A full understanding of the historical process must include studies of the social and economic conditions of societies as well as biographies of the people on which a clear understanding of history is based—but not just the “great” people. Biographies of “average” individuals, who exist in a society, have their own experiences and are acted upon by their surrounding environments, are essential to a clear and complete understanding of the past and its influence on the present. In this respect, Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm has made a major contribution to furthering the understanding of World War II, and especially the part played by Poland and Poles, with her compilation of individual biographies of people who participated in many of its formative events.
Ziolkowska-Boehm’s protagonists include a variety of people and experiences that enhance the usefulness of the volume. There are: Tadeusz Brzeziński, a member of the Polish diplomatic corps; the hero who escaped the Lwów ghetto to fight in the Warsaw Uprising and later founded a theatre group in Montréal; a pilot who escaped from the Soviet Union to fly fighters over Great Britain; a photographer of the Warsaw Uprising; a nurse during the Warsaw Uprising; a personal memories of the post-war era move to the United States; a person who was forcefully deported with her family to the Soviet Urals, later escaping to the Middle East and eventually Mexico; the boy who, though only eight when the war began, but survived Pawiak Prison, moved to Brazil, and became an internationally-known poet and artist.
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Review Poland was the first country to stand against Hitler’s Nazi armies and the Red Armies of Stalin’s Soviet Union when, in Sept. 1939, at the beginning of World War 11, they both marched into Poland with the deliberate intention of dividing the country and destroying it’s people.
The eminent literary historian and master story-teller, Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm’s important and beautifully crafted book records the history of this horrific time through eight powerful narratives relating the experiences of diverse people, many of whom survived the atrocities of ethnic cleansing, the valiant Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and struggles beyond. The author brings her intriguing and fascinating protagonists alive with a brilliant mix of intimate physical experiences and their profound thoughts of how the trauma of war affected their own philosophy of life and the meaning of it all. With these unforgettable true life-stories of special, yet ordinary people, who symbolize the sum of all persons, Aleksandra has created an essential link in the chain of human chronicles that document the heroic epic history of Poland and the Polish people.
The author offers an invaluable bonus in the “Annex” where she relates how she personally perceives “creative nonfiction.” (Audrey Ronning Topping, American Publisher's 2013 Prose Award winner author)
The Second World War is a historical event so immense that it all too easily can become an abstraction. In Untold Stories of Polish Heroes from World War II, Aleksandra Ziółkowska-Boehm humanizes our recollection of the conflict by demonstrating its effects on the lives of surviving sons and daughters of Poland, the land most devastated by the war. Representing a vivid cross section of Polish society, and a telling variety of wartime experiences, these individual portraits of diplomats, warriors, and ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times reveal much about the fate of Poland in its time of greatest trial. (Neal Pease, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
In Untold Stories of Polish Heroes from World War II, Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm continues to inform, delight, and amaze readers who have (or soon will) know her as one of our most able chroniclers of Polish resistance to Nazi and Soviet invaders during World War II. These are the memories of surviving resistance fighters, mainly after the war. What unites them is their experiences as “brethren in those dark days,” a time of consummate cruelty by the Nazis, when the penalty of resistance under the Nazis was horrific: if a Polish resistance fighter killed German soldier, a hundred Poles were randomly executed. Saving Jews carried the death penalty. Polish citizens who sheltered Jews were executed, along with their families. Many of the survivors were scattered around the world after the war, from the United States to India, and elsewhere, working to retain a sense of Polish culture and history. Her "Annex," on literary journalism, will evoke empathy and understanding from all who write. For the survivors, and generations to come, this book is invaluable testimony. (Bruce E. Johansen, University of Nebraska at Omaha)
Some events in history are over remembered, others are under remembered. Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm tell us the stories of survivors and heroes who have not made it to the front pages of newspapers, but who are every little bit as significant as those who have. She does so in an intimate way, as if she were telling secrets to a friend. You will not remain indifferent to the content of this book. (Ewa Thompson, Rice University)
About the Author
Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm, PhD, Fulbright scholar, is the author of Kaia, Heroine of the 1944 Warsaw Rising; Open Wounds A Native American Heritage; Ingrid Bergman and Her American relatives; Love for Family, Friends and Books; On the Road with Suzy From Cat to Companion, as well as many other books.
Poland
Modern
General
History
Europe
Biography & Autobiography
Military
World War II
20th Century
Contents 7
Foreword 9
Preface 13
Acknowledgments 17
1 Father and Son 19
2 Two Great Passions—Flying and Writing 45
3 “I carried the films on my head” Photographer of the Warsaw Uprising 63
4 Varsovians in the States 79
5 “I was that child about to be born…” 117
6 The Child from Bialowieza Primeval Forest, the Urals, Isfahan and Mexico 125
7 Captive of the Theatre 133
8 Angola-Born, Brazil-Based Poet, Artist 149
Annex 157
Index 171
About the Author 177
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