The Grodynski Brigade: The story of ‘The Grodynski Family’ through World War II

Description

“I truly wonder today if there was much difference in the treatment of many of these poor people by the enemies of our Homeland, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.” Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 led to genocide and massive devastation across Europe. For the Polish people re-building their country after WWI, dreams of a better future for their children evaporated as the most powerful military machine ever assembled rolled across their Western border and the struggle for national survival began. Within weeks that struggle seemed forlorn as the Soviet army crossed Poland’s Eastern border bringing death to many while loading others into train wagons destined for the infamous ‘gulags’ scattered across the Soviet Union to the far reaches of Siberia. This book tells the individual stories of four members of one Polish family that were determined to survive Russian brutality and to fight German might, on land, sea and in the air, in order to help liberate their country. “Polish intelligence agents had discovered a matchbox filled with typhus-infected lice - this clearly showed that Soviet agents had planned to spread infection through the tents in order to decimate the Polish soldiers waiting to leave Russia.” Their experiences and valiant escapades of their Polish comrades during WWII are central to the unique stories of each of ‘The Grodynski Family’, but the profound disappointment and sense of betrayal in learning of the decision of Churchill and Roosevelt to allow Stalin to take control of Poland following victory by ‘The Allies’ could not be expressed in words. Like many Poles who fought heroically along side British soldiers, sailors and airmen, this patriotic family also felt they could not return to their beloved Homeland while it was under the control of a regime that had perpetrated such despicable atrocities against their countrymen. “In addition to long interrogations carried out by officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and British Intelligence, recording our views in reports about our personal experiences in Russia, another form of communication was through our frequent conversations with the local population, of course in sign language, with the Scottish girls who approached us when we were enthusiastically placed on guard at the entrance to the local theatre.” “I also remember how often during my courses in Wales, local farmers, with whom we met in the evenings in bars, greeted us with great warmth, food and vegetables, and also invited us to their farms and homes.” “The worst of my memories in the last phase of the Second World War was the news of the Yalta Conference and the signing of the agreement reached by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill with that international criminal, Marshal Stalin.” The introductory pages of this book provide some historical background to the four biographies featured. The latter pages convey that while this family surmounted obstacles confronting many ‘foreigners’ settling in Britain at the time, such as a lack of local qualifications or fluency in English when competing for jobs, they continued to be inspired by the vision shared with their ancestors of a free and independent Poland