Thank you Alice, for a sensitive thoughtful story. I remember reading that Polish (blond haired) children were taken from their families and given to German families to adopt. Just what the Russians are now doing to Ukrainian children.
Thank you for this important perspective. I liked how you wrote about your struggle to understand your father’s complicated feelings. Today I am attending a zoom talk given by a Roman Catholic lady of Polish descent on the story of her family being deported to Siberia during World War Ii. Your essay gives me a deeper understanding of the context. Thank you.
alica, thank you for unravelling this complex and tragic story in such an erudite and sensitive way.by moments, I was feeling i was reading a blog from heather cox richardson
This is an incredibly important part of history that I did not know. And I grew up in Chicago, which I believe is the largest Polish population outside of the country. Thank you for educating me. And oh, the complexities of understanding each other and our stories, even when we are family.
Alice, since you first started telling me about your father, I have known he was a hero. As immigrants to Canada he and your mother continued their heroism as they faced the unknown, worked hard and ensured their children would live easier lives. We continue to see not only in the Ukraine but around the world how war creates a rinse repeat cycle of terror, fortitude, trauma and desolation. It isn’t hard to imagine how those affected feel the need to be understood even if sometimes it is too hard to share their stories. Your parents found their advocate in you.
Alice - There are always new things to be learned. Your piece offers important truths that I really did not know. Thank you for sharing your father’s profound grief.
Thank you for the calm and beautiful text. Hanna Stawczyski told me, long time ago , somethings about this story. It definitely merits being told and retold.... because people forget.
This writing is so important. You are somehow able to present this material, so close to your family experience, with clarity and without rancor. I don't know how you did it.
This is such an important story Alice, and told in such a moving and sensitive manner. I would guess that most people don't know that so many non Jewish Polish people were murdered during the war.
I knew your father was a hero fighting in the Warsaw Uprising but I never knew his parents were murdered. I wish you could write a book about this subject, to educate the Jews and the Non Jews of Poland, of what went on there during WW 11. My grandfather was able to escape from Poland & make his way to Canada, but his attempts to rescue his sister & her children from Nazi controlled Poland resulted in only one of his nieces making her way here, to be brought up as a "sibling" to my father.
I know the Polish Jews and the Polish Non Jews here in Canada don't see eye to eye on what happened in the war, but all the more reason for your story to reach this wider audience. Thank you for sharing this story with us.
Thank you for this incredible story and giving me much greater insight. It is all so horrific and unimaginable. I am so grateful for every little bit of explanation and understanding . Thank you for sharing and letting me see, though my view from such a filtered distance, to better understand the past and thus the present.
Thank you Alice, for a sensitive thoughtful story. I remember reading that Polish (blond haired) children were taken from their families and given to German families to adopt. Just what the Russians are now doing to Ukrainian children.
Thank you for adding a valuable perspective to this tragic history.
Thank you for this important perspective. I liked how you wrote about your struggle to understand your father’s complicated feelings. Today I am attending a zoom talk given by a Roman Catholic lady of Polish descent on the story of her family being deported to Siberia during World War Ii. Your essay gives me a deeper understanding of the context. Thank you.
Thanks for this, Alice. I learned a lot from it.
alica, thank you for unravelling this complex and tragic story in such an erudite and sensitive way.by moments, I was feeling i was reading a blog from heather cox richardson
This is an incredibly important part of history that I did not know. And I grew up in Chicago, which I believe is the largest Polish population outside of the country. Thank you for educating me. And oh, the complexities of understanding each other and our stories, even when we are family.
Alice, since you first started telling me about your father, I have known he was a hero. As immigrants to Canada he and your mother continued their heroism as they faced the unknown, worked hard and ensured their children would live easier lives. We continue to see not only in the Ukraine but around the world how war creates a rinse repeat cycle of terror, fortitude, trauma and desolation. It isn’t hard to imagine how those affected feel the need to be understood even if sometimes it is too hard to share their stories. Your parents found their advocate in you.
Alice - There are always new things to be learned. Your piece offers important truths that I really did not know. Thank you for sharing your father’s profound grief.
Hi Alice!
Thank you for the calm and beautiful text. Hanna Stawczyski told me, long time ago , somethings about this story. It definitely merits being told and retold.... because people forget.
Nick
Thank you for writing this story..it was both beautiful and thoughtful.. I like the way you honour your father..
This writing is so important. You are somehow able to present this material, so close to your family experience, with clarity and without rancor. I don't know how you did it.
enjoyed reading this Alice. Thank you.
Powerful history encapsulated in the intimacy of a close relationship is one of the things you do so well, Alice!
This is such an important story Alice, and told in such a moving and sensitive manner. I would guess that most people don't know that so many non Jewish Polish people were murdered during the war.
I knew your father was a hero fighting in the Warsaw Uprising but I never knew his parents were murdered. I wish you could write a book about this subject, to educate the Jews and the Non Jews of Poland, of what went on there during WW 11. My grandfather was able to escape from Poland & make his way to Canada, but his attempts to rescue his sister & her children from Nazi controlled Poland resulted in only one of his nieces making her way here, to be brought up as a "sibling" to my father.
I know the Polish Jews and the Polish Non Jews here in Canada don't see eye to eye on what happened in the war, but all the more reason for your story to reach this wider audience. Thank you for sharing this story with us.
Thank you for this incredible story and giving me much greater insight. It is all so horrific and unimaginable. I am so grateful for every little bit of explanation and understanding . Thank you for sharing and letting me see, though my view from such a filtered distance, to better understand the past and thus the present.
Alice, this touched me so much and I learnt much more than I knew, so that I saved it to re-read. Thank you for sharing your story. xo