Without Vodka, by Aleksander Topolski

The Odyssey of a Pole in Eastern Poland and the Soviet Union

Without Vodka: Wartime Adventures in Russia. By Aleksander Topolski. Steerforth Press. 386 pp. $16.

The title comes from a Russian saying explaining life in that country. Without vodka one cannot understand! How true that was as I read on and on.

Aleksander Topolski was born in western Poland but eventually settled with his family in the village of Horodenka along the Polish-Rumanian border. The first few pages tell the story of life in Poland before the Second World War. Soon war overtakes the nation and the Soviet Union occupies eastern Poland.

The strength of the book is the author’s strong narrative and fairness in reporting what he saw. In his preface the author apologizes for offending anyone and acknowledges that he probably has "…offended everyone in this book, including [his] fellow Poles." As a historian and teacher I appreciate his honesty. Too often we Poles cast ourselves as heroes and when criticized for something (Jedwabne for example) we become defensive and refuse to acknowledge that our ancestors could and did in fact make mistakes. We Poles are also human and Mr. Topolski knows this from his experiences.

As a seventeen-year-old the author attempted to cross the border into Rumania with a group of Poles. He is caught by Soviet guards and imprisoned. At this point his odyssey begins. Life in various Soviet prisons is shown in all its various forms. Topolski is able to keep your attention because he writes his experiences with warmth and humor as well as details. The constant hunger of the prisoners is presented as possibly the worst part of the imprisonment.

During the imprisonment by Soviet authorities Topolski shows the camaraderie of the Polish citizens regardless of their ethnic background. He touches upon the Soviet understanding of Polish citizenship which put individuals into dilemmas that we can only imagine how we would react. Ukrainians and Jews were not Polish citizens but ethnic Poles were. This becomes confusing later on when the Germans invade the Soviet Union. There were many cases of ethnic Poles proclaiming themselves Ukrainian or Bielorussian in hopes of more lenient treatment that they did not usually receive. This would come back to haunt them after the Sikorski government signed a treaty with the Soviets to raise a Polish army. Only Polish citizens could join.

The author was able to remember many details of his odyssey. Several stories have left their impressions with me. The solidarity of the Poles was strong but this also included Polish Jews. Too often modern propaganda teaches that Poles and Jews did not get along and that all Jews were communist sympathizers while Poles were violent anti-Semites, but the truth is otherwise. There were many Poles and Jews who looked on one another as fellow citizens and this is shown throughout the book.

After the Germans invade the Soviet Union Topolski tells of a Pole who is suspected of being a Ukrainian. He is thrown out of the group and sadly not one of the Poles defends his fellow citizen whose only crime is speaking Polish with a Ukrainian accent. There were the many times that beggars (both Polish and other) were not able to get the Poles to share their meager food with them. Topolski shows us the Poles in all their humanity.

The book ends with the author entering Iran. He is currently working on a second volume dealing with his adventures in the Polish Army in the west.