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What happened to the other young cadets with you in the photo? | |
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My name is Doug D----- and I live outside of Philadelphia. I just finished your book, Without Vodka, and was extremely moved and touched by your experiences. Thank You very much for writing this story and I'm glad you survived!! Did you ever see your parents again after the war? Did you ever see your girlfriend again? How do you feel about Russians? Did you see combat with your Polish Division? Have you visited your hometown since fall of Soviet Union? If you have time I would really like to know the answers to these questions. If you don't reply I will understand. I'm sure you have many fans. Doug D. Pennsylvania, USA Aleks replies After the war I made contact with my parents through the Red Cross. I didn't want to go to Poland for fear the Communist government there would not let me leave and maybe even arrest me to complete my five-year sentence. My parents wanted to visit me in England but in those early postwar years, money was short and visas to leave Poland were hard to get. Then my father became too ill to travel. I never saw him again. In 1953, after my father died, my mother came to visit me in London where I was employed as an architect. In 1967, when suspicions about Polish ex-pats had eased – and the Communist regime was seeking sources of hard currency– I went to Poland to see my mother and sisters in Opole. That was the first of many visits. However, my hometown of Horodenka was now in the Ukraine and still under the Soviets. I had no family living there and no desire to venture into the Soviet realm. I have never been back to Horodenka since I left it in 1939. A couple of friends of mine did and found it neglected and depressing, quite unlike their memories of pre-war days. If I had time, money and more courage, I would rather revisit Kiev and then Vyatka (the former Kirov) to try to find the little hamlet of Marievka, where I stayed with Dada Misha. My teenage girlfnend from Horodenka, Krysia Rutkowska, went to Warsaw where she served in the underground army fighting for a free Poland. She was killed in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. I like Russians. They are a warm, generous people with a genuine love of children. They have also produced some of the greatest music and literature in the world. Most of them also suffered terribly under Stalin and during the war. Even so, some were kind to foreign prisoners like me dumped into their midst. What I never could abide was the absolute cruel power wielded by Stalin and the corrupt and mindless Soviet system. I saw active service in the Polish 2nd Corps guarding the oil fields of Iraq and later with Polish forces fighting up through Italy until the end of the war in Europe. The second volume of my memoirs– still not published– covers my war service.
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Antonini Byczynski Antonini Byczynski, briefly my fellow prisoner in Czortkow, was a high school student whose father was an innkeeper in Zaleszczyki. Antonini's nephew, the son of Henryk Byczynski, e-mailed me in 2004 from Poland. He said his Uncle Antonini made his way back to Poland and lived there until he died a few years ago. However, he had never talked to his family about his wartime experiences or incarceration by the Soviets. Perhaps it was because it was too painful to talk about, but more likely because to do so in then Communist Poland might have jeopardized his chances for employment and housing, and have stigmatized his family. For full text in Polish of the e-mails, click on Po Polsku and go to Listi. _______________________________________ Karol Szlamka I heard from Sgt. Major Szlamka’s grand nephew, Julian Szlamka in Australia and told him what I knew in an e-mail of August, 2002– I served under your grand uncle Karol Szlamka first in Uzbekistan, USSR and then in Iran (Persia)and Iraq. In the first and unabridged Up Press edition of "Without Vodka" (1999, now out of print) I describe him as "an exemplary NCO, demanding but understanding." I first met him when I was a student cadet officer (with the rank of private) and was transferred by the army from the Infantry Officers School, 7th Division, in Kermine to the Signals officers school of the First Signals Regiment at Velikaya Alekseyevskaya, known to Uzbeks as Katta Alekseyevskaya. (Our First Signals Regiment was later renamed the 11th Signals Battalion of the Polish Army in the Middle East.) Your grand uncle was the Company Sergeant Major (in Polish "Szef") of the Signals Officers School and in charge of the student cadet officers of which I was one "elew". The garrison of the First Signals Regiment had much better and more humane conditions than the other garrisons I had been posted to in that part of the USSR. Karol Szlamka, I'm pleased to be able to say, fulfilled his duties admirably as the senior NCO who took care of his subordinates like me. In fact, I think your grand uncle had a soft spot for me, perhaps because I was so thin and one of the youngest. At the same time, he kept strict discipline but was always fair and never abusive – more than I can say for some others in command. But he could be tough when he had to be. I remember one student officer whom he learned was tipsy on duty just before graduation. That student was expelled. Because of my poor physical condition – I'd just recovered from typhus on top of two years of near starvation – many of the other soldiers around me seemed in better shape. They had come from prisoner of war camps or from so-called "free resettlement" in the Soviet Union– actually the kidnapping of Polish citizens who were taken in crowded boxcars into the far reaches of the USSR to become forced labourers. We soldiers had barely enough to survive because our army shared its rations with the Polish women, children and old men around us who had no food allotment from the Soviets. These people had made their way to our camps searching for food and a way to get out of the USSR. In July 1942, your grand uncle went through a personal tragedy. His wife and daughter were living in a nearby village. The daughter, maybe only seven or eight years old, died from, I believe, malaria and malnutrition. She was buried in a makeshift Polish military cemetery near there. In a photo album in the Sikorski Institute in London, I found a picture of that cemetery taken around that time and made a copy of it. I also have a copy of a photo someone took of Karol Szlamka in Egypt in 1943 (or 1944?), probably while we Polish soldiers were waiting to go to join the fighting in Italy. He was my C.S.M. until December 1942 when our course ended while we were stationed in Kizil Ribat in Iraq. The school was hard work. Out of about 120 students, only some 70 of us passed to become cadet officers. And so after that I parted company with your grand uncle. He remained with signals too, I believe, but we were never again in the same unit and so I lost track of him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sgt Major Szlamka’s daughter, Elzunia, later sent me several e-mails from her home in Chichester, England, late in 2003. She set the record straight about his two children who died in the USSR and telling me more about her father. Here are excerpts:- My father has been dead for 10 years, and like many of his friends who travelled the same route through Siberia, Persia, Egypt, Italy, spoke very little about his experiences. It is therefore all the more important to learn about this fairly recent Polish history about which little has been written. Equally, my father-in-law, is reluctant to record anything for posterity's sake-- perhaps too painful. I was born in Jaffa, Palestine -- fortunately missing the experience of Siberia which some of my cousins underwent as small children.... The only fact I cannot reconcile with in your message to Julian regards the following: "In July 1942, your grand uncle went through a personal tragedy. His wife and daughter were living in a nearby village. The daughter, maybe only seven or eight years old, died from, I believe, malaria and malnutrition." My parents did not have a daughter [then], only two sons – one of whom Zbyszek died in Siberia, the other Rysiek died in Uzbekistan.... I note you plan to go to London for the UK launch of your book, but the date and venue have yet to be confirmed. I'd be most pleased if my sister (Caroline Hockley) and my brother (Andrew Szlamka) could receive invitations to the "Meet the Author" session in London. My husband (Wojtek ) and daughter (Helenka).would love to attend as well.... It's a pity the Kresy_Siberia site wasn't around when my father was. He died 12 years ago of a heart attack at the Polish Club in Balham, London, surrounded by friends. A shock to all, but according to a doctor it was like 'switching off a light'. He was 83 and still enjoying life to the full, despite having had 3 hip replacement operations. He was heavily involved in the Klub Samotnych at Balham and Zlota Jesien (they performed various plays and monologues which he scripted and also acted in). In fact, Polish history and literature kept him going. I have no doubt that he would have mastered 'surfing the net' if he knew it would bring him back into contact with people he had known way back. ____________________________________________________________________ Florian Kotowicz In the Fall of 2003, Andrzej, the son of Captain Florian Kotowicz, wrote to me from London in Polish. He had seen his father's name in Without Vodka. (For Polish text go to PoPolsku and click on listi) I answered in English:- Dear Mr. Kotowicz, Dear Mr.Topolski ____________________________________________________________________ Filek Birnbaum Dear Mr. Topolski, My name is Miryam M....., and I am Filek Birnbaum's daughter (mentioned in your book on chapter 11). I would like to be in touch with you and get more information and stories about my father from that period. My father died 9 years ago and my mother lives in Caracas, Venezuela, with my brother and uncle (Filek's younger brother), whereas I live in Israel. I just finished reading chapter 13 in your book. I would be happy to hear from you as soon as possible. With all my respect, Miryam Oct.25, 2004 Dear Miriyam, Your e-mail with the news about Filek was so unexpected and yet so welcome. For 60 years I've wondered what happened to Filek and his friend who was arrested with him. After they were taken from our cell in Kiev one day, they just vanished. Unlike the rest of us, they had not yet received news of any court case against them or any sentence. Usually by word of mouth or some note left, we heard what had happened to our cellmates. But your father vanished, as we say in Polish, like a stone into water. The guards and others were so secretive it was useless to try to get information out of them. Anyway, in those days a prudent person would never ask a Soviet what had happened to anyone. Even Molotov, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the USSR for years, never even asked what had happened to his wife, who disappeared one day. If Filek told you what happened to him after that, please tell me. I am curious about a few things. Where were they taken from Kiev? Did they have a court case? Were they sent to the Gulag camps to work in the far north? When were they released? Were they released, like me and others, as a result of the "amnesty" to citizens of Poland? How and when did they get out of the USSR? They might have stayed and worked in the Soviet Union and joined the Soviet-Polish Army. I asked everywhere among people I met in the Polish 2nd Corps (often referred to as Gen. Anders's army) if anyone knew what had happened to Filek, but nobody knew. I didn't know Filek had a younger brother. And how did your family come to emigrate to Caracas? By chance, my wife's sister, Susan Eddis Crease, grew up in Caracas and married there to Martin Morales, an engineer who worked in the oil industry. They lived there until just a few years ago but are now in the Toronto area, here in Canada. What happened to your grandfather Birnbaum's business in Sniatyn? Filek never said more about it than that his father was a "merchant". I had no idea whether it was a corner store or a big business. Filek was wise not to talk about it--even to his friends--knowing the Soviets dislike and distrust of capitalists. After I got your e-mail, I immediately phoned one of Filek's best friends in that cell in Kiev, Romcio Szymanski, who lives in Szczecin, Poland. He worked for many years in the USSR as a prisoner in the mines even after the war. Many from that cell survived the war but Romcio is the only one that I know of who is still alive. Like me, Romcio was delighted to hear that Filek made it out of the USSR. He told me how friendly Filek was to him. Filek realized how important Christmas Eve (Wigilia) was to us Catholics and so, without being asked, arranged for the non-Catholics to go elsewhere that evening so that we could celebrate. Your father was a kind, good man, but could be strong and brusque when the situation demanded it. He had been appointed the leader for our cell. Although about the same age as the rest of us, he was more mature. Sometimes he would tone down or silence any criticism we started to voice about the Soviet system, realizing that it would probably be reported to the prison authorities and might well land the complainers in trouble. After Filek was taken away, our large group of young Polish prisoners was sent to the Northern camps. As described in Without Vodka, I survived tough times there and again during my odyssey to find the Polish Army being formed by General Anders in the south of the Soviet Union. When I was in the Polish 2nd Corps. I spent more than 6 months in what was then Palestine, finishing my high school education at a special Polish School at Camp Barbara, near Gedera but closer to Gaza. Other nearby towns I visited were Yunis, Qastina, Ashkelon and of course I went to Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jaffa (Yaffo) and Jerusalem. Do you live in any of these places? All this and my Italian adventures with the army are in my next book which I hope will be published next year. I lost track of another friend of prison and army days. Jan Weissglass, MD, a urologist who wound up in Petah Tikva Hospital. He would be over 90, if still alive. Even if he is not around any more, I would love to hear from his children or grandchildren, who might also be interested in my stories of those days. Another Jewish friend of mine also went to Israel but I've lost track of him too-- Ali Wieliczker, a very bright fellow about my age whom I met in the army. You and your family can be proud of having such a fine father (and brother) as Filek. I'm so glad to hear he survived the war. Perhaps you can fill me in about what happened to him after we parted. Thanks for writing, Aleksander Topolski October 26, 2004 Dear Mr Topolski: I am so happy to know that you are in good conditions, memory, etc. Your e-mail made me cry! I couldn't sit to write to you till now. I know that you are busy writing your second book, but after I would like to meet you! Would you meet me, in Canada, Israel or elsewhere? I want, first of all, to thank you for your e-mail, after I'll try to let you know all that I know about my father and all what I would like to know. My Father didn't refer to a lot of things from that period. I didn't know that he was in Kiev, I only knew that he was in a labour camp in Siberia where he got malaria, was very sick and was treated by a Jewish doctor who helped him by taking him to the infirmery and feeding him until he went out from this sickness. He told us that the Russian army came to my grand parents' house looking for my grandfather, who was loved by the Polish people and they warned him that the soldiers are coming to take him because he was a merchant, so they sent the soldiers to a neighbor to give him time to run away. The neighbor sent them to the right address but the soldiers didn't find my grandfather and as my grandmother was sick (hard) my father allowed [himself] to be taken. They didn't have a reason to take him(my father), so he was kept a few days in Sniatyn. In those days they captured a young man named Hershle Tau (did you hear this name?) who was making Black Market business. He came from Rumania and he was captured with the merchandise. In his pocket he had a list with names of people who he wanted to work with, the first of the list was my father, but my father didn't know anything about Tau's intentions. I believe that my father was in Kiev where he was waiting for the court case, I know that he was accused of being a spy. As you know, my father didn't talk about this period, I know that they sent him to Siberia, to Irkuts, for 5 years of forced labour. he was released in 1944 but stayed there for a few months and he returned to Sniatyn in 1945, there he didn't find the family because they were in Chernowitz, he met them there in May 45, they continued to Bucharest where they met with my mother's family (both side were friends) and they got married in June 1946. After the wedding they (all together) continued to Paris. In Paris my father, mother, Filek's parents and brother waited for the papers with the right to arrive to Venezuela, a friend of theirs asked the right for them in Caracas, his name was Ezra Lerner. As soon as they got the papers, they traveled to Marseille where they took the ship. My mother was already pregnant with my brother. My grandmother was sick, she had cancer. My brother, Moises, was born in Caracas on April 1948 and my grandmother died a few months later. I was born in July 1952. I know that when my father left Siberia, he got to Moscow, he wanted to turn around in Moscow but thought that he doesn't know where to go and was afraid to be captured again, so he stayed in the train station waiting for his train and continuing his way to Poland. I remember the story that once his group had to transport sacks containing flour, through the river and they lost part of the flour (the sack had a small hole), so the weight was not what they had to give, so they wet the sack in order to "recuperate" the required weight. What I know from my grandfather is that he had lands and worked them. My father was always busy, working, helping people, collaborating at the Jewish community in Caracas. All the people loved him, they knew that they had a friend. I moved to Israel in September 1992, I live in Natania, between Tel Aviv and Haifa. I have four children, the oldest one, Ilan lives in Madrid. The second one lives in Biela, Italy. She just got married. My third child is Claire, she just finished the army, and the fourth is Henry and he is at the army. In August, Filek's brother with his family, my brother, sister-in-law, Ilan, Claire and me traveled to the Ukraine, from Lviv we traveled to Kolomea, Sniatyn, Chernowitz. We saw the places where they lived, they studied, etc. It was very short time because 3 days later my daughter was getting married. I would like to travel again to Sniatyn, to visit more places, to visit the camp where you were in Kiev, to get the list of the prisoners, to visit Siberia, etc. Can you help me with this? I want to know more and more. I loved my father very much, I understand that this part of his live was horrible and he didn't want to hurt us. I think that is the reason that he didn't talk about it. .... Miryam |
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News of Zbyszek Wieckowski? |
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I have just read your book Without Vodka and would like to congratulate you most warmly on its splendid quality. I am avoiding saying that I have enjoyed reading the book because of its subject matter. I underwent experiences very similar to yours. All this was, of course, a long time ago, but putting those happenings on record is highly valuable. In my case, all my family have read your book and learnt a great deal. In addition to congratulating you, I have another reason for writing. You mention the name of Zbyszek Wieckowski. He was a good friend of mine, but we lost contact soon after the war when he went to Argentina. Have you, by any chance, any knowledge of what has happened to him? Adam Neville, London Aleks replies I’ve been trying to remember what I can about Zbyszek Wiechowski for you. I first met him a few days after I was arrested at the Romanian border in December, 1939. He too was captured by the Soviets while trying to leave Poland. I remember him as a strong fellow praised for being a good soup stirrer and, later, a good bridge player. We were parted in 1940. I saw him again at the Polish High School at Camp Barbara in Palestine. After that I think he was in the artillery, but I don’t recall seeing him again. However a dozen years ago or so, I met a friend of his in London – Ambrozewski, who was then working at the Polish Ex-Servicemen’s Club (PSK). If you can find him, he may have news of Zbyszek. Meanwhile, I am putting your query on this website www.withoutvodka.com Perhaps someone who knows him will see his name and give us news of him.
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