大象传媒

"I've travelled thousands of miles and never bought a ticket!"

As a schoolboy, Zbyszek Wesolowski was kidnapped by the Russians and sent to Siberia. He escaped by the skin of his teeth and joined the Allied forces in Persia. He took part in the Allied invasion of Italy, and fought in the Polish Army at the Battle of Monte Cassino.

In September 1939, Zbyszek was 16 years old. He lived in a small village called Czarna Wie艣, near Bia艂ystok in eastern Poland. He was still at school, and remembers sitting outside the church with his friends saying he hoped war would break out so that he would not have to go to school.

On 1 September 1939, when the Germans invaded Poland from the West, the Russians invaded and occupied eastern Poland. As a result, Zbyszek and his family lived under Russian occupation for almost two years.

Then, on 19th June 1941, three days before the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa (the German invasion of the Soviet Union), during the night, Zbyszek and most of his family were arrested.

鈥業f you can imagine being asleep in your home and awoken suddenly by a complete stranger 鈥� a Russian soldier 鈥� who arrests you and your family...it was terrifying...indescribable.鈥�

They were taken to the railway station, and bundled into a goods train that was heading for the East, and the unknown.

When daylight came, Zbyszek and the others tried to look through the cracks in the wooden walls of the goods wagon to see if they could guess where they might be. But it was impossible. The train rolled on and on 鈥� they heard artillery firing and planes flying overhead 鈥� but they had no idea what was happening, or where they were.

From time to time, they stopped, but they were never allowed outside. One morning, when the train was at a standstill, Zbyszek heard a clanking sound coming closer and closer to his wagon. He looked through a crack in the wall and saw a girl coming along by the tracks, hitting each rail with a hammer, to find out if any had been cracked. As she passed by, he asked her what was happening. She did not stop or look up. She just said: 鈥楾he war is on鈥�, and walked on by . . .

They lost count of the days, but after about two months the train stopped and they were allowed off. They were exhausted and found they were far, far from home 鈥� at Krasnoyarsk, in Siberia 鈥� nearer to China than to Poland.

They were taken to a work camp where they were put in charge of an old Russian prisoner, who turned out to be an ex-Czarist officer. 鈥榊ou鈥檒l never go back鈥�, he said ruthlessly.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 believe him鈥�, says Zbyszek. 鈥淏ut I was young, and I always had hope. The war was on: who knew what would happen?

鈥淢ost of us who were young thought like that. I used to talk to a girl my own age called Sophie about going home some day. We both believed we would survive. Even so, I was still frightened. The freezing conditions and the hunger we endured are unimaginable. Day in, day out, we had to survive in this cruel, hostile place.鈥�

One day, the officer asked him where he came from. Zbyszek told him 鈥� Czestochowa. 鈥淚 was very surprised to find that he had heard of my home town and of the monastery that was there!鈥�

A few weeks afterwards, the officer came up to him, and said: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to be free!鈥�
鈥淗ow鈥檚 that?鈥� said Zbyszek.
The officer took a piece of newspaper from his pocket, and showed him a headline: 鈥淧olish artillery shell Tobruk鈥�.

鈥淚鈥檇 never heard of Tobruk, though the officer told me it was in North Africa. It was all very strange, because officially, according to the Russians, there was no Polish Army.鈥�

A few days later, Soviet officers arrived and announced that an agreement had been signed between the Soviet Union and the exiled Polish government in Britain. The Soviet Union was to create a Polish army. 鈥淭his is what I had been hoping for鈥�, says Zbyszek. 鈥淲ho knew what would happen?鈥�

In September 1941, Zbyszek and his brother, Jurek, left their family and set off westwards for Novosibirsk 鈥� another large city in Siberia 鈥� to join the new Polish Army. But when they arrived at Novosibirsk, they were not allowed to leave the station. For over a week, they stayed in the huge modern station. It was bitterly cold, and very crowded because of the huge numbers of people escaping eastwards from the German attacks. One day, a voice came over the loudspeaker, telling everyone to come out onto the platform. A train came slowly into the station. It was full of German prisoners.

鈥淚t was a horrific sight鈥�, remembers Zbyszek. The Germans were on open freight cars. They had no winter clothing. The ones who were still alive were unrecognisable as human beings, because they were crouched under layer on layer of clothes they had taken from the bodies of the dead 鈥� who were lying beside them in mounds on the open cars 鈥� naked and frozen. 鈥淚t was something I鈥檒l never forget. They had been shown deliberately to frighten us. It was then I realised the cruelty and suffering that was taking place in the war.鈥�

A few days later, Zbyszek and his brother were given new instructions, and moved on. Their journey was long and slow, because there was only one railway line, and they often had to wait in sidings so that a train coming the other way could pass. A few weeks before Christmas, they stopped again, at a place called Farap, in Turkmenistan. They slept in the open, by the river. 鈥淚t was so cold,鈥� says Zbyszek, 鈥淭hat I don鈥檛 know how we survived.鈥�

One night, the Russians rounded them up and they were put on boats for the Aral Sea. 鈥淚t was a sea in those days. Now, apparently, it鈥檚 dried up.鈥� It was a terrible journey 鈥� about eighteen days. Everyone was hungry. Hundreds died. Zbyszek and Jurek stole bread from the magazines in order to survive. It was a frightening experience 鈥� 鈥淵ou felt that anyone might kill you for a piece of food!鈥�

When they reached the sea, they were put to work digging irrigation canals for cotton. The local Uzbeks used to say to them: 鈥淲e have an old saying: 鈥榃hen the Poles come, we will have freedom鈥欌��.
鈥淏ut there was no freedom then 鈥� for them or for us.鈥�
After a few months, everyone was sent to different places. It seemed the Russians did not want a Polish Army in Russia, after all.

Then, an outbreak of typhus swept through the area, killing many people. Zbyszek helped a Polish doctor take the sick to the hospital. One day, while he was waiting outside, a nurse came out and asked: 鈥淎nyone for soup?鈥�

鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 need to ask a question like that twice!鈥� remembers Zbyszek. Luckily, he had taken a spoon with him from a set at home, and had kept it with him. He gulped down the soup. But after a while, he felt began to feel dizzy. . .

He woke up in another hospital. It turned out that he had been unconscious for three days. A nurse said to him: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e lucky. One of the doctors here thought you were dead!鈥�

One day, the doctor that Zbyszek had worked for told him that, the next day, they were leaving for Persia, to join the Allied forces. Zbyszek was still recovering and had not received his discharge papers. 鈥淥h, no鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 go!鈥�

鈥淟ook,鈥� said the Doctor. 鈥淚鈥檒l be outside the gate tomorrow. If you鈥檙e there, you can come. If not . . .!鈥� Zbyszek decided that if he did not take a chance now he would never get out. As he was leaving, the doctor said to him 鈥淏y the way, there鈥檚 another Wesolowski in the next room鈥�.

It was his brother, Jurek, who had also been taken to hospital. He tried to persuade Jurek to join him, but Jurek was dubious. I said to him: 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter, it鈥檚 about survival 鈥� we鈥檒l be dead otherwise鈥�. But Jurek decided to stay.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have any outdoor clothes,鈥� says Zbyszek. So he pinched a pair of trousers and boots from the storeroom. He went through the gate. No one stopped him. He waited outside for the doctor to arrive, and they set off.

They travelled to the Caspian Sea 鈥� to the port of Krasnovodosk. But the NKVD 鈥� the Soviet secret police - were checking the papers of everyone getting on the ships. Of course, Zbyszek had no papers. But luckily, a party of Polish officers and their wives were walking up the gangway, and Zbyszek slipped in amongst them. The women in the party guessed what he was doing, and gathered round him to hide him from the police, and he got on board. Straightaway, he went right down to the bottom of the ship, out of the way, and hid. The ship set sail 鈥� in 24 hours they would arrive in Persia.

When they arrived, Zbyszek sneaked off the ship and joined his comrades He was out of Russia! They drove for quite a long while, and then someone said: 鈥楴ow we鈥檙e safe! We鈥檙e in the British zone!鈥�

鈥淭hat was a bit of a surprise,鈥� says Zbyszek. 鈥淚 had thought we were safe before. But actually we鈥檇 still been in the Russian zone!鈥�

They were taken to Tehran, where they slept in a disused machine gun factory, built by a German company before the war. But because he had no papers, and was not officially there, he got no pay, and no rations. He had to rely on what his friends could afford to give him, but that was not much. One day, while he was doing sport with the others, he collapsed. He was brought before an officer, who said that as he was there illegally he should not be paid. But luckily, another officer intervened: 鈥楶ay him!鈥� he said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter now.鈥�

After that, there was plenty to eat, though they kept warning him not to eat too much. 鈥淏ut I was starving. I ate quite a few eggs 鈥� and survived!鈥� Everywhere, there was hustle and bustle 鈥� and dozens of brand new American lorries.

From Tehran, they were taken to Basra 鈥� then, by ship, around Saudi Arabia and through the Red Sea, to Suez. They eventually reached Palestine, and there they joined up with the new Polish Army.

In 1943, they went to Italy. They landed in Tarranto. One day, Zbyszek met a friend from Iraq. He said to Zbyszek: 鈥業鈥檒l tell you a secret, we鈥檙e going to Monte Cassino.鈥� That night, on guard duty, Zbyszek watched the flashes in the sky to the North where the Allies were making their attack, and listened to the thunder of the guns.

Their unit went up to Monte Cassino at the end of April 1944. After the battle, they went on to the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and reached Rimini in June 1944. By the end of the war, they had reached Bologna. In the meantime, his family had been allowed to leave Russia, because he and Jurek were then classed as being with the Allies. His family spent the rest of the war in Africa. They only met again in England, when the war was over. Jurek had reached Tehran after Zbyszek, but caught typhus and died. He is buried there.

The thing Zbyszek remembers most about the war was the horrible suffering. He lived in constant fear of being killed, but got used to it. 鈥淚 always had hope that I would get through it somehow. I never lost that.鈥� His greatest fear was of being taken back by the Russians and of finding himself in a Siberian prison again. Luckily, that never happened. After the war, in England, he met his wife Dorothy, and settled down in Birmingham.

Zbyszek died in Birmingham on 21st November 2005.

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Katherine Kissane on behalf of Zbyszek Wesolowski and has been added to the site with his permission. Zbyszek Wesolowski fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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