A BRIEF SKETCH OF MY LIFE AS A SOVIET PRISONER
OF WAR AND LATER
SEPTEMBER 1, 1939 TO SEPTEMBER 17, 1939
When Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, my parents came to Bielsko, near the Czech border, where I played the organ in St. Nicholas Church, at present a Cathedral. The Polish name of the cathedral is Katedra Swietego Mikolaja.
We said “good-bye” and, as a reservist, age 26, I took my uniform and with many Poles, civilian and military, we made our way north-eastward only to be surrounded by Russian forces at the Bug River. I never saw my father again; he died in November 1955, but I had the good fortune of seeing my mother and siblings in 1959, when with my family—wife and two sons—visited Poland after a separation of twenty years.
Unknown to Poles was the perfidious non-aggression pact signed by Hitler and Stalin and their plan to annihilate Poland from the face of the earth. Poland had barely appeared on the map of Europe after World War I in 1918.
Prior to 1918, Poland was subjugated by three empires; Russian, Prussian, and Austrian since 1772.
I was born under the Austrian Empire. Emperor Franz Josef of the Habsburg Dynasty allowed Polish to be studied along side of German. Under Prussia and Russia , the Polish language was forbidden.
The signing of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact took place in Moscow in Moscow in August 1939.
The German-Russian pact consisted in Hitler’s taking Poland to the River Bug (pronounced Book), eastward and then Russia was to occupy Poland on the east as far west as the River Bug—an Unholy Alliance!, thus taking areas in the east occupied by non-Russians, and dismembering Poland.
After the war in 1945 at Yalta, without Poland’s participation, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt yielded to Stalin’s demand that Poland was to go to Russia as far as the River Bug. And so it was. As compensation Poland acquired Silesia once a Polish territory. A Communist government was installed in Poland by Russia.
MY TREK OF SEVENTEEN DAYS
Now, to resume my experiences from September 1to September 17, 1939.
Bombs were falling in many areas. On my trek, accompanied by Chaplain Bronislaw Nowyk, and many, many civilians, including women and children, I was making my way northeastward diagonally to the River Bug.
Along with others, I went from Bielsko through Kenty, near Wadowice (Pope John Paul’s home town), Bilgoraj, which was aflame, and through Szczebrzeszyn. You can locate these on a map of Poland.
In Bilgoraj I lost Father Nowyk. My brother later wrote me about the priest’s death. Evidently he escaped the Bolsheviks.
I found myself in Szczebrzeszyn, and towards evening I stopped in a church. Going further I reached the city of Lezajsk. I entered the huge church. I was there about three minutes and kept on going because the Germans were circling the region.
In Lezajsk I saw the organ from below. The organ was larger than the famous one in the city of Oliwa, near the Baltic Sea, where numerous angels and cherubim move while they play trumpets.
Our son, Stanley, had the privilege of playing in Oliwa and several other churches in Poland in August/September 1980, where he was invited to give a series of organ concerts.
I remember what my father told me about the organ in Lezajsk. He said that when the organ was played for the first time, the wall behind the organ was burst asunder. I couldn’t verify the incident, because there was no time. The frescoes in the church were gorgeous. There are no houses near the church but a nice pine forest. I noticed that the trees on three sides are bent toward the church, not in one direction.
FROM SZCZEBRZESZYN TO LEZAJSK TO KOVLO, POLAND
Soon I found myself in Kovlo, then crossed the bridge over the River Bug. The Germans were very close. Everyone traveled on his own, sometimes alone or with various groups.
When a group gathered and we were nearing the Russian border close to a very old cemetery, a Polish officer announced that the war was over, that the road to Romania was open, as was the road to Vilnius (Wilno). Here we received soup from a portable military kitchen. For this I was very grateful since on the 17-day trek from Bielsko diagonally to the Russian border I had little or no food.
I was not the only hungry one. In one village, a poor Jewish settlement, all the houses were ablaze but the gardens were not. I took some vegetables that I could muster and ate along the way. Along with others, I slept in fields, or next to a haystack, or wherever I could find rest.
GOOD NEWS, THE WAR IS OVER
On hearing that the war is over, I joined two other Polish soldiers on the way home. We hoped to reach Krakow in a couple of weeks. One of the soldiers was to be the leader. We did not get very far before we were surrounded by Soviet tanks and forced to walk 3 days to Lodzk in Poland before being loaded in box cars that took us straight to Shepetovka in Russia, and we were told: “Poydiete domoi,” meaning, “You are going home.” And that was September 17, 1939.
SEPTEMBER 17-OCTOBER 8, 1939----LICE APLENTY
Since we were not at war with Russia and did not know of the non-aggression pact between two villains, we believed what we were told. Instead of “going home,” we were taken to Russia.
First we rode to Kiev, from Kiev to Novograd of Volyn. In Novograd, we stayed in camps three weeks, the posts of which were thick with lice. There were no beds, no cots, but gravel to sleep on, which made it easy for lice to find warmth in our bodies and to drink our blood. My abdomen was raw and bleeding.
After three weeks, we were transported to Yelenovka. Our food was stale bread only, in tight quarters, a most unsavory trip. But relief was in sight.
YELENOVKA, THE IRON ORE QUARRY
Once in Yelenovka, where we stayed about 8 months, we were assigned clean barracks and were allowed to take a shower once every 10 days. Despite the ablutions, the lice and sores were our contant companions.
In Yelenovka, we received underwear and fufayki (lined jackets) and boots with soles made from old tires. Later, we received valenki (felt boots reaching the knees) when the winter weather became very severe. Without these jackets and boots we would have frozen on the spot. But that couldn’t be because we were put to work in an open iron ore quarry to May 20, 1940.
In the quarry, we worked 10 hours a day and were fed in the morning and evening. The fare consisted of cabbage soup and a piece of hard bread.
MAY 20,1940 TO JUNE 20, 1940
A LONG RIDE TO THE DZVINA RIVER, FAR NORTH
On May 20, 1940, our work in the quarries was finished, and again, we traveled in cattle cars of a long train for a whole month from Yelenovka toward the Far North as far as there were railroad tracks.
We came to the end of the railroad tracks and were driven through the woods at least 100km (60 miles) to the Dzvina River. Here we were loaded on rafts and at night the tug boats pulled us to the Kotlas, where we stayed one night and one day.
JUNE 20, 1940 to JUNE 1941
From Kotlas where railroad tracks ended, we walked about 100 kilometers to the River Uhta. During this walk I tripped over a stump in the woods. The guard came up to me, struck we force-fully on my back. I got up and continued on the trek.
I’M IN A COMA
On our return to the barracks, whether from the hard whack on my back, or whether from exhaustion, I lay unconscious on the floor for two or three days in the barracks.
NORTHERN LIGHTS
On our arrival at the Uhta River, June 20, 1940, we noticed that the trees were beginning to bud. In July, the sun never sets in this region about a week, and there are no nights. But when the nights became longer and longer, daylight lasted from about 11 o’clock before noon to about 1:00 p.m.
Night or day, we worked in shifts. At night, we worked under the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, a beautiful illumination.
Beginning in August the severe cold comes and stays. By December, a frozen mist stands in the air about four feet from the ground. The men had to walk bent below the four-foot smoky frost to avoid severe frostbite.
In temperatures down to –47 degrees C, the soldiers cleared forests, felled trees, dug ditches to dry the terrain before they were able to lay railroad tracks to reach a new deposit of coal.
Food was brought to the workplace at noon. It consisted of a slice of black bread and barley soup. The same kind of fare was our meal at the end of a ten-hour work day.
TREES EXPLODED AND MANY DIED FROM THE COLD AND MALNUTRITION
When the trees started to explode from the cold at -52 degrees C, the workers were allowed to return to the barracks where a fire burned in metal barrels.
Thousands died from malnutrition and the cold. It did not matter to the enslavers; a new transport of soldiers replaced the dead as needed.
MY PHYSICAL CONDITION
As I noted, many died from malnutrition and the cold. I survived, but my bones became very soft, jello-like. I could push my finger through the bones of my legs. My teeth became loose. Along with others, I suffered from night-blindness, scurvy, and various illnesses which left us unable to think.
When it warmed again to –48 degrees C, we went back to work. We were lucky to stay in the barracks six to eight hours while the temperature remained in the vicinity of –52 degrees C.
BETRAYAL OF THE NON-AGGRESSION PACT
The work at the Uhta River continued to the summer of 1941 when Hitler attacked Russia on June 22 and took Russia’s seven best divisions captive.
It was then that Stalin pleaded with England and the United States for help. Suddenly the Soviets became GREAT ALLIES. HOW NOBLE!
England and the United States agreed to help Russia with supplies in the fight against Hitler.
Thereupon, the legitimate Polish Government in exile in London, England, through the intercession of General Wladyslaw Sikorski, pleaded with Stalin to free all Polish soldiers from prison camps in Siberia and the Far North.
Stalin agreed and decided that the released Polish soldiers were to go to Bezuluk, Tashkent, Tatishchevo and several other locations. I, M. Zydek, was assigned to Tatishchevo with 1200 other soldiers.
IN TATISHCHEVO, DIGGING TRENCHES
When the 1200 soldiers, and I among them, arrived in Tatishchevo, there were no barracks, no tents, only a big wasteland. Immediately, we started to dig deep trenches, or dug-outs. These dug-outs housed 1200 soldiers who dug 100 trenches in which to survive. These 1200 soldiers were in my Division, the 5th Kresova.
These dug-outs were constructed as follows: We dug eight feet into the ground in an area of 10’ x 12’. Russia provided picks and shovels which are always plentiful there.
We threw the dirt out, went to the nearby forest, 3 to 4 km. distant, cut down young trees, 12 to 16 feet long, carried them back through the forest on our shoulders (one tree between two of us).
Then we stripped the trees of pine needles and placed these clean logs on the dug-outs that served as a roof. Then we placed moss between the logs so that the dirt would not fall into the shelter.
After that, we placed the excavated soil on the log roof. On one side of the roof there was an opening covered with jute. A hand-made ladder from smaller pieces of wood served as a staircase.
In an improvised metal barrel we kept the fire going. We made many trips to the forest for wood to burn. The temperature was about –44 degrees C during these months. Once a day, we received hot soup from a nearby kitchen. That was all!
A VISIT FROM GENERAL SIKORSKI, FEBRUARY 1942
In February 1942, General Wladyslaw Sikorski, with his retinue from London visited in this area (Tatishchevo) and wanted to see the newly-formed 5 KDP ( 5th Kresowa Infantry Division) of the Second Polish Army Corps.
The General could not believe his eyes when he saw the Army emerging from the ground in torn clothes, crippled, and walking with the aid of canes. And that was supposed to be the New Polish Army.
Thereupon, General Sikorski asked Stalin to deliver these poor wretches to warmer climates. Stalin agreed and, two or three days later, we boarded cattle cars and traveled south to Tashkent, which we reached after two days.
A word about General Sikorski: He was with the legal Polish Government in London, England, in exile. He was in command of Polish Forces in Europe (England, France, Norway, and elsewhere). But when General Wladyslaw Anders was released from Lubianka prison in Moscow, he (General Anders) was made Commander-in-Chief of the Second Polish Army Corps, of which I, M. Zydek, was a member.
In Tashkent, there was snow on the ground, but the climate was warmer. Here we were given kasha and bread to eat. We stayed in Tashkent a few hours only.
FROM TASHKENT TO FERGANA VALLEY, FEBRUARY 1942
Our next move was to travel about 24 hours through Turkmenia, Kirkizya, to Uzbekistan to the town of Jawawabat near the Chinese border.
These territories are in the Fergana Valley, under the Tiantshan-Pamir Mountains, which are joined to the Himalayas. There was snow on the ground, 4 to 6 inches, but the climate was warm; we could walk around clad in shirts only, with which we were provided. The snow disappeared in a couple of days.
Spring arrived early in March. Turtles started to emerge from the ground. By the middle of March one could see many yellow snakes on the road (non-toxic). Soon after, venomous scorpions came out of the ground.
Every day we shook out shirts to be sure that a scorpion was not hidden there. One soldier donned his shirt and soon began to scream. The scorpion attacked. A doctor arrived, gave him many shots to prevent the poison from spreading throughout his body. Fortunately, the victim survived.
IN UZBEKISTAN, 1942
In April, 1942, the Army started drills. Russia delivered weapons for practice to the 5th Kresova. Other soldiers drilled with wooden rifles.
The food was better. It consisted of cabbage soup with sunflower seed oil which was good and nourishing. Kasha was also served.
JUNE, 1942
In June, 1942, Bishop Jozef Gawlina, the Army Field Chaplain, visited us from London. When he was leaving to go back to London, in his farewell address, he said to us: “I wish that you will be watering your horses in the Jordan.”
We couldn’t understand what this message could mean. We had no horses, but Bishop Gawlina already knew that we would be transported to Iran, Iraq, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and ultimately to Palestine.
STALIN’S PLAN WAS FOILED
After Bishop Gawlina’s visit in Uzbekistan and foretelling that we would be in Palestine, that did not sit well with Stalin. The plan of Stalin was to use the Polish Army in Stalingrad so that we would be eliminated by the Germans, and Stalin’s hands would be “clean.” But his plans were foiled.
America was bountiful with military aid to Stalin, but Stalin lacked food for his army and proper clothing for his soldiers, and therefore, he was forced to let the Poles go.
Thereupon, the British Government accepted the Polish Forces in Iran, and placed them under British Command in the Middle East, to the end of the war. From Britain came battle dress, shoes, carbines, food, and vitamins, in order to bring the Polish soldiers back to health.
One hundred forty two thousand soldiers left Russia for Iran. I was among them. We went by way of the Caspian Sea. Many other soldiers were not released from Russia. They were incorporated into the Russian Army as Polish Units, The Kosciuszko Division, and the like.
OUR PICTURES WERE TAKEN
While accepting the Polish Forces under British Command, British photographers kept taking moving pictures of these poorly clad troops, who formed the Polish Army. Later, this “army” was thoroughly examined by physicians, and I was among them.
At this time Stalin also released General Wladyslaw Anders and several officers from torture chambers. General Anders came to us black, beaten, and walking with the aid of a cane. General Anders was our Commander-in-Chief, replacing General Wladyslaw Sikorski, as mentioned earlier.
IRAN, 1942 to December, 1943
We arrived in Iran to the port city of Pahlevi, through the Caspian Sea, having traveled by night on rafts, 1,000 men on a raft. We traveled by night because during the day German planes were circling the area and could easily spot us during daylight hours.
Upon arrival we slept on the sand in rectangular structures, with top and open on the sides. It was scorchingly hot. All were sick with dysentery, despite the good food prepared by English cooks.
Because we were without proper nourishment for over two years, the fruit which we liked caused the dysentery which lasted about 3 weeks. Then, slowly, we were able to digest cereal, good soups, sweet potatoes, oranges, dates, grapes, figs, and lamb patties.
I am speaking generally about our troops and the food they were able to eat. As for me, while in Iran, I did not each much food from the good English kitchen but preferred to eat GRAPES, MORE GRAPES,AND MORE GRAPES, ad nauseum,but felt that I was being slowly cured. I also partook of watermelons, peaches, the size of coconuts, Also I ate some figs and dates.
Watermelons were unknown to us, Poles, but we liked them, so red and juicy. They were so huge that it took 3 or 4 of us to carry one watermelon about 4 feet long, which was very heavy. We loved the sweet peaches also. The hot sun was good to these fruits. But most of all, I ate grapes.
After our brief stay in Iran, we moved through the mountains to Iraq in American Dodge Trucks. All in all there were over 50 trucks in columns during the day. It took 3 days to travel from Iran to Iraq. In Iraq we slept out-of-doors. The heat was killing, 142 to 145 degrees Celcius.
MALARIA
When we came to Mosul, we stayed in the desert near a refinery in clean British tents. There was an outbreak of malaria. Out of 1200 Polish troops, 900 lay deathly ill. I was one of the 300 fortunate ones without the sickness.
England supplied quinine. The sick lay in tents on the ground and we, who were well, administered quinine to the patients 3 times a day. Only a few died. Some soldiers were left with droopy eyelids and a constant humming in their ears.
IN KHANIKIN, IRAQ – FROM ONE TENT TO ANOTHER
One day I crossed from my tent to the next without head covering. One buddy asked me: “What do you have on your head?” I placed my hand on my head and it was full of brown hair. It did not hurt, but I was completely bald. After that incident, I kept my head covered when in the sun. The hair grew back slowly.
OUR MILITARY BAND WAS EXPANDED
The military band, which was small in Jawawabad was expanded, but there was no music for this bigger orchestra. A search went on for someone who could remember well-known folk music, marches, and church hymns. The British supplied the instruments. Again, as in Jawawabad, I was asked to write the music. I was happy with the assignment because I could no longer play the French Horn because all my teeth were loose.
I wrote at night when all was quiet, when the donkeys were not braying. I had the use of a little oil lamp. No errors were found for any instrument, to the delight of the Director, Adam Dylong.
After the music was no longer used, it was deposited in a chest and taken to the London Archives, except the scores that I wrote on my own paper. I bought my first notebook from a young boy for one-half ruble in Uzbekistan. I received the one-half ruble in Russia. In Palestine, more books became available fromCairo,Egypt. I continued to write music in Palestine.
CONCERTS IN IRAQ AND TRANSJORDAN
We traveled in Iraq with concerts for various military groups. We also gave a concert in Transjordan in a small palace. The king was absent at the time, but the Prince welcomed us heartily. The audience consisted of about 200 men in fancy headdress. After the concerts, we went back to our tents. In both places, I was a listener of my arrangements because I could no longer play the French Horn.
FROM IRAQ TO NAZARETH IN PALESTINE
On the way to Palestine we used the road which the English paved through Transjordan to Palestine. In Palestine I continued to write for the marching band. In Nazareth we played for the Girls’ Academy in which young women were studying. These women were continuing their educationwhich was interrupted in Poland by Hitler. Some girls who accompanied the soldiers from Russia also studied there.
Our stay in Palestine lasted several months. The health of the soldiers improved because of the good food and grapes. But I was always hungry. I was happy to eat grapes and big juicy oranges. At meals we were given grapefruit which was not as welcome as oranges.
Good oranges were available in the region of Jaffa and Haifa. These oranges had a lump at one end. In this vicinity, the British cultivated acres and acres of very sweet oranges, some of which were transported to England.
DECEMBER 25, 1942 – CHRISTMAS MASS
My repayment for all the suffering I endured took place during Midnight Mass, 1942. The Men’s Choir of 60 members sang while I played the huge pump organ behind the main altar where Jesus was born. I arranged the Christmas Carols for the Men’s Choir during Midnight Mass.
The room where the organ was located could accommodate 100 people. The church proper was filled with about 400 standing soldiers.
The local Franciscan priests served at the altar during the Midnight MASS. It was solemn, very beautiful. I felt so privileged and blessed to be a partaker in this holy place that I felt rewarded for all the suffering I had undergone. THIS ONE HOLY HOUR IN BETHLEHEM REPAID ME.
After Mass, we boarded trucks and returned to Gaza. In the Gaza Strip we lived in tents, and were permitted to go to the Cinema. All the films were good British shows. The Cinema was a big tin structure, three stories high. Inside, the benches for soldiers were very plain; and the screen was large. The Cinema looked like an empty factory or an airplane hanger, except for the plain benches.
PLACES VISITED IN PALESTINE
We visited the Via Dolorosa (Christ’s Way of the Cross); Gethsemane; Christ’s Tomb; the Church of the Ascension, and many other places.
In Gethsemane, one goes down steep stairs till one comes to a well on the left side, where a young Arab boy fetches water in a cup on a string. The well is about 8 feet deep; the water is cold, clear, and very tasty. Several soldiers and I drank from the same metal cup, and made a small donation.
This was in the vicinity of the Cedron Valley. On the right side is the Basilica of the Garden of Olives. The spot where Jesus knelt is marked by a huge stone, surrounded by a little fence. Then one proceeds up the steps and to a little Orthodox Church.
THE DEAD SEA
We also went to the area of the Dead Sea. Another soldier and I tried to swim in the Dead Sea, and tried to test the depth. With difficulty we got to about 10 feet below, but could not get back up. Then we got on a boulder and pushed up, and with great difficulty emerged with closed burned eyes and burned skin. We were so happy to get out alive. An Arab soldier stood on a structure, shooting and alerting us not to go into the deep. The moment we emerged he spoke to us in Arabic but we did not understand him, but we got the drift of his warning.
One cannot swim or keep one’s balance in the salty brine. That foolishness almost cost us our lives. Nothing grows in the Dead Sea. After a few days the salt burns were cured and our eyes healed. Even at the age of 29 I was foolish enough to try to conquer the Salt Sea.
TO EGYPT
After a few months in Palestine, we were transported through the Suez Canal to Egypt over a pontoon bridge to the British Colony of Port Said which was surrounded by a high wooden fence.
PLACES VISITED IN EGYPT
While waiting several weeks for ships to take us to Italy, we were able to admire the wonders of Egypt: the main Pyramids, Cheops and Gaza, and also the Sphinx.
36 kilometers to the south is the Old Egypt covered by about 16 feet of sand. The British uncovered part of the area, made about 10 to 12 steps leading down to the underground and uncovered huge tombs of Sacred Bulls. We went to inspect them.
When we saw the huge statue of King Tutakhamen, we could not understand how such a beautiful treasure still exists as a memorial to early mankind. The British protected the statue with a shield. The stone statue, about 30 ft. long, shines like red glass.
THE ZOO
Another interesting place in Egypt is the Zoo, perhaps the largest in the world. It is located on the way to Cairo, to the Pyramids. People walk among large birds and animals without fear.
ITALY
When the ships arrived to take us to Italy, there were 42 of them. On these ships we sailed via the Mediterranean Sea near the coast of Africa near Tobruk, Bengazi, Cyranea, then turned toward the Isle of Malta, near Sicily, and on to Italy, to the port of Taranto. We were packed into these ships like sardines.
IN TARANTO
In Taranto, the Polish Army took action against Hitler on the side of the Adriatic Sea and the Americans were on the side of the Aegean Sea.
In Taranto it was very hot with heavy rains and mud to our knees. We stayed in tents about a month and then action continued, The Nazi were repulsed as far as the vicinity of Monte Cassino. There the British, French, Hindi, and Americans could move no further and Hitler roared that no one would take Monte Cassino.
The Allies tried 3 times to attack Monte Cassino and could not advance at all. Thereupon, the British decided to throw in our Division, the Fifth Kresova. Plans for the attack on the Monte Cassino lasted several months. Artilleryland surveys were made not only by our Polish Artillery but also by English, Australian,and others.
MAY 1944
Several thousand armaments started at once to attack the German positions. Later the Polish Infantry was asked to join the attack, and in one morning hour took Monte Cassino.
In his book, AN ARMY ON EXILE, General Anders writes:” The white and red flag of Poland was hoisted over the ruins of Monte Cassino Monastery at 10:20 a.m. by a patrol of 12 Lancers. The fortress that had so long blocked the road to Rome had fallen. Victory had been won by the gallantry and the joint effort of the Allied Armies.
One hour later, British General Leese arrived at our headquarters, and was the first to express his appreciation of the Polish achievement. With his consent, I ordered the Union Jack to be hoisted next to the Polish Flag on the Monastery Ruins”.
1945-1946
Polish soldiers remained in Italy, to me a flower garden and a place for music and song. Some soldiers started to write to Polish mothers in the U.S. I was among them and corresponded with one of the daughters. She was Miss Joan Fiala from Philadelphia, Pa. who was working in Washington, D.C. at the time.
This is how it all started, as related by Joan Fiala:
When Polish soldiers in Italy came in contact with American soldiers of Polish descent, the Polish soldiers asked for names and addresses in the United States with whom they could correspond since all attempts to contact their families in Poland failed.
I came to Philadelphia, Pa. for the Christmas holidays from Washington D.C. My sister, Michaeline, a recent graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, was working in Erie, Pa. in a hospital as a Medical Technician. She also came home for Christmas. Our youngest sister, Cecilia, was living at home and working for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Both our brothers were in the Army.
My mother, Mary Fiala, belonged to the Ladies’ Auxiliary at the Horn-Ross-Weiss Post in Philadelphia, a Polish Post. The ladies started to receive letters from Polish soldiers in Italy, England, and elsewhere. These soldiers got the address from Polish-American soldiers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The dear ladies answered the letters as they came in, and when they were swamped, Mrs. Magdelena S., president of the Ladies’ Auxiliary, came to visit my mother and told of the great number of Polish letters from Polish soldiers with whom they could no longer cope.
In the meantime my sisters and I were in another room. On hearing her complaint, I turned to them and said: “Are you willing to help? I know you are writing to American soldiers, which is very fine, but I think we could be of great value in helping the ladies by writing to Polish soldiers also.” Without hesitation my sisters answered: “Yes, we agree.”
I went into the living room and said: “Mrs. S. the three of us are willing to help.” There upon, a radiant Magdalena produced a long sheet from her purse with 27 names on it, and gave it to me with a sigh of relief, and MANY, MANY, THANKS.
I took the sheet and cut it in three parts, nine names to a sheet. I kept one sheet and gave one each to my sisters.
Back in Washington, D.C. in January 1945, I wrote nine identical letters to the soldiers on the list, relating how I came upon their names and addresses, and thought my duty was done. My sisters did similarly.
I forgot about the letters until I started to get replies one by one from the Polish soldiers, all very proper. Matthew’s letter was the best. It soared above the others like St. John’s Gospel soared above Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I even took the letter home for my mother to read. She agreed that it was from someone with a high moral standards and intelligence.
Michaeline had among her addresses, one from England. That soldier was married and had a 12-year old daughter. The daughter was so happy to receive clothes from Michaeline which were her size. We were glad about that because clothing was scarce during the war.
As time went on, I asked the soldiers what I could send them, what they most needed. As one, the eight of them asked for cigarettes, which I sent them. Matthew asked for a bar of soap because soldiers in Italy were allotted one bar of soap per month which had to serve for personal hygiene and for laundry.
When the soap arrived, Matthew immediately sent a white angora sweater to which I was allergic. I thanked him, but I sent the sweater to Poland along with other needed items.
Slowly, but surely, I began not answering the letters, and when asked why, I said: “I correspond with one soldier in whom I am interested.”
Note: After a correspondence of a five-year period, we have in our possession 1200 letters.
Joan Fiala
Matthew will tell the rest of the story.
Matthew resumes:
From Naples in 1946 the Polish Army moved to England in ships. We arrived in Southampton via the Mediterranean Sea and Gibraltar. My correspondence with Joan Fiala continued.
But before we moved to England, there was a big concert in the spring of 1946. The orchestra was that of the 5.KDP under the direction of Adam Dylong. The Italian soloists were Franca Filipelli, soprano and Arnaldo Tartagni, tenor. The Polish orchestra played Part I and Part III. Part II was for soloists and duet. The last composition played was ECHOES FROM POLAND, by M. Zydek.
In Southampton, we boarded trucks to Amesbury where we stayed through the winter. And the correspondence with Joan continued. She wrote to 9 Polish soldiers, dropped them one by one, and stayed with me.
MILITARY POLISH CHOIR
In England I was accepted into the local military Polish Choir. I was second tenor. The Choir traveled to various places, giving concerts in England and Scotland.
The Choir sang for English and Polish military groups in Manchester, Liverpool, London, and Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and finally in the Orkney Islands, the supplier of chicken eggs to England.
THE ORKNEYS
We traveled by boat to the Orkneys. Upon arrival a dense snow fell and covered the ground 3 to 4 feet. We had to find shelter for the night in long stables of a small estate. We had eggs for breakfast, of course. Big bulldozers came and cleared the roads so that we could get to the concert hall in the soldiers’ barracks. The concert was a treat for the troops as well as for the singers. After the afternoon concert, we returned to England.
Soon we heard that whoever wishes to return to Poland may do so. I thought: “Return to a Communist government established by the Russians—no way (as little Jay Brazier was heard to say).”
Some soldiers returned to Poland to their dismay, as I learned during our trip to Poland in 1959. Some found employment in England and stayed. Some went to France, Australia, or Argentina.
I had a visa to Argentina with several buddies for which I paid 7 shillings, but at the last minute I found out that there arrived a Commission from Canada seeking SS (strong and stupid) men to work on the farms in Western Canada. I passed all the medical tests and felt closer to the girl with whom I corresponded than if I had gone to Argentina.
While I was in England I asked Joan to write to my parents in Poland and let them know that I am alive. All my efforts to try to contact my parents came to naught. I tried to contact them through the Red Cross in Russia, in the Middle East, in Italy, and in England.
Joan’s letter reached my parents. They were overjoyed because they also kept trying to get information of my whereabouts, and if I am among the living, but nothing came of their efforts.
A beautiful correspondence began between my father and me, and between my father and Joan. From compensation received in England, I was able to send packages to Poland, and best of all, my father sent me a prescription for his eyeglasses without which he was almost blind. During the war his glasses broke. With new glasses my father felt as though he was born anew.
ON THE AQUITANIA
I was among those ex-Polish soldiers transported from England to Canada on the big ship Aquitania. The ship was packed with about 2,000 men, all of whom were sent to work on various farms in Western Canada. There were other transports also but I don’t know how many.
MY CHANGE OF NAME
When we landed in Nova Scotia, after a few days and were ready to disembark, a friendly Scotsman asked our names. When I said: “Mieczyslaw Zydek.,” he said: “What?” I repeated: “Mieczyslaw Zydek.” Because he could not pronounce my name, he asked me if I can change that name. I asked: “To what?” He answered: “Matthew.” I agreed saying: “Let it be Matthew, but let me go.”
So, in Canada I was known as Matthew and when I became a citizen of the U.S. in June, 1954, I officially became Matthew K. Zydek instead of Konstanty Mieczyslaw Zydek.
By 1954 my English was much improved. I studied first with my wife and then in the International Institute in Detroit, Michigan, where immigrants of various countries were studying. I learned a little about the history and geography of the United States, and enjoyed going to class once a week.
MAY 3, 1948
Joan and her mother, Mary Fiala, came from Philadelphia, Pa., to meet me. We met at their hotel (can’t recall the name). I was fond of Mrs. Mary Fiala and was enraptured with her daughter, Joan. I think she cared about me, too! Of course, that was the case. We decided on a wedding date, July 20, 1949. The wedding took place in Montreal, Canada, in St. Mary’s Catholic Church (Sainte Marie des Polonaises), also known as Our Lady of Częstochowa. Father Frederick Baldyga witnessed our vows during the 8 a.m. mass.
After our meeting in Niagara Falls, I returned to work on Mr. Turechek’s sugar-beet farm.
About August, 1948
At this time the muscles of my arms broke out in lumps such as I had experienced in Russia. The condition was debilitating; I was unable to work.
My Slovak farmer told me to go on the highway and hail a truck to take me to the hospital nearest the farm. At that time in the 1940’s there was a law that stipulated a truck must stop and pick up whoever hails it. The doctor, after examining me, said that I could no longer work on the farm, so after a month’s rest, I transferred to a coal mine as a Timberman’s helper. Incidentally, the truck driver who picked me up was a Yugoslav who served as my interpreter.
IN CALGARY’S COAL MINE
The workday in the mine was 7 hours instead of 14 on the farm and the pay was better. I found lodging and board with distant cousins in Calgary by the name of Kwasny. On both sides of the family our grandmothers were sisters (Willmann).
We met the Kwasny family in 1986 when my wife and I traveled to visit the Braziers in Tacoma, Washington on our way to EXPO ‘86 in Canada.
JULY 20, 1949
As mentioned earlier we were married in Montreal, Canada, in Our Lady of Czestochowa Church at the 8 a.m. Mass.
The wedding party of five consisted of Mrs. Mary Fiala; her son, Stanley
Fiala, who was Best Man; her daughter, Cecilia Fiala, who was Maid-of-Honor; Joan Fiala, the Bride in white; and the Groom, Konstanty Mieczyslaw Zydek. We had breakfast in the hotel; Cecilia and I played the piano. Then in changed clothes, Joan and I went to the American Consulate in Montreal, Canada to make plans for my entrance into the United States. After a long wait of 4 months instead of the maximum wait of 2 months promised earlier, I crossed the American border on November 27, 1949 from Saskatchewan to North Portal, Minnesota, and from there to Chicago.
(Incidentally, a few years later, I learned why my visa to the U.S. was being deliberately detained. It was because of a Communist’s work in the American Consulate in Calgary!)
To resume my entry into Chicago: with two heavy suitcases and little English, in Chicago, I searched for the entrance to the electric train to Michigan City, Indiana where Father Julian Doktor awaited me as his part-time organist and choir director. In the early days of our correspondence when Joan found out that I was a church organist, she wrote and said that she was willing to help me get established in the U.S. without any obligation on my part. She was willing to help me as befits a Christian, with no strings attached. That was all! Joan looked up many Polish parishes and sent me a few. We each wrote asking if there were any vacancies for organists. Joan had received all negative replies. I was fortunate to have found St. Stanislaus Church in Michigan City, Indiana. I was glad to have work to rely on.
It turned out that in Michigan City, we started our
married life in an apartment (back of a house). The front
part of the house was also rented as was the upstairs above
us. The older German couple who rented the upstairs had
to enter our apartment to go to their living quarters
upstairs. They were a quiet, polite couple, always asking
to “heizen,” meaning to put more coal into the furnace
because the heat was not reaching the upstairs very
well. I added coal to the furnace but that did not help the
couple upstairs. We were sad about that.
We stayed in that apartment 6 weeks and paid for 8 and
did not receive a refund. We were happy to purchase a
little bungalow on Elm Street for $8,000. Joan had
$3,000 as down payment which she saved while in
Washington, D.C.. The seller asked for $4,000 down, so
my brother-in-law, Stanley Fiala, was kind enough to send
$1,000, which we repaid him in due time. With my
part-time work in church only, I felt quite inadequate so I
took work on the city playground also.
We stayed in Michigan City 3 ½ years; enjoyed a good,
very excited choir, left for Detroit, Michigan in July, 1953,
to take a position of organist/choir director in a huge
cathedral-like church of St. Thomas, the Apostle,with a
three manual Casavant pipe organ. In Michigan City, the
pipe organ was small and often misfunctioned. We had a
beautiful pump organ which we sold to the church as a
stand-by. With the money from the pipe organ, we
bought a small Baldwin grand piano from an older lady,
who made sure that she was selling her instrument to an
accomplished musician.
We often had choir practice at this piano in our house. We had other pianos over the years; a Bechstein, the world’s best, exceptionally heavy to transport. In 1990, we sold the Bechstein to a dealer from whom we bought a lighter piano. This was imported from Germany, the Pleyel, Chopin’s piano. Germany bought the Pleyel Company of France and hired all the workers. Our new Pleyel Piano arrived in October, 1990. At that time my eyesight sill allowed me to play and even tune the piano. When the tuning became impossible, I ased our son if he wished to have the piano for himself and June, his wife. They were overjoyed and on November 5, 2005, the Pleyel was transported to their home in Chesterfield, Michigan. It stands in the Music Salon with June’s 4 harps and two or three chairs. To replace the Pleyel, we now have a pump organ, 1889, which was in the Schultz family (June’s) for many a year.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN
After we moved to Detroit in July, 1953, few members from the choir in Michigan City, Indiana came to our home and begged us to return there. Actually Michigan City was a resort town on Lake Michigan for Chicago businessmen. There was no industry there. Workers traveled to Gary, Indiana and other places for employment. We were sorry to leave them but in Detroit, we had a better opportunity for advancement. Our Stan was 2 years old when we arrived in Detroit. He was born April 22, 1951. Monsignor Stanley S. Skrzycki, pastor of St. Thomas, met us at the train station on his way to another city. He said the rectory welcomes us until our house on Townsend Avenue was ready for our moving in. We were guests of the rectory for two or three days.
The house in question was a big 2-story house which we purchased on Townsend Avenue, across the street from the grade school, Sisters’ convent and the church. Oh! But the house needed much work. It was built by a carpenter in 1922 for his own use. The stained glass windows in the living room displayed a landscape. These we removed and replaced with green plastic when we moved to Allen Park, Michigan. We still have the stained glass windows in our present home in St. Clair, Michigan. We have been displaying them in every house we owned. We were compelled to remove them originally because our sons said they would not leave until the windows were removed. We had no time to remove the long narrow stained glass windows in the dining room.
OTHER CHURCHES
We stayed in St. Thomas Parish nearly 12 years. Other churches where I served include: St. Barbara in Dearborn, Michigan; St. Bartholomew in Detroit; St. Francis Cabrini in Allen Park, Michigan; Our Lady of Lourdes in Decatur, Illinois, where we enjoyed the friendship of Landon and Marjorie Brazier, who also sang in the choir on Christmas Eve, 1973.
After our son Thomas died in January, 1981, a year after my retirement, I took part-time work in churches to keep my mind occupied and my heart consoled. Our son died of the flu and complications of juvenile diabetes. My part-time work included the following: St. Robert Bellarmine Church; St. Damian’s; Veterans’ Hospital Chapel until I fell victim to macular degeneration and could no longer read or drive (1992).
HOW WE NAMED OUR SONS
When in St. Stanislaus Parish in Michigan City, Indiana, we named our son Stanley after St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr, who was put to death by King Boleslaus the Bold in 1079. The king repented and went into a monastery. Thus, Poland had a martyr before England’s Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who disagreed with King Henry II and was murdered in 1170.
To get back to how we named our Stanley. He was not only named after St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr of Poland; Stan was also named after his grandfather, Stanislaw Zydek, church organist and teacher of voice.
Our son, Thomas Joseph Fiala Zydek was born on November 14, 1954 while we were at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Detroit. What better name for him than Thomas?
ST. CLAIR, MICHIGAN
We moved to St. Clair, Michigan on August 18, 1992. Stan and June had built a house in Chesterfield, Michigan, and wanted us close to them. We searched in many areas without success. On the advice of June, we started to look for a house in St. Clair. We searched for nine months before settling on 414 Vine Street. The location is perfect for us; we walk to church; to go shopping; to the bank; to the post office; to the library; even to Burger King. When people see us with our shopping cart, I am told they refer to us as “the cutest couple in St. Clair.” At age 96 and 92 we feel extremely blessed with a good mind and agile feet, even if we are “cute.”
In brief, I wrote some of my experiences during the War years and beyond. If I told you about my years in Russia’s “Paradise” your mind could not comprehend some of the horrors and atrocities I witnessed. I wish to spare you of them.
Greetings and well wishes to my readers.
Matthew K. Zydek
NOTE: Matthew K. Zydek passed away in August, 2014. His wife, Joan passed away in June, 2016.
EARLY RESUME: Matthew K. Zydek
March 13, 1913 – Birth – Buczkowice, Poland (60 miles s.e. of Cracow)
1919 - started violin lessons under the tutelage of father, Stanislaw Zydek, a professional church organist and teacher of voice.
1922 – started organ lessons with father.
1928-1938 – Bielsko Military Music School and military service:
Instruments played: French horn or violin in military band as needed; also played both instruments in Bielsko Symphony Orchestra
1929 – 1935 – Bielsko Conservatory of Music:
Subjects: Theory, solfeggio, harmony; counterpoint; History of music; instrumentation; arranging for small groups; symphony orchestra; and choirs; piano and organ.
CERTIFICATIONS ISSUING INSTITUTIONS
1934 – Band Master Bielsko Military Music School,
Bielsko, Poland
1935 – Piano and Organ Bielsko Conservatory of Music
May, 1939 – Church Organist and Liturgical Commission in Cracow, Choir Director Poland
Sources Consulted
Anders, Wladyslaw, An Army in Exile. The Story of the Second Polish Corps. Nashville, The Battery Press, 2004, 1949.
IN FIGHT FOR FREEDOM.Foto-Album, 3 language: Polish, English, Italian. Roma, 1945
Judt, Tony, Postwar. A history of Europe since 1945. New York, the Penguin Press, 2005
Majdalany, Fred., The Battle for Monte Cassino, Frogmore, St. Albans, Herts, Canada, 1956, p. 264
Sarner, Harvey, General Anders and the Second Polish Corps. Cathedral City, Ca., Brunswick Press, 1997
The New American Bible., St. Joseph edition., New York, Catholic Publishing Co., c1992
Polish Newspapers: Puls Zywca, 2008; Kronika Bezkidzka, no.23, 10 June 2009
The Voice of Poland, quarterly, 12th January, 1947
The Polish Choir Ready to Perform
Polish Choir members studying score
Polish Choir in performance….M. Zydek 3rd from right
M. Zydek in Bielsko right before Hitler’s attack on Poland, 9/1/39
Bishop Józef Gawlina
M. Zydek in Italy 1945
We exchanged photos: Joan Fiala, 1945
M. Zydek, 1945
Harvest Time
M. Zydek in Canada, 1945
Stanislaw & Katarzyna Zydek,
Parents of Matthew
The Zydek Family – Pre-war: Parents and Siblings of M. Zydek
Matthew & Joan Zydek
July 20, 1949
In Niagara Falls, Canadian side
First meeting of Mieczyslaw Zydek and Joan Fiala,
May 3, 1948
St. Stanislaus Church
Michigan City, Indiana
Stan (age 4) and Tom Zydek, (age 6 months)
Stan Zydek (second from R.) with cousins in Poland, 1959)
Joan and Stan Zydek in Poland, 1959
Vivien Reed, Washington, DC, 1956
In Poland, M. Zydek with son Tom, 1959
Laundry in Poland, 1959
M. Zydek and niece, Magdalena Faber
Poland – M. Zydek and mother Katarzyna 1959
Ciocia Elzbieta, sister of Katarzyna Zydek, Tom & Matthew Zydek, 1959
Mother Katarzyna Zydek with daughter Barbara (Sister Cherubina) before the homestead in Buczkowice c. 1950
Stan Zydek in Zakopane, Poland 1959
Thomas Zydek in garden with green pepper, Detroit, Michigan 1958
Thomas Zydek at Baldwin piano with dad looking on, 1962
M. Zydek at Casavant organ at St. Thomas Church, Detroit, Michigan 1953
Stan Zydek at Casavant organ, 1958
Belle Isle, Detroit, MI 1957. M. Zydek with sons, Thomas (L.) and Stan (R.)
Tom Zydek, age 10 and cousin Scott Becker, age 7, Philadelphia, PA
In Philadelphia, PA. Stan Zydek (R.) age 13 and cousin Joseph Fiala Becker, age 10.
At Thom Zydek’s wake, January 13, 1981. M&J Zydek
Joan Zydek at the Bechstein piano
Decatur, IL, 1974
Stanley and June Zydek, 1980
Siblings Cecilia Fiala, Stanley Fiala, Joan Fiala Zydek, Rockaway Pk, NY 1984
Matthew & Joan Zydek 1999
M. Zydek at pump organ in St. Clair, July 17, 2008
