia and Zbyszek attend a nearby school at Rybaki. Under the watchful eyes of great teachers such as the historian known as Aunt Fluff, the children study Polish literature and history, read the poetry of Mickiewicz, and participate in unforgettable school plays and Christmas programs. In one of those programs Danusia plays a man of straw in a patriotic play Wedding by Stanislaw Wyspianski. In this highly symbolic and tragic play written during the partition years, the Poles rise against their oppressors – the three partitioners: Prussia, Austria and Russia. However when the long-awaited call to arms finally comes to a village, people dance, drink, and celebrate but are not ready to fight. Consequently, the opportunity to regain independence is lost. The memory of the partition years is very vivid in the consciousness of Danuta’s parents. However for Danusia, the partition time is only a distant past, mere history…

Like most girls her age, Danusia loves to dance, sing, and act. She grows fast and develops into an attractive young lady, full of poise and personal charm. Cultural life in Warsaw is booming. The National Opera and operettas fill up every day. Jan Kiepura, the Polish tenor, reigns in the opera world. Vaudeville is Danusia’s favorite. The first Polish records and movies are made. Every day, big crowds rush to see the movies. Movie theaters mushroom and movie stars become heroes and role models for the young generation.

Danusia absorbs the spirit of the time and draws inspiration from it. She keeps asking her parents to send her to the exclusive Art and Movie School.

You know… I went today to the movie school and met some teachers there. They were so nice and friendly. They told me that I could qualify and that…

Her father looks at her skeptically. I already told you, he interrupts. This school is too expensive. And besides, you need to get better grades in the first place before thinking about any movie school.

But Dad, Danusia groans, you know, I will get a 3+ in math for this grading period, and a 4 for all other courses this semester. I saw my grades today. And the movie school is only 40 zloty per month. I promise I will work hard.

If 40 zloty is not much for you then go and earn it, Mama scolds her.

Okay, I know, it is expensive but this is such an excellent school. Everybody says I have a talent. Please give me a chance. I promise I will work hard. You’ll see.

The father sighs heavily. Well, how about if we give it a try? What do you think, Jasia? Mom slowly nods with approval. "But remember, on one condition–that your grades in the gymnasium¹⁸ will not suffer!"

Danusia jumps like a rocket, gives Dad a big hug, kisses Mama, and yells with excitement: I promise I will study hard and will even get some 5’s. You will see! Jasia embraces her gently with a smile.

3. Danusia in the Movie School

Every day after the regular school, Danusia flies to the movie school. She loves every minute of it. She sings and dances, learns phonetics and diction, studies history of art, poetry and acting. She is very good at it. In fact, she is a born actress with a natural talent for acting and public speaking. When she performs, she shines. Her sharp eyes and assertive voice immediately capture the audience. She quickly and effortlessly makes new friends and frequently takes charge in the group. Although she is among the youngest students, she catches the attention of the most influential teachers.

Her adventure with acting doesn’t last long, though. The first grading period in the regular school is a disaster. It turns out that Danusia got an F in mathematics and in French. Dad is merciless. He turns a deaf ear on Danusia’s begging and orders that she withdraw from the movie school at once. The school principal, Hanna Osoria, desperately wants to keep Danusia in school. She even offers to waive the tuition. But Alek is determined and rejects her offer.

Danusia must get a high school diploma first, he declares. It is not a matter of money. It’s a matter of principle.

There was nothing Danusia or anybody else could do to save the movie school. Her dream of becoming an actress would forever remain just a dream. But with such a painful experience, she becomes more mindful of her school responsibility.

As many Poles of his time, Alek is a man of principle, loving but rigorous. Most of the time he keeps at a distance from daily affairs but when it comes to important matters, he becomes involved. Like many at the time, Alek sympathizes with Communists, and even though he has been raised as a Catholic, he never goes to church. The couple has an unspoken agreement that Jasia is responsible for the religious upbringing of the children.

Jasia is a devout Catholic and scrupulous practitioner. The kids must go to church every Sunday. Sometimes Jasia goes with them. But often she is busy with hair styling and the kids must go by themselves. One of Danusia’s childhood dreams has always been to go to Sunday mass with both Mom and Dad. But it never happened. Her Dad never went to mass. She only remembers that one day he slipped to an empty church and spent some time inside. Although Alek has been approving of his children’s religious upbringing, he remained distrustful of the church institution.

As Danusia is coming to terms with the movie school disaster, the country is coming out of the 1933 recession. Danusia didn’t really experience the pain of great recession because the families of State Mint employees were among the privileged and protected ones. But hundreds of thousands of workers across the country suffered great hardship.

In the southwestern region of Silesia, catastrophic unemployment among the coalminers became the fertile ground for the promotion of fascist ideologies. The German minorities along the Polish-German borders became galvanized. The ranks of the fascist German minority organizations swelled. By 1934 German Socio-Cultural Association–Schlesische Volksbound had thirty three thousand members, conservative right Deutche Partei accounted for five thousand, and the aggressive pro-Hitler Jungdeutche Partei was exceeding forty thousand members. German NSDAP was busy providing these groups with subsidies, training their leaders, and developing networks of spies and paramilitary groups. Thanks to the NSDAP financial support, the German minority organizations in Poland were able to offer unemployment compensation and thereby attract to their ranks thousands of laid off coalminers.¹⁹

In 1932 Poland signed a ten-year Non-Aggression Pact with the Soviet Union. The Pact included a historically critical clause providing that in the event of military conflict with a third country the signatories of the Pact shall not directly or indirectly assist that third country. Two years later, Poland also signed a ten-year Non-Aggression Pact with Germany. This pact was supplemented by the Moral Disarmament Agreement renouncing propaganda wars. Marshal Pilsudski, the center of country’s political power and the author of the Polish foreign policy, aimed at preserving balance between the two neighbors. His goal was to maintain relations with both powers but to ally with neither of them.²⁰

The role of Marshal Pilsudski in the Polish Government was one of a kind. Although in 1926 the National Assembly elected him as President, he declined the nomination and chose the position of Minister of Defense. Formally the Minister of Defense and for all practical purposes the center of power, he remained in this position until his death.²¹

In the spring of 1934, Minister of Internal Affairs, Bronislaw Pieracki, was assassinated. Radical National Group was blamed for the assassination and immediately outlawed. As a result of this violent assassination, President Moscicki issued a special presidential decree on proper measures to assure the safety, security, and public order. Although it would be revealed later that the Ukrainian Military Organization was behind the assassination of Minister Pieracki, the June 17 1934 Decree played a key role in persecution of political opponents, giving the administration the right to detain indefinitely and without any cause any political opponent. Once introduced, this convenient tool quickly became the primary method of eradicating any opposition. Pursuant to the Decree, a detention camp was created in Bereza Kartuska and several hundreds political opponents from far right and far left alike were preventively detained there.²²

In the spring of 1935, news had broken that Marshal Pilsudski was seriously ill. By then, Pilsudski had a mixed record of accomplishments. Faced with a highly polarized and divided society, the Great Marshal had moved over the years away from the democratic style of governance towards more of an autocratic style. His record included a 1926 military coup, 1930 Brest detention and trial of the opposition leaders, 1934 imprisonment of Communists in Bereza Kartuska, and 1935 Constitution that curbed democratic privileges.

And yet, the Great Marshal has been perceived as the father of the country, the greatest moral, political, and patriotic authority. The loyalty of his soldiers represented the cornerstone of his power. Pilsudski’s soldiers from the time of the Battle of Warsaw have moved into civil service and government posts. For the young people, military service has been offering opportunities for professional and social advancement. Pilsudski’s heroic struggle for resurrection of Poland made him a true national hero, and for most Poles he would remain that national hero forever. During his final days, the whole nation prays for his recovery. Everybody, from youngsters to the elderly, is deeply saddened by the news of his illness and wishes him well.

4. Marshal Józef Piłsudski 1867-1935.

On a sunny day in May 1935, the message comes. Marshal Pilsudski is dead. Danusia gets the news from her mother and bursts into tears. Inexplicable fear settles in her heart, and the same fear settles in the hearts of millions of others. Pilsudski was the symbol of independent Poland, the statesman who, as some historians would later say, could save the world from World War II. Does that mean that Poland may be lost again without him? Who would protect us now? What does the future hold? Grieving people are asking these terrifying questions everywhere. Even Pilsudski’s direct political opponents pay last respect to the man of unquestionable and unparalleled patriotism. Only Pilsudski’s moral authority could solidify the many different interest groups and orientations. Only Pilsudski could find middle ground between the right and left, West and East, democracy and autocracy. Above all, Pilsudski was the most powerful symbol of resurrected Poland.

The funeral of the Great Marshal is a weeklong event. First, his body is displayed for viewing in the National Cathedral in Warsaw, then the casket will be transported to Krakow, and the Great Marshal will be laid to rest at Wawel, the burial place for all the Polish kings for over one thousand years. Warsaw is so crowded that people can hardly approach the Cathedral. Countless crowds gather in the center of the city, blocking all the streets. No one can freely move around.

Danusia and her mother join the crowd with a secret plan to get to the Great Marshal. One of their neighbors, Mr. Bojewski, works as a security guard at the King’s Palace near the Cathedral. Apparently, the Cathedral is connected with the Palace by a secret underground passage. The plan is that Danusia and her mother would come to the Palace and Mr. Bojewski would take them through the secret underground passageway to the Cathedral. Danusia is anxious. Her imagination boils with the prospect of going through the secret underground passage.

The first challenge is to reach the gate of the Palace. For several hours, Danusia and Mama revolving round the Palace in smaller and smaller circles until they push to the gate where, as planned, Mr. Bojewski lets them in and takes them through labyrinthine of humid halls, steps, and passages to the basement of the Cathedral, and from there through some concealed chilly steps to the nave balcony. Here, Danusia finds herself right above the glowing nave of the Cathedral. The breathtaking view spreads in front of her curious eyes. The majestic walls of the gothic Cathedral nave are filled with sadness and candle warmth. She looks down and here he is. The Great Marshal, with this familiar stringent face, his dark, bushy eyebrows and big mustache, he is lying beneath in the open casket, his numerous military insignia gleaming from the distance. Tears veil Danusia’s eyes for a moment, but the scene is so spectacular she has to absorb every moment of it.

The casket of the Great Marshal, buried in the flowers, rests high on the pedestal. Military and honor guards with representatives of the government, political organizations, and scouts surround the casket. The never-ending procession of sobbing people slowly moves by the casket. The monumental ascetic Cathedral is silent. Only from time to time, louder weeping and sobbing break the silence.

Danusia’s farewell with the Great Marshal doesn’t last long. After a few minutes, Mr. Bojewski hastily waves to them. We have to go. I must be back at the Palace.

Danusia finishes her prayer, takes a last glimpse at the spectacular scene below, and pulls Mama away from the balustrade. In a few minutes, they are back at the Palace and on their way home. Danusia is exhausted and bewildered. The view from the nave balcony deeply touched her heart and would remain engraved in her memory for the rest of her life.

After the funeral, the life seems to go back to normal. As summer comes, people head to the countryside. But a certain anxiety remains. Who would succeed the Great Marshal? What will happen to various political groups unified under his leadership? Who would take on the lead in foreign policy? The Pilsudski coalition doesn’t waste time and selects Edward Rydz-Smigly as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. In early fall, the coalition forms a new cabinet with Edward Kwiatkowski as the Treasury Minister. Energetic and skilled Kwiatkowski develops an ambitious four-year industrialization plan for a carefully selected Central Industrial Region. Although financial support from England and the United States is beyond Poland’s reach, Kwiatkowski arranges credits from France, Poland’s closest ally. In an atmosphere of increasing tension with Germany, he focuses the limited resources of the country on the development of the military industry: military plants, steel mills, power plants, airplane plants, tire and machine tool plants. His policy stimulates growth and brings down unemployment. By 1937, the economy improves and the country reaches relative political stability.²³

The first years without the Great Marshal seem good for ordinary Poles. Danusia and her family are happy and prosperous. One day, Alek comes home carrying a big package in both hands. Hello everybody, guess what I have for you!

Wow, this must be an airplane, Zbyszek exclaims, his eyes are popping at the box.

No, no, this is some kind of a scooter, I guess, Danusia declares.

Mama checks the box. Well, since Christmas is not here yet, you have to wait a little longer for your wishes to come true. I think this present is for the house, in other words for all of us. Right Alek?

Exactly! he thunders.

The kids are not discouraged. They rush to the neatly packed box. Danusia grabs the scissors while Zbyszek peels off heavy paper and spots a shiny piece of light wood.

Hurrah! Hurrah!

The kids tear off paper with the speed of light. A big wooden box with a fabric covered frame and black plastic panel in the center emerges from the rubbish.

Radio! Radio! Zbyszek screams.

Indeed, a beautiful brand new radio stands on the dining table. Alek looks at it with admiration while Jasia shakes her head in disbelief. Alek, this must cost a fortune. How much did you pay for it?

Don’t worry, Jasia, I got a special deal. Alek always talks about a special deal when he wants to calm down Jasia. You know this store at Zelazna Street? They set this unit aside for me. It’s the latest model. I buy so many things from them that they gave me a great discount.

Yes, but how about your old radio, Dad? Danusia asks with concern. Do you want to throw it out?

Alek looks at the ugly gray box standing on the windowsill. This is his first radio, his baby, and the source of his great pride. Before anybody else could even dream of having a radio, he put it together himself with great diligence. The whole family treats this simple gray box as their darling. The memories of the best times of togetherness came back. They would gather around the little radio in the evening and listen to the Warsaw station broadcasts, music and poetry programs, and the Lvov Wave Station with the all time favorite talk show of Toncio and Szczepcio. Thanks to this little radio, they listened to the very first radio broadcasts in Poland. Now, they look at each other with consternation. At last Zbyszek breaks the silence.

Can I have it, Dad? I will be very careful with it, I promise.

Sure, Alek replies with relief.

The new radio is placed prominently on the commode in the living room. Alek frequently invites friends for an evening of radio listening. With this new top of the line equipment, he catches many stations, including some Russian music stations. He loves to listen to the Russian songs that remind him of his youth times far away near Braslaw.

His job at the State Mint is getting better and better every day. The company takes good care of the most valuable employees. With his electrics expertise, Alek is one of them. Together with other innovators, he arranges for the installation of