Getting to know my father through his wartime diaries
Józef has been very much in my thoughts this week, as today – 3rd June – is the 70th anniversary of his death. So we have our own, but very different 70 year commemoration. Yesterday evening I was discussing some of the content of the first book with a Polish friend, who has very kindly … Continue reading An Anniversary
I was especially thinking about my father last Sunday as the 19th March is widely celebrated in the Christian Church as the feast day of St Joseph. It was therefore Józef’s name day (“imieniny” in Polish). Many Poles celebrate their name day rather than their birthday and every day on the calendar has names assigned … Continue reading History Repeated
Today I translated the final page in the second of Józef's two exercise books. I feel elated to have finished and can't quite believe I've reached this point after such a long process! As I explained in my last post a few months ago, there are still some daily notes to translate which cover a … Continue reading Project Update July 2021
It’s been quite a few months since I posted anything and I hope I haven’t lost all my followers! I have been totally engrossed in translating this second of my father’s two exercise books (over 150 pages of handwriting) and I’m now very close to finishing it. After this I have a small number of … Continue reading Delving into Book 2 of Józef’s Diaries
I was so pleased to be asked to give a presentation about Józef's diary to the (virtual) Polish Language and Culture Meet Up yesterday. It was the first time I had formally presented any information about this project and it was really encouraging to receive such positive feedback from everyone - so thank you very … Continue reading Project Update
In the aftermath of the devastating attack on the procession of carts, work continues to provide a safe crossing over the Vistula. 11/09/1939 [cont.]A cart was passing by so I requisitioned it in order to transport the casualties.More and more aircraft were appearing over the crossing point to try to prevent us from using the … Continue reading About Turn…
After emerging from a difficult, night time journey through the forest, Józef’s journey towards Sandomierz with the supply column continues. They soon come to a halt however, due to yet another bottleneck of a huge number of other supply column carts. Eventually things start to move and they find a way through 11/09/1939 At last … Continue reading The Call for a Doctor
Hearing all the reminiscences and recollections of VE Day 75 years ago today, made me think about what Józef might have been doing on that day. His diaries didn’t continue to that point, but looking at his military service records I can see that he was in Fordoun, Scotland where he was the doctor in … Continue reading VE Day at Polish Army Camps in Scotland
In the previous extract, Józef and the health cart were joined by the rest of the supply column in Nowy Korczyn and from there they headed north to Ucisków, where at last they found their squadron. After a few hours' rest they continued their difficult journey north-eastwards spurred on by the hope of being able … Continue reading Chaotic Behaviour Endangers the Division
In this entry, the extent of the occupation (after just the first week of action) starts to become clear. 8/09/1939 Dawn broke as we glimpsed the Nida River in the distance and beyond that Nowy Korczyn. With the Nida came the hope of creating an organised resistance against the pursuing enemy. But we were naïve … Continue reading Two Glasses of Good Vodka and a Very Brief Respite
In the previous post I shared some of Józef’s words from a different part of the diaries, to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the invasion of Poland. The extract below now returns to the chronology of the earlier posts I’ve shared, the last of which can be found here: My Beloved Kraków Just prior to the … Continue reading Pandemonium and Sandy Terrain
On 1st September 2019 people across Europe are remembering the events of 80 years ago today, when war broke out following the German invasion of Poland. Józef’s experience of that day is recorded in the entry he titled, “War… War… War” which can be found here: Waking up to War. In a subsequent entry covering … Continue reading 80 Years On
Just under a week after war was declared, Józef and his squadron arrive in Kraków. Having heard rumours about the city's fate and seen the devastation in towns and villages on the way they would now able to see for themselves what the situation was in Kraków. 6/09/1939 We arrived in Toń during the night. Every … Continue reading My Beloved Kraków
Over the next day or two, Józef goes into a lot of detail about the continuing journey towards Kraków. He describes the difficulties of potholes and of manoeuvring the carts across ditches, damaged bridges and past roadblocks of various kinds. Late in the evening he gives a lift to two soldiers who had become separated … Continue reading News of Kraków and Częstochowa
Here Józef gives a brief example of the plight of civilians as they try to escape the invasion and the dilemma he faces in obeying the rules or following his instincts. 4/09/1939 It was a beautiful day and the sun was scorching as on all those September days. We passed another manor house set up … Continue reading Fleeing Citizens
Well this week I am so pleased to have finally finished translating the 1st of my father’s 2 exercise books, in which he wrote his wartime diaries. I feel quite a sense of achievement having got this far and am trying not to think too much about the fact that I still have to … Continue reading A Milestone Reached!
After a short stop around midnight the squadron is sent on ahead while Józef receives orders to move on at daybreak to Siewierska Górka with the supply column and set up a dressing station. Later, in the evening, he is told to continue to Siewierz in one of the health unit cars in order to … Continue reading Sad News from Silesia
As the unit continues its preparations on 1st September, Józef’s description of the rather ad hoc motorised squadron highlights some of the differences in provision between the German and Polish armies. The far wealthier German army was heavily motorised whereas this unit appears to be relying almost entirely on private vehicles. In this, the first … Continue reading Final Preparations
Here, Józef writes about the events that unfolded in the camp on the day war was declared. 1/09/39 Whatever was that terrible explosion rocking the whole building? After it came another one – similar, albeit further away – and then a third and a fourth… Next some heavy gunfire. It was 5 o’clock in the … Continue reading Waking up to War
Click here to read part one. Part two below. During our stay in Chorzów my uncle took us to Kraków and showed us the wonderful, historic places there. The magic of Kraków definitely made a lasting impression on me even as a child. We then drove further south to where the rest of the family lived. … Continue reading Discovering Poland – part two
The diary extracts posted so far have covered the period from Józef being commissioned into the Polish army in 1938 up until the outbreak of war on 1st September 1939. Before posting extracts from the next stage of his journey, I’d like to describe briefly another European journey; my family’s trip in the early 1960s … Continue reading Discovering Poland
At this point in his diaries Józef returns to describing the preparations taking place in the final days before the outbreak of war: 31/08/1939 On the morning of the 31st August we were surprised to see a flyer being posted: ”Mobilisation”. Everyone capable of carrying weapons should report at such and such a place… Something … Continue reading Wojna…Wojna…Wojna…
When Józef writes (retrospectively) about the last tense days of August 1939 he covers just over 5 pages in his exercise book with descriptions of his squadron colleagues. A small selection of these follows. Sometimes he uses full names, sometimes just an initial in place of a surname and at other times he omits the … Continue reading Character Studies at the Brink of War
It really wasn’t my intention to have such long gaps between posts, so I hope you haven’t given up on me! Although I have done a draft translation of a large part of my father’s first book, much of it still requires quite a bit of work to improve it enough for public consumption. So … Continue reading The Final Days of August 1939
From March to the end of July 1939 Józef was based at Wełnowiec near Katowice where, with the help of the battalion doctor and Lieut. Kwieciński, he set up the sick quarters and the out-patients’ surgery. Then from the beginning of August he had several moves before being transferred to the position of the doctor … Continue reading Will There Be War?
We first visited Poland in the summer of 1962 when I was 12 years old. Here I met for the first time, all seven of my father’s brothers and sisters along with my grandfather and numerous cousins (more of this visit later). Among these was Józef’s youngest sister Łucja, who I went on to meet … Continue reading Some Family Memories
The first part of my father’s diaries contains some brief entries about his period of training in the army. I was struck by his evident pride in the Polish army which is reiterated in many further sections, but also by the hints of his disenchantment with the leadership. In early October 1938 he wrote the … Continue reading Training and Conflict
I had hoped to post something more on the blog sooner than this, but I have been trying to improve some translating I did several years ago at the start of this project. I want to post a short extract about my father’s time at the army training school in 1938/1939. He describes a little … Continue reading I’m still here!
This section was one of the first parts that I translated and my father's poignant comment has stuck in my mind ever since. 22/08/1939 On the 22nd August I received an order by telephone from Lieutenant Colonel Szebesta, to go immediately to the Pszczyna area and take up the position of doctor for the … Continue reading Some Sadly Prophetic Words
Following my father’s death in London in 1952, two Polish language newspapers – Myśl Polska (printed in England) and Słowo Polskie (printed in France) – published obituary notices. I was intrigued to read these and learn more about my father's activities as a student in Poland and after he settled in England. Below are excerpts … Continue reading My Father’s Obituaries
A Life in Translation 