TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS: FROM COMMUNISM TO INTERFAITH MARRIAGE AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

By Johnny Winter

The book 'Trials and Triumphs from Communism to An Interfaith Marriage And Everything In Between' describes the life of an Immigrant, resident of Poland in love with the sea, who decided to leave his country at a time when the collapse of the communist system was imminent. The dissatisfaction of citizens had grown, but there were also sparks of

• Language: English
• Publisher: IngramSpark
• Release date: Mar 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869228192

Book preview

Copyright © 2024 by Johnny Winter

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Life in a Communist Country, Youthful Years

Chapter Two: Beginnings in a New Country

Chapter Three: Car Accident and Its Aftermath

Chapter Four: Love and Plans for the Future

Chapter Five: Our Beloved Children

Chapter Six: First Trip to Poland after the Fall of Communism

Chapter Seven: Our Vacation and Eventual  Move to Florida

Chapter Eight: Back to New York

Chapter Nine: The Beginnings of Learning  in Yeshiva

Chapter Ten: Property in Poconos, Pennsylvania

Chapter Eleven: A Family Divided

The United States of America is a country of hope, love, and security. A country to which millions of people direct their steps in search of happiness, work, and dignified life. This work is dedicated to the life of one of them, an immigrant who left his country, Poland at a time when the collapse of the communist system was imminent. At a time when the discontent and sense of injustice of citizens was growing but were also sparks of hope for the future. That future was to be the birth of Solidarity. It is a portrait of a young man who found a job on a ship, dreaming of starting a new career, a new better, and safer life. A young man who, however, left in his country everything, including the most important – his immediate family and went overseas, into the unknown, to fulfill his American dream, which was so alluring at that time. In this book, I want to show the beginnings of life in this new world, in a new culture, which was supposed to be a chance for a great future. These were both, difficult moments related to the struggle for existence, job search, disappointments, breakdowns, and sadness, as well as beautiful moments, full of happiness, associated with meeting my future wife and the birth of two children dearest to my heart. Adaptation to the new world, to new conditions, although ultimately successful, was not easy at all, especially because of the language that I did not know at the time, and the lack of close people around me. However, my example shows that you can overcome any obstacles and inconveniences if you want to achieve your dream goal with all your heart. This requires inner strength, self-confidence, determination, and a little luck. My marriage to a woman of a different faith than Catholicism, shaped by a different culture and the children born of this union, all this made me change from year to year. For years in our family, there was respect for each of the cultures, but in the end, the Catholic holidays, which I was raised with from birth, with a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, gave way to Jewish holidays. This brought drastic changes to our home that we bravely fought against. Finally, after eighteen years of living together, after years of great love, we decided to go our separate ways. The price we both paid was huge, and we are paying it to this day. However, the greatest price was paid by our children between whom the barrier of faith had grown. My daughter, an adult now, a successful woman, married, a wonderful and caring mother of two toddlers, has been faithful to the ideas of the yeshiva she attended and her mother’s beliefs while my son left the family home with me and is trying to find his way.

Chapter One

Life in a Communist Country, Youthful Years

Gdynia is a beautiful city and a great port lying on the Baltic Sea in the north of Poland. From a small fishing village, it turned into a beautiful, modern city. It received city rights in 1926. Characterized by a clean beach, stretching for miles, and wonderful sea air, providing iodine and ensuring well-being. It was in this city that I was born, raised and spent my teenage years. I was faithful to this city until I left Poland permanently. I come from a typical working-class, Catholic family. My childhood was comparable to most of my peers from other working-class families of the communist period. Families were then generally large, and the only person supporting the household members was the head of the family-father. The mother was engaged in raising children and sometimes worked professionally, filling in the gaps. Children went to nursery, then to kindergarten, and then took their first steps at school. During the absence of their parents, their duties were taken over by the eldest of the children. Although this was not always the case. During this time, we moved only once - from a small apartment located in a beautiful place on the ‘Nowotki Hill’ to a slightly larger one but far from the beach. Water was then, is now, and will remain forever my love, it attracted me like a magnet, and I could not live without it. Therefore, from an early age, without the knowledge of my mother and siblings, I got on a bus or, very popular at that time, electrically powered vehicle. Not always having money for a ticket, I often went alone to the beach to spend a few hours by the sea. After returning, I usually got reprimanded for it, but I still thought it was worth it. It sometimes happened that my mother had to pick me up from the police station (at that time still the militia) for the lack of a ticket and paid a penalty. Moving to a new location also involved changing schools, it was not easy for me and my siblings. I found it difficult being in a different setting, among new colleagues. Without informing the school management about the change of address, for months together with my brother, we agreed to an hour-long commute to the school. There were no school buses then, so we were on our own and dependent on public transportation. At school, we walked in slippers, and order and cleanliness were guarded by the janitor, who solved all problems on her own, with a wet rag or mop. There was no need for metal detectors or school security guards at that time. Each elementary school had its own dress code. These were mostly school uniforms, which consisted of navy blue or black jackets, with white collars and emblems on the right arm. No one dared to come to school in other clothes. Once a week, a school nurse unexpectedly visited the classrooms, checking the cleanliness of the students. She looked into the students’ hair and checked the cleanliness of their feet. The most unpleasant fear-provoking visits were to the school dentist. It could not be avoided. Cleaning of teeth or repair of damaged ones was completed without prior anesthesia. During school hours, teachers replaced our parents, and we treated them the same as our parents, with respect and dignity. Each school had its own cafeteria, where students ate their lunch, which was prepared at home, and a cup of hot milk was offered daily free of charge. There was no question of eating in the classroom or in the hallways. The nicest thing was when it was time to go home from school. During the summertime, before we got home from school, we religiously met on the pitch to play soccer, and in the wintertime, we had a lot of fun on the fluffy snow. We slid on our shoes and cardboard book bags instead of sleds. We did not have watches, but everyone knew when to come home. Our parents did not like to wait too long with a prepared meal. You ate what was prepared by your mother, or you did not eat at all. The summer and winter holidays awaited with impatience, ended very quickly with various memories which remained long after the holidays were over. My luckiest friends had the opportunity to go to a two-week long vacation, guaranteed by the communist regime, to other cities in Poland. Others stayed at home, looking for daily activities. High schools also had their own dress code, mostly jackets with an emblem on the chest on the left side. They were worn with pride, and representing the school was satisfying. We were already adults, we were able to take care of ourselves, so we did not need a nurse to check our cleanliness. Quite often after lectures, and sometimes during the ongoing classes, we spent our time in a different way, in the company of selected colleagues. Usually, we went to the house of one of them in ‘Sopot’, near the beautiful boardwalk, and there with the wonderful music of the seventies and often with a beer, we got to know each other even more thoroughly.

As I have mentioned before, in the case of my brother and me, the commute to school did not take too long, but concerned teachers, caring about the safety of students, learning about our move, arbitrarily registered us to the school near our house. We did not like it, but we had no other choice. Most families used public transportation at that time. Owning a car was a huge dream, which came true in my case, when I was twenty-two years old. My mother and father worked all their lives and could not afford this luxury. The time of waiting for a home phone was awfully long. Not everyone had it. The waiting period for a new apartment was even longer. Having money and a full contribution to your own dream place did not guarantee getting it. The list of those waiting was excessive, and many of them passed away before they could enjoy their new living space. Often there was a shortage of basic food products, and the shops shone with emptiness, a situation unknown in western countries. The end of the 70's and the beginning of the 80's was terrible. Food rationing followed. Families that had money to buy food also needed special rationing cards, meticulously calculated, and awarded by the government monthly. The number of them depended on the size of the family. Remuneration for work was distributed in monthly installments, and not everyone could cope with expenses. Often there was not enough to pay the bills and the purchase of food products. In such cases our neighbors came to the rescue. Of course, for those belonging to the Communist Party, the situation was more extravagant. Usually, they did not wait, lacking nothing, not requiring rationing cards, and they had no financial worries, claiming that they were entitled to it.

Our parents were very demanding, even rigorous, but also