How Languages Saved Me by Tadeusz Haska & Stefanie Naumann

Author:Tadeusz Haska & Stefanie Naumann [Haska, Tadeusz & Naumann, Stefanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Koehler Books
Published: 2019-09-24T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 3

After the War

Marriage, Jail, and Life as a Refugee

When the war ended in 1945, I left the estate Chodów and went back to my university town of Poznań. I hoped to enter the university, but the school was in the process of re-organizing itself to get rid of all German changes imposed. The university had been closed for five years, so there was a lot of work to be done. I went to a Polish Western Union organization and asked for a job in the regained territories. Poland regained western territories, and the border was now on a river where I got an assignment to the town Derlow, which is now known as Darłowo. It was a beautiful little coastal town on the Baltic Sea that was not destroyed by any German or Soviet war actions. The Polish population started returning, and the Germans started going back to Germany.

First there was a center of German command; when they left, the Soviet army moved in and again it was a seat of a Soviet Russian commanding general. So I reported to the mayor, Stanisław Dulewicz, who had previously been a professor. He was forcibly sent by Germans to work in Germany during the war. When he was liberated, he was elected mayor of the town. Since he had previously been a professor, he dreamed of organizing a Polish high school and junior college in this town. Although he was mayor, he also became director of the junior college. He offered me two jobs. During the daytime, I helped reestablish Polish administration of the town and even officiated at some weddings. In the evening, I was a teacher of Polish language and literature, Latin, and French. I worked twelve- to fourteen-hour days, but I was very happy. The students who enrolled in this junior college were young people who lost a lot of time because of the duration of the war (5 ½ years). They were very eager to study, and it was a real pleasure to teach them.

During the time I was teaching in Derlow, I met my future wife, Jadwiga. Her parents named her after Saint Jadwiga (1174-1243) and Queen Jadwiga (1384-1899). When I saw her at a concert in Derlow, it was love at first sight. She was there with her friend Danka, and I was there with my friend, who was a priest. During the intermission at the concert, I went over to Jadwiga and introduced myself.

Two days later, I sent her roses and a letter asking for a date. It was nearly impossible to get flowers in Poland in September 1945, so I made quite an impression on her. Whenever I would bring her flowers throughout our fifty-seven-year marriage, it always brought a smile to her face.

I proposed on a bridge over the river Wieprza under the light of the moon. I told her that she would always have everything she needed, but that I was not someone to chase after money.

Our wedding on September 18, 1946, was tiny and quiet.

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