A Polish Woman's Experience in World War II: Conflict, Deportation and Exile

by Irena Protassewicz, Hubert Zawadzki (Editor), Meg Knott (Editor), Hubert Zawadzki (Translator)

Overview

This hitherto unpublished first-hand witness account, written in 1968-9, tells the story of a privileged Polish woman whose life was torn apart by the outbreak of the Second World War and Soviet occupation. The account has been translated into English from the original Polish and interwoven with letters and depositions, and is supplemented with commentary and notes for invaluable historical context.

Irena Protassewicz's vivid account begins with the Russian Revolution, followed by a rare insight into the life and mores of the landed gentry of northeastern Poland between the wars, a rural idyll which was to be shattered forever by the coming of the Second World War. Deported in a cattle truck to Siberia and sentenced to a future of forced labour, Irena's fortunes were to change dramatically after Hitler's attack on Russia. She charts the adventure and horror of life as a military nurse with the Polish Army, on a jourbaney that would take her from the wastes of Soviet Central Asia, through the Middle East, to an unlikely ending in the highlands of Scotland. The story concludes with Irena's search to discover the wartime and post-war fate of her family and friends on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and the challenges of life as a refugee in Britain.

A Polish Woman's Experience in World War II provides a compelling, personal route into understanding how the greatest conflict of the 20th century transformed the lives of the individuals who lived through it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350079922
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/07/2019
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Irena Protassewicz wrote the autobiographical witness account of her dramatic wartime journey from landed privilege in Poland to the hardships of life as a refugee.

Hubert Zawadzki is an independent scholar. He is the co-author, along with Jerzy Lukowski, of A Concise History of Poland (2nd Ed., 2006), which has been translated into seven different languages. He is also the author of A Man of Honour: Adam Czartoryski as a Statesman of Russia and Poland, 1795-1831 (1993).

Meg Knott is an English teacher and freelance editor.

Table of Contents

Foreword Robert Evans ix

Acknowledgements xii

Notes on Polish Terminology, Names and Pronunciation xiii

List of Illustrations xv

Protassewicz Family Tree xvi

Maps xviii

Prologue Hubert Zawadzki xxiii

Part 1 1910 to 1939

1 Wars and reconstruction (1914 to 1925) 3

2 Education, home and the stirrings of love 19

3 All not quiet in the distant provinces 35

4 Warsaw: Relatives, love and a brush with dangerous politics 49

5 Waclaw Protassewicz: The last squire of Borki 59

6 Before the storm 73

Part 2 1939 to 1945

Introduction to Part Two Hubert Zawadzki 83

7 'The end of our world' 95

8 Under Soviet occupation (1939 to 1941) 105

9 Siberia 121

10 Joys and sorrows in Central Asia 133

11 From Persia to the Holy Land 147

12 From Egypt to Scotland 161

Part 3 1945 to 2016

Epilogue: Exile and resettlement in Britain Hubert Zawadzki 169

Postscript: Tying up some loose ends Hubert Zawadzki 203

Notes 207

Bibliography 242

Index 247

Editorial Reviews

"Irena's frank and evocatively written memoir is brutally honest and utterly compelling. It offers a rare window on another world that has passed from the scene. My respect for this uncompromising lady grew exponentially as I read her story. She deserved a superb editor and she has received the best she could have imagined." --Malcolm Murfett, Visiting Professor of War Studies, King's College London, UK

"What better way to bring the troubled history of wartime Poland alive than through this meticulous family chronicle composed by those who lived it." --Paul R. Gregory, Distinguished Professor of Economics, University of Houston, USA

From the Publisher