2.
Outbreak of World War II
Birth and death are not two
different states,
But they are different aspects of the same state.
Mahatma Ghandi
The alleged Polish raids on the German radio
stations provided Adolf Hitler with an excuse to attack
Poland on 1st September 1939. At dawn on that day German
bombs were devastating factories, military Installations
and private homes. This resulted In heavy civilian
casualties and destruction of Polish historical treasures
In all the major cities of Poland. With Hitler's attack
on Poland, Britain and France declared war against
Germany.
The Polish army, navy and all force fought bravely,
defending their country against the overwhelming strength
of Nazi Germany. Polish forces had 31 Infantry divisions
against 70 German equivalents, one motorized (tanks)
division compared to Nazi Germany's 14 divisions, and
only 443 combat planes In comparison to Germany's 4,320
bombers.
While Poles attempted to repel their advancing German
aggressors on the western front, the Soviets, on 17th
September 1939 unexpectedly attacked Poland from the
east. This necessitated the diversion of some Polish
armed forces eastwards to challenge the second aggressor.
Poland was betrayed by the USSR when, on 23rd August
1939, the 30 year nonaggression pact It had concluded
with Poland In 1920 was broken. After 35 days of heroic
struggle, organised Polish military resistance collapsed
in the face of the overwhelming strength of the two
attacking superpowers.
It is now known that Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin
coordinated their military action against Poland on the
basis of predetermined plans for territorial division of
the country between Germany and the USSR. Poland was
partitioned into two political spheres along The
Ribbentrop-Molotov Line', previously agreed on by these
two Foreign Affairs Ministers of Nazi Germany and the
USSR. This agreement constituted the complete
dismemberment of Poland as an independent European state.
When Poland capitulated, Germany gained 72,866 square
miles of western Poland and the USSR 77,620 square miles
of Poland's eastern territories, which after World War II
were Incorporated into the USSR's political federation.
During the three weeks of military action In Poland,
Mother, my brother Alek and I found a safe haven In the
quiet, small town of Sokolka In eastern Poland.
We heard the German bombers overhead and the loud sirens
announcing the approaching enemy planes. At night we
darkened our windows with thick black paper in accordance
with instructions Issued by the Polish authorities. Only
candlelight was permitted in the homes during that
period, and no street lights were switched on.
Everyone obeyed, anxious to ensure public safety. Many
homes had underground air-raid shelters In their gardens,
which were hastily used when necessary. We were really
terrified on these occasions, especially when woken from
a deep sleep. Luckily, SokOlka was not a military target
then, so we saw no human casualties.
When the brave Polish resistance collapsed, German tanks
and Infantry advanced on SokOlka. It was a peaceful march
of the occupying enemy forces, which I recall watching
from our windows. We were Impressed by the neat military
formations and the great discipline of the enemy, as they
demonstrated their military supremacy.
We remained under German occupation for three days.
Generally, they did not Interfere with the local civilian
population during this brief period. Before their orderly
retreat three days later, they Informed us that the
Soviet army was to take over the town after their
departure.
Next we viewed the advancing Soviet tanks and other armed
personnel. We felt terribly sad and disturbed, In the
realisation that Poland's independence had ended. We were
anxious for the safety of our father and uncles who had
bravely tried to defend our country. We heard about the
devastation of Poland's major cities, the great loss of
Polish lives and the widespread suffering Inflicted by
both foreign aggressors.
Poles were reminded again of the tragic events of the
late eighteenth century when Poland was partitioned
between Prussia, Austria and Russia. It ceased to exist
as an independent nation for 123 years. The nineteenth
century annexation of Eastern Poland was characterised by
the suppression of several Polish rebellions, which were
bloodily extinguished. Generations of Poland's
Intelligentsia were deported to Siberia or forced Into
exile. Poland finally achieved independence at the end of
World War I when it was restored to the map of Europe
with Its boundaries extending to Byelorussia, the Ukraine
and the ancient Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, Wilno in
Polish, which was included In the resurrected Polish
republic in 1918.
Polish history was being tragically repeated. After just
20 years of political freedom, Poland was once more under
foreign domination, partitioned yet again, this time
between Nazi Germany and Communist USSR. The tyranny,
brutality and aggression against Polish people by the
German Kaisers and the Russian Tsars became evident yet
again, with Poland's dismemberment along the
Rlbbentrop-Molotov Line.
A few weeks after Poland's occupation by the two
aggressors was accomplished, Mother decided to return
with us to Grodno. We found our home there almost Intact.
Only a few bullet holes gave evidence of the earlier
weeks' armed conflict. Mother obtained a nursing position
at the Grodno Public Hospital, where our father had been
the Superintendent before the outbreak of war and this
shiftwork necessitated her obtaining a special exemption
from the curfew which all Poles were subject to after
dark.
I returned to the same school. It was now mild October
1939 and schools all over Soviet-controlled Poland had
reopened. I was then In standard two, aged eight years.
At school our first task was to go through Polish history
books and paste white strips of paper over the passages
which referred to Polish-Russian wars or territorial
disputes in the past. Naturally, before we did this, we
carefully read the printed extracts about to be
obliterated. This requirement of the occupying
authorities, did not endear the Russians to Polish
children. On Josef Stalin's birthday all primary school
children received sweets. I was the only child In my
class to refuse this type of bribery. Nothing would
Induce me to accept sweets from the Soviets.
After his Invasion of Poland, Hitler's thirst for
territorial expansion persisted. His next targets were
The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and France. Once these
countries were occupied by Nazi Germany, air-raids
against Britain commenced. These culminated with London
raids and the Battle of Britain, during which many
escaped Polish pilots lost their lives aiding their
British allies.
Meanwhile, the Polish Government, which had fled to
Rumania initially, moved to France where It organised
resistance against advancing Germans. With the imminent
capitulation of France as the Nazi forces advanced deep
into that country, the Polish government fled to London,
where It was to function until free elections were
finally accomplished in Poland In November 1990, after
over 50 years of postwar communist domination.
We had no news about our father until November 1939. My
mother heard about the existence of three Polish
officers' prisoner-of-war camps in the Ukraine in the
USSR at Starobielsk, Kozielsk and Ostashkov. Mother wrote
to Staroblelsk, and by chance Father replied.
We were overjoyed that he was alive and well. From that
time on, he was permitted to communicate with his family
once a month by means of an open postcard, and we
received four postcards from him over the following four
months. He wrote that their internment camp was an
ancient, former monastery. He was employed in
disinfecting fellow prisoners' clothes. There were 800
Polish doctors in the three Polish officers' camps in the
USSR, and many other Intellectuals such as university
professors. lawyers, journalists, accountants and
scientists. Father wrote that Mother's brother Captain
Mikolaj (Nicholas) Kunachowicz was also at the
Starobielsk camp.
At first Father urged Mother to petition the Russian
Government for his release by collecting signatures from
Polish peasants and other labourers as evidence of his
Identification with the humble man. This assurance seemed
necessary, because the Soviets maintained that the upper
classes were the aggressors of the general Polish
population, the proletariat. Later he realised that his
petition could incriminate the signatories and expose
them as a possible target to Soviet persecution and
himself as a popular. potential leader of Poles. He then
discounted the possibility of the petition. In each
postcard he emphasised his faith In God and looked
forward to our family reunion.
He cultivated in us a strong spirituality to sustain us
through difficulties ahead. He assured us of his
affection and closeness In spirit, urging my brother Alek
and me to apply ourselves to our studies at school and to
care for and obey our mother. The last postcard, written
In March 1940, ended with the words, '1 press you all
close to my heart with tears In my eyes. Your gray father
and husband Stefan.' During those few months of captivity
father became gray, but his strong spirit remained
unbroken.
No one In Poland heard any further news from the 15,000
Imprisoned Polish officers in the three Ukraine camps
after mid April 1940. All trace of them vanished in the
northern spring of 1940.
Since November 1939, when we first received news from our
father, there had been mass imprisonments and
deportations of Poles to concentration camps, prisons and
forced labour camps began by the Russians and Germans
alike. Museums and art galleries were stripped of
historical artifacts. Polish treasures were confiscated
and exported to Germany and the USSR or destroyed.
University libraries were devastated and university
professors arrested.
In both Soviet occupied Poland and in the German sphere,
massive underground resistance was organised by the
Polish people. Our uncle, Colonel Nikodem Sulik, took an
active role as one of the commanding officers of the
Polish underground movement under the pseudonym of
'Ladyna' until his capture and Imprisonment by the Soviet
NKVD (secret police) in Wllno on 13th April 1941. His
command embraced not only the Wilno region, but also
Lida, Baranowicze, Slonim, Wolkowysk and Grodno.
In the German controlled Polish territories,
Reichminister Hans Frank became Adolf Hitler's designated
ruler. He considered himself the German King of Poland,
expressed In German, der Deutsche Konig von Polen'. He
ruled with an Iron fist, totally lacking humanity and
mercy. After the war, by verdict of the International
Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, he was hanged for his
great war crimes against mankind. Gestapo persecuted
Jews, who were rounded up and confined to camps all over
Poland and elsewhere in Europe, later to be exterminated
in the gas chambers of Auschwltz, Majdanek and Treblinka.
Some Poles met the same fate as the Jews. Young Poles
were arrested In the streets or forcibly taken from their
homes to work in Germany and many never returned. All
contact with them was lost once they were deported to
Nazi Germany.
Similarly, in Soviet occupied Poland whole families were
transported to Siberia and other northern Soviet
territories. Approximately 1,200,000 civilians were
deported. In addition, 230,670 Polish soldiers captured
by the Soviet army in eastern Poland were sent to the
USSR and retained there under arrest. Reserve officers
living in Soviet occupied Poland were arrested in their
homes and transported to USSR prisons. Others seeking
refuge In Lithuania and Estonia, were seized by Soviet
authorities after USSR forces captured those countries
later. The total number of Polish prisoners-of-war in the
USSR was about 250,000, including 15,000 Polish officers
who disappeared without trace.
In Grodno we heard about some very disturbing events.
Everyone felt fearful and insecure. We were surrounded by
Russian Secret Police among whom were recruited Polish
spies. Everyone was on their guard, not knowing whom to
trust.
Meanwhile, Mother shared our large apartment with a
Polish doctor and her two teenage daughters. She also
sublet father's medical consulting rooms to a Polish
couple to avoid having our home commandeered by Soviet
armed personnel. It was a widespread practice of the
occupying Soviet army to forcibly distribute their men in
Polish private homes which could accommodate them.
Deportations from Soviet occupied Poland to the USSR
begun in November 1939, continued through February,
April, July and August 1940. These were followed by
further deportations in 1941 which lasted until 19th June
when the German and the Soviet armed conflict terminated
them.
These deportations of Polish families were part of the
planned Soviet resettlement scheme, which was designed to
deprive Poland of potential leaders and intelligentsia In
order to break the spirit of the Polish people and to
facilitate the annexation of eastern Poland by Soviet
authorities. The first deportees were officers' families
and professional people. Civil servants and priests were
deported later. They were followed by wealthier farmers,
businessmen and tradesmen of Polish patriotic families.
Deportees were scattered over vast, remote Soviet
territories, where they were confined to specified areas.
They had no political rights and their voices were
effectively silenced, a long way from Poland.
Our turn came unexpectedly on the night of 13th April
1940.
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