The Grodynski Brigade by Grodynski Andrzej

Author:Grodynski, Andrzej [Grodynski, Andrzej]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2013-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Our hands in shackles today,

Today the whip of the enemy rises above us.

But soon this torment will be ended,

Before us, the future with our God.

Rise up White Eagle,

Let the power of the tyrant tremble.

Bring an end to the tyranny of the executioner,

Because Polish dreams must be free.

Freedom for Poland will emerge,

A great miracle will occur.

And tyrannies will perish,

The Polish people will prevail.

On the twenty-fourth of June, 1940, after a warning from the Polytechnic janitor, who at great risk to himself tried to hide me, I was arrested by soldiers of the NKWD and after removal of my Father and Brother from their work I was transported with them to our house. After around two hours to pack some essential things, all of us were taken to the train station in Lwów where we were loaded into freight wagons without being told the reasons for our arrest and exile. Here at the station amidst great confusion, I managed to escape from the wagon for a few minutes and got through the lines to a nearby store to buy some food, which we were greatly lacking, for the journey. On the second day, early in the morning, we began the journey which forever will remain in our memories, lasting almost an entire month, into the depths of Soviet Russia.

The Polish-Soviet border was crossed a few hours later in beautiful September weather and with tears in our eyes we said goodbye to our beloved country one last time, surveying with great sorrow the pretty fields, rivers and forests, which to this day are still clear in my mind. The journey into Russia took us through many of the country’s major cities (previously alluded to in this narrative), and the final turn of the wheel brought us to the last stop of the “Iron Road” in the Far East, Tynda Station. After two days of being held in a nearby camp, we were loaded into trucks for transportation to the camp of our international exile. A further two days later we arrived very tired, and of course, terribly depressed.

In this deportation camp were about ten wooden buildings, with a stone building in the middle housing the Commandant's office, and in one of the barracks was a small food shop in which, during our exile there, we were able to buy some flour and bread, with hard-earned roubles from our labour. The very next day after our arrival at the camp, I was of course sent along with other exiles, men, women, and young children, to work in the forest under the watchful eyes of the so-called ‘Squad-leader’.

After a few weeks I personally persuaded the Deputy Commandant to let me build stoves in the barracks so as to give some form of heating to our freezing people. After a few months of this work, I was sent along with some others living in our ‘Headmaster’s’ barracks to build a giant stove for heating four of the Commandant’s rooms. We were not professional builders and after

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