Sad to say I also know very little about my dad's family and early life. There was little talk of his family, the war and the old country except for 2 solitary pictures of his father and sister, in the hall, on a table, of my parents house. What I know comes from family stories, POW records, a school assignment interview by my daughter Shannon and a firm "chewing out" by his step-sister, Janina. When he died in 1992, I notified Janina by mail of his passing and asked some questions about him. By the time I got it accurately translated, I read a well deserved scolding for asking so little, so late and being ignorant of my Polish heritage. Then she passed.
The basics:
- Born in Warsaw October 17, 1914
- Primary school 1920-27
- Son of Piotr Frackiewicz
- Mother Aleksandra (Skowronska) nee Zaremba
- Piotr died young
- Brother Tadeusz (Thaddeus) - Born Feb.23, 1923 Warsaw, arrested at age 21 in 1944 by Germans for being Polish underground, in Buchenwald Concentration Camp from Feb. 10,1945 to April 6, 1945. Prisoner # 130719. Tragically, never heard from again. This is a story in itself !! This story is viewable at:
Death at Bisingen Concentration Camp - Sister Irene- died 1945, no other information
- Entered Army June 1937 for required service, due out June 1939
- Had to stay in the service to defend Poland against the invaders
I recall dad talking about after flash flooding in his youth, they would wade in the mud and look for bubbles indicating trapped fish for food.
He also talked about being a glass blower.
My brother Marion recalls Dad stating winters were so cold, prisoner ears were snapped off!
He told my sister Susanna of eating rats.
I asked about the scar in his arm and he stated he was shot by Germans, after he was liberated because they did not know the war was over.
I also wondered why he had no cool war souvenirs like other dads did. Not knowing it was due to being a prisoner having nothing but clothes on his back.
I can't believe that is all I know about my dad.
He also talked about being a glass blower.
My brother Marion recalls Dad stating winters were so cold, prisoner ears were snapped off!
He told my sister Susanna of eating rats.
I asked about the scar in his arm and he stated he was shot by Germans, after he was liberated because they did not know the war was over.
I also wondered why he had no cool war souvenirs like other dads did. Not knowing it was due to being a prisoner having nothing but clothes on his back.
I can't believe that is all I know about my dad.
I was visiting Dad and Mom in late summer of 1989.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 1st, 1989. Pop and I were sitting outside in lawn chairs by the side of the neighbor's house. He was somber. We were holding hands and he said......"it was awful....the Germans came from the West and the Soviets came from the East". His eyes were red and teary. I squeezed his hand because he felt so sad.
I was 36 and horribly under educated on his WWII history. But that moment of sadnes just made me ache.
Later my mom showed me the Waterloo Courier. It had a small blurb about the 50 year anniversary of that fateful day in history.....the start of WWII. Apparently, he had read that. It opened up some pain.
I still have that newspaper clipping.
One of those moments I'll never forget.