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My hero!
I am writing a very condescended version of my father’s life before and post WW2. He was a brave man who as many others like him endured and survived extreme hardship by his wits and fortitude.
My father was born in a farming village in Poland in1918. His family raised horses and grew cherries. He said his father was Polish and his mother Belarusian. Dad said he always wanted to leave the farm and become a professional soldier and joined the Polish army. Because of his horse sense and riding skills he was soldier in the Polish Calvary.
Due to the political climate at the time my grandfather, father and other male relatives became political prisoners and were sent to Siberia. Dad said the Russians took from them their fine leather boots and gave them wooden shoes to wear. He said the prisoner’s feet would swell and bleed as they were forced to march through the snow. They were herded into cattle cars and the Russian people would throw dung and spit on them. He told me many stories of hardship and endurance. They all attempted to escape running through the snow. The guards fired shots at them as they ran.
My father said he was shot numerous times as he was running falling in the snow as he passed out. When he awoke he was by himself the rest of his family were gone. He never saw them again and believed they were murdered.
Father walked to a farm where an old woman took care of him. She removed the bullets and nursed him back to health. He stayed for a while helping on the farm. He told her he would be leaving to go back home to see his mother, whom he adored. The old woman advised him not to go, as the Russians would look for him there.
Shortly after his arrival home the Russians indeed came and he was offered to be sent back to Siberia or become a soldier in the Russian army. He then became a Russian Calvary soldier and rode horse back to Germany. My father was a sergeant by the time he reached Berlin. The Russians drank heavily and would dance around the campfires talking about their dreams. My father said his dream was to come to America while his fellow soldiers laughed at the absurdity of that dream.
He was caught by the Germans and held as a POW. Dad spoke of being a slave to the German officers and having to serve them their meals and drinks. He was still in Berlin at the end of the war and was freed by US soldiers. He was give the opportunity to become a guard of German soldiers in Berlin and eventually was sent as a guard to Nurnberg during the trials.
My father never went back to his homeland.
Last edited by Panzermacher; March 23rd, 2008 at 01:59 PM.
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March 23rd, 2008, 11:33 AM
Re: My hero!
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