Tomorrow we begin the trip to Poland. As you can see in the photo that Walter is really
busy packing and organizing. Not... he is cutting up 20 pounds of apples for sauce.
So we are packed and ready and will be at the airport in 24 hours.
Some historic dates coincide with this week and in September.
On September 17 ,2021 it is 82 years since the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the East while the bulk of the Polish Army was fighting the Nazi's. Stalin waited until he could wait no longer. He thought by delaying his part of the invasion he could blame the Germans for starting the War. But since he signed a pact and agreed to Invade Poland with Hitler, Stalin and the Soviets are jointly responsible for launching World War 2. .
Walter puts it in an allegory " say you are in bar fight, (not that he ever was) and your hands are full with the gang in front of you and suddenly another gang of the same ilk runs in and attacks you from behind, that is what the Soviets did and it presented as one of the most cowardly acts ever perpetrated.
Virtually all of Polands Army was occupied in the West and so the Soviets had an easy run of it. And then they started showing there true colours as mass deportations of Poles started soon after and this included Walter whose family was deported from Baranowicze in 1940. His father a rail employee was sentenced to 15 years hard labour for being, well a railroad employee,
This Year also marked an event that turned out as a rescue point for Walter and many other Poles.
When Hitler invaded his partner Stalin in June of 1941, this unlocked a sequence of events where a number of Poles were able to escape Russia, many of them with Anders Army. The Army formed in the Soviet Union in 1941 was the basis for many leaving the Soviet prison and this is now the 80 anniversary of the founding of the Army.
Walter was able to join Anders Army at 17 and so it is bittersweet that almost 80 years after he was deported by the Soviets he can return to his kraj, Country he never stopped thinking about!
Look for a next Post from Poland!!
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