The Wall Street Journal published an excellent Letter to the Editor today from Lucja Swiatkowski Cannon, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. Entitled Central Europe Woke Up, Others Went Woke, Ms. Cannon contrasts the success of policy, economic and strategic decisions made by Central European countries such as Poland, with the failed decisions of Western European countries such as Germany and France.
She concludes:
“In short, Poland and other Central European countries are in a position to assist the U.S. to meet its strategic challenges in Europe and, to some extent, globally. The goal of the coming Trump administration thus isn’t to ‘resuscitate Europe,’ whose elites refuse to change their approach, but to ally itself with Central Europe, which shares its outlook and strategic assessment and has some of the most pro-American electorates in the world.”
This is the incredible story of Elżbieta Zawacka — the World War II female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo — told here for the very first time. Agent Zo was the only female emissary of the Polish Home Army command to reach London from Warsaw during the war. In Britain, she became the only woman to join the elite Polish Special Forces, the Cichociemni (aka the Unseen & Silent), affiliated with British Special Operations Executive (SOE).
She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then became the only female member of the Cichociemni to be parachuted behind enemy lines to German-occupied Poland. There, whilst being hunted by the Gestapo who arrested her entire family, she took a leading role in the Warsaw Uprising and the liberation of Poland.
In his review, Andrew Nagorski writes: “Zo was anything but ordinary, perhaps the most extraordinary individual among a multitude of larger-than-life figures who routinely took enormous risks to free their country from Hitler’s overlords….In ‘Agent Zo,’ the British historian Clare Mulley skillfully weaves together Zawacka’s personal story with the broad sweep of events.”
Mysza with her puppies on the wing of Stefankiewicz’s Mustang. Note both the 315 Squadron insignia of the fighting cockerel and ‘Mysza’ painted above it on the plane. Photo courtesy Wojtek Matusiak & Robert Gretzyngier.
315 Squadron fighter pilot Henryk Stefankiewicz was nicknamed “Mysza” (Mouse) during his Air Force Academy days, and he gave the same name to his P-51 Mustang fighter plane and to the dog he adopted in the U.K.
When Mysza the dog had four puppies around D-Day, Stefankiewicz named them Ike, Monty, Teddy and Ram — after Allied Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower, British General Bernard Montgomery, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Arthur Tedder, and Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief Bertram Ramsay.
These 315 Squadron members have their hands full with puppies and mom. In this photo, the red-and-white checkerboard insignia of the Polish Air Force can also be seen on the plane. Photo courtesy Wojtek Matusiak & Robert Gretzyngier.
315 Squadron was a day fighter squadron. Formed in January 1941, it was nicknamed “Dęblin” — after the town where the Polish Air Force Academy has been based since it was founded in 1927. Except for 315 Squadron, Polish fighter squadrons were named for major Polish cities where Polish Air Force fighter bases were located before the war. Bomber and other non-fighter squadrons were given names related to historical provinces of Poland.
Twenty-five year old Stefankiewicz was killed in action on June 22, 1944, during the Normandy campaign that followed D-Day. He was strafing ground targets in the Cherbourg area in his personal Mustang ‘Mysza,’ when he was shot down by enemy flak. His aircraft was found by American forces on June 30. Stefankiewicz was originally buried at the crash site, before being transferred to the US Interim Cemetery at Ste-Mère-Eglise.
His dogs were adopted by other Squadron personnel.
Photo courtesy Wojtek Matusiak and Robert Gretzyngier.
In this photo, Barry the German Shepherd shares the cockpit of a 300 Squadron Wellington bomber with one of his Squadron mates.
300 Squadron, formed in Britain on July 1, 1940, was the first of four Polish bomber squadrons that flew with the RAF during the war. The Squadron initially flew Fairey Battle medium bombers, but soon converted to Vickers Wellington heavy bombers.
The Squadron flew its first combat mission on the night of September 14, 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain — its target: German invasion barges at Boulogne on the coast of France, which were waiting only for the Luftwaffe to finish clearing the skies of the RAF and Allied planes before crossing the English Channel loaded with the German invasion force.
Nicknamed “Mazovian,” 300 Squadron’s badge was based on the coat of arms of the Mazovian Dukes, and bore the Mazovian eagle, the British lion, and the Roman numeral CCC (for 300).
In addition to the red-white-and-blue British roundel, planes of the Polish squadrons flying with the RAF also usually carried the red-and-white checkerboard emblem of the Polish Air Force (visible here in the lower left of the photo), as well as the squadron’s individual badge.
Check out the products in our Store featuring the 300 Squadron insignia!
Poland celebrates its Independence Day on November 11, in commemoration of the Armistice ending hostilities in World War I, which led to the rebirth of the Polish nation. In the United States, November 11 is celebrated as Veterans Day. In Britain and Commonwealth countries, November 11 is known as Remembrance Day or Poppy Day, due to the tradition of wearing a red poppy in memory of those killed in World War I.
Remembrance Poppy, image courtesy pngarts.com
Many people don’t realize that Poland literally disappeared from the map of Europe for 123 years, from the last of the Partitions in 1795—when the country was divided up by its rapacious neighbors Prussia (which became Germany after unification in the mid-19th century), Austria-Hungary, and Russia—until the end of World War I in 1918.
Despite being split among different countries and cultures, ethnic Poles never gave up the fight to regain their country. They saw World War I, when their oppressors were busy fighting each other, as a great opportunity for Poland to reemerge as an independent nation.
Thanks in large part to the influence of international superstar pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a great Polish patriot, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson included creation of an independent Polish state with access to the sea, as one of the Fourteen Points he identified as conditions for ending World War I.
As a result, November 11 is considered the date of birth of the modern Polish state, and celebrated as the country’s Independence Day.
On this day, parades are held across Poland, and many houses and buildings as well as public transportation are decorated with Polish flags. There is also an annual Independence Run—a marathon hosted in several cities with a number of participants who often dress in the colors of the Polish flag.
St. Martin’s Croissants, photo courtesy babeczka.zuzka.pl
Independence Day also coincides with the feast of St. Martin, when Poles traditionally eat St. Martin’s croissants—a desert that originated in the city of Poznań and is at least 150 years old. The recipe, however, hasn’t changed much since then—the famous croissants are still made of rough puff pastry, filled with poppy seeds, glazed, and decorated with nuts.
Photo courtesy Wojtek Matusiak and Robert Gretzyngier.
Perched atop one of 317 Squadron’s Hawker Hurricane fighter planes, one Squadron pilot serenades their mascot, Lipa the dog, on the accordion, while another tries to entice him with a treat.
Below, Lipa seems as comfortable hanging out on the plane as he is snuggling with one of the pilots.
Named for the city of Wilno, 317 Squadron was a day fighter squadron. The Squadron was formed between February and April of 1941 at RAF Acklington in Britain and operated until December 1946.
Photo courtesy Wojtek Matusiak and Robert Gretzyngier.Photo courtesy Wojtek Matusiak and Robert Gretzyngier.
Its emblem, a condor on a cross, was derived from two prewar Polish Air Force fighter units originally based in Wilno. Before the war, Wilno was one of Poland’s major cities. Now known as Vilnius, it is the capital of present-day Lithuania.
Check out the products in our Store featuring the 317 Squadron insignia!
Today kicks off Polish Heritage Month in the U.S.!
In his Proclamation 5548 issued in October 1986, President Ronald Reagan declared October as Polish American Heritage Month, stating in part:
President Ronald Reagan, official portrait (1981).
In October, we celebrate Polish American Heritage Month in the United States. Our Nation owes an immeasurable debt of gratitude to the millions of freedom-loving Poles who have come to our shores to build a new land. Polish Americans can be justly proud of the vital contributions people of Polish descent have made to our Nation in the arts, the sciences, religion, scholarship, and every area of endeavor.
The military genius of Kosciuszko and Pulaski was essential in the defense of our freedoms in the Revolutionary War. Since then, millions of Poland’s sons and daughters have helped build our country’s prosperity and defend our liberty.
Mankind’s desire for liberty is universal. We are, as a country, linked with the Polish people in love for individual liberty, faith, and defense of the family. We share unstinting devotion to political and religious freedom, as expressed so courageously by Pope John Paul II and Lech Walesa.
We have supported the aspirations of Poles in recent years for a greater voice in determining their nation’s destiny. We welcome the recent general amnesty for political prisoners in Poland as a positive step. We reaffirm our solidarity with these brave Polish citizens who, at great risk to themselves, have sought to expand liberty and to promote justice in their homeland.
As Polish Americans celebrate their cultural and spiritual values across the country during Polish American Heritage Month, all Americans can express gratitude for Poland’s heroic example of faith and sacrifice through the centuries and for Polish Americans’ manifest contributions to our Nation.
The Polish American Congress explained why October was finally chosen as Polish Heritage Month, saying:
Poles in Jamestown, painted by Arthur Szyk (1939), via Wikipedia.
Why is October an important month for Polish Americans? It is the month when the first Polish settlers arrived at Jamestown, VA in 1608. Additionally, on October 11, Casimir Pulaski, a Polish nobleman, and the father of American cavalry, died.
General Kazimierz Pulaski, public domain via Wikipedia.
Another reason for changing the Polish Heritage Month from August to October was to aid participating educational institutions in organizing events during the school year.
In the United States, there are about 10 million Americans of Polish descent, making it the largest diaspora of Poles in the world.
The main objective of the Polish American Heritage Month is to highlight the contributions Poles and Polish Americans have made to the United States, celebrate our achievements and cultural heritage, and share its beauty with community at large.
We, Polish Americans, have always held onto a passion for our culture, values, Poland and our new country, the United States of America. But this month let us show our pride even more by sharing with our networks our cultural heritage, achievements and contributions Polish Americans have made to the United States.
We are ending our series of blog posts about the Warsaw Uprising — which has drawn from our award-winning book The Color of Courage, by Julian Kulski — with this post describing Kulski’s last battle, the order to surrender, and the march into captivity.
Kulski spent the next seven months as a prisoner of war in Stalag XI-A, before finally risking a dash for freedom onto an American truck in early May 1945 as the war was ending, instead of waiting for “liberation” by the Soviets.
CHAPTER 6 AGE 15: 1944 — THE WARSAW UPRISING
pp. 335–337: Friday, September 29 — The Germans are now advancing at a terrific speed. This evening they took over Saint Stanisław Kostka Church and gained ground along one side of Krasiński Street. From a window in our cellar, we could easily see the tanks rolling along the boulevard. Then, after taking positions in front of the apartment house we were holding, they began to destroy it methodically.
Because the enemy was so very near, we decided it would be better to rejoin our company, so we left the cellar under cover of darkness, crawling away over the sharp rubble on hands and knees.
Warsaw in flames. Photo from The Color of Courage.
I noticed that I was not cold anymore. The whole of Żoliborz was on fire, and the flames illuminated the streets, warming the air around us.
All this time, the Red Army waited in silence in Praga, on the opposite side of the Vistula River, promising every day to send help and telling us to keep on fighting. Not a single company crossed the river.
Goliat (German robot tank). Photo from The Color of Courage.
Then the Germans attacked with full-size tanks as well as Goliats [small robot tanks]. All communication between our units broke down, and each detachment was now completely on its own. By late afternoon, the Germans had driven deeply into the southern section of Żoliborz, toward Wilson Square and Krasiński Street. The artillery fire ceased only when night fell.
This evening we heard that General Bór-Komorowski had notified London that our situation is desperate, and that capitulation is inevitable unless large quantities of arms are received at once.
At the same time, he sent a message to Colonel ‘Żywiciel’ to keep on fighting, if only for one more day.
During the night, I joined my friends, and helped them to defend our building against strong attacks by the enemy. I stood behind the window in the cellar bunker, so weak that I was hardly able to stand on my feet—let along to continue firing—but now and then I would climb the ruins of the staircase and throw grenades upon the attacking Germans.
pp. 342–344: Saturday, September 30 — Night — The news came through, striking like lightning. The message was starkly brief. Surrender! The word itself brought forth a furious barrage of oaths from all sides: “Lies!” “Impossible!” Still, all the companies were ordered to line up. We did so, not yet able to believe what was happening.
Lieutenant ‘Szeliga’ stood before our company. I had to struggle to stand to attention and to concentrate as he took a paper from his breast pocket and began to read aloud the order from Colonel ‘Żywiciel’:
Soldiers!
I thank you, my dear comrades, for everything you have accomplished during these two months of fighting with the enemy, for your efforts, pain, and courage.
I am proud that I had the honor to command such soldiers as you.
Remain such in the future and show the world what a Polish soldier is, he who will sacrifice everything for his country.
Soldiers!
An hour ago, as ordered by the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, General Bór-Komorowski, I signed the surrender document of our group…
We are surrendering to the Wehrmacht as a regular army, and we will be treated according to the Geneva Convention.
I thank you once more for everything.
God be with you!
Saturday, September 30 — Midnight — After that, everything went like a nightmarish dream. Hardly realizing it, we began to fall into military formation. It was nearly midnight as we started our slow march uphill from the Glass House along Mickiewicz Street toward Wilson Square.
We all made one last effort and marched in an even measured step, as on parade, our rifles on our shoulders. We had to remind the Germans what kind of soldiers they had been fighting during the last two months.
The march to captivity. Photo from The Color of Courage.
With officers at our flanks, we advanced toward Wilson Square, solidly lined with tanks, where the Germans were waiting for us. When we were about thirty feet from a gate leading into the courtyard of a large building, the command came: “Kompania stój!” (Company halt!). Our commander exchanged words in German with the officer in charge. Then we entered the courtyard.
A thrill of terror shook me as I saw the faces and uniforms of the hated enemy at such close range. The Germans at once surrounded us and confiscated our short arms, field glasses, and so on. Then we marched in company formation through the courtyard; passing the tanks standing at the entrance to Słowacki Street, we found ourselves in the middle of Wilson Square, illuminated by the flames of burning Żoliborz. Here, we had to lay down the rest of our weapons.
Continuing Rulka Langer’s account of the early days of World War II from the point of view of a young working mother in Warsaw, from her book The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt.
Beginning Monday, September 25, 1939, the Germans launched an all-out bombing campaign that would either obliterate Warsaw from the face of the earth, or force its surrender. For two days, the city was subjected to a constant barrage of bombs.
But on the morning of Wednesday, September 27, 1939, the city woke to silence:
CHAPTER 23 September 27: Warsaw Surrenders
(pp. 300, 306, 308)
Rulka Langer with her children Ania and George, passport photo, 1940. Photo from The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt.
The next morning we woke up conscious of an unusual silence. No bombs, no planes, no artillery fire. The stillness was uncanny. But it was a relief. The Germans at last were giving us a respite.
The house at once began to bustle with activity. People were leaving the shelter, children were allowed to go out and play in the courtyard….
…Zosia was standing in the middle of the room swinging her hat in one hand. She talked breathlessly, and seemed beside herself with excitement.
“Yes, good news!” she shouted. “The colonel told me himself. The British have landed at Gdynia. And General Bortnowski’s army has broken through at Radom, and is marching to the rescue of Warsaw. They are only thirty miles away. They’ll be here day after tomorrow. Yes, it’s good news, tell it to everyone you meet!”
She was almost hysterical….
Suddenly an officer stepped out from the crowd. His face was contorted with grief and rage.
“You crazy women!” he shouted. “How can you go around repeating such monstrous lies? Don’t you know Warsaw has surrendered?”
CHAPTER 24 Bitter Days
(pp. 310–313)
Warsaw Mayor Stefan Starzynski (third from left) surrenders the city to the Germans. Photo from The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt.
Oh the bitterness of those days…
So it had all been for nothing! The thousands of victims, the gallant effort, the supreme sacrifice, the destruction, all for nothing.
In the streets people wept. Others went around with stony faces. Through the devastated city the wind blew gusts of dust and ashes. The smell of smoke still hung in the air…
For nothing!
Translation of the adjacent Kurjer Warszawski from September 28, 1939. Both images from The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt.
That afternoon all over town posters appeared on the battered walls, announcing the capitulation of Warsaw…. In sober terms they stated the reason for surrender—the destruction of the water supply. Gave the terms—soldiers would be disarmed and allowed to return to their homes, only officers were to be taken prisoner—and appealed for peace and order. Twenty-four prominent citizens had gone to the Germans as hostages.
Lack of water, of course. A town of over a million inhabitants could not go on defending itself without an adequate supply of water.
But if so, some people said, why didn’t we surrender on Sunday, when the filters were already destroyed? Why didn’t Warsaw spare itself those last two days of inhuman slaughter and destruction? Think how many lives, how many buildings would have been saved…
Nowy Swiat, Warsaw’s most fashionable shopping street, and a multitude of other Warsaw streets lie in ruins when Warsaw surrenders. Photo from The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt.
Yes, that was true. But if Warsaw had surrendered on Sunday, Warsaw would not have been Warsaw, the gallant city of the Mermaid.
Cities, like nations, like human beings, have to remain true to their own natures. Warsaw had pledged itself to fight to the bitter end, and to the bitter end it had fought. It had done its duty. Perhaps, some day, history would acknowledge the fact, repay for all the death and destruction.
Eighty-five years ago today, the Germans launched their most relentless two-day bombing campaign against Warsaw, Poland’s capital — a bombing campaign so devastating that September 25, 1939 has become known as “Black Monday” — and resulted in the city
In her award-winning book The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt, Rulka Langer, a young working mother of an 8-year-old son George and a 3-year-old daughter Ania, who had been educated at Vassar College in the U.S., describes what it was like to be a civilian in Warsaw on Black Monday.
CHAPTER 22 September 25: Black Monday
(pp. 272–285)
September Twenty-Fifth, 1939. No one in Warsaw will ever forget that day.
Eight o’clock found us already on the back stairs landing, suitcases, gas masks, coats and all. I can still see myself leaning against the wall, trying to shield the children with my body….
Fires consumed hundreds of buildings in Warsaw during this day. Photo from The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt.
Wave after wave of German bombers swept overhead. They flew so low that at times it seems impossible that they should miss the roof. What on earth was our anti-aircraft artillery doing? Not a shot, not a bark….
And then a little before eleven the bell in the courtyard began to ring.
Fire!
There was a patter of running feet. Someone shouted from downstairs: “Quick! The back of the house is on fire. Bring all the water you have. Quick!”
I told Leosia [the maid] to remain with the children on the landing, and ran back to the apartment. Mother and Cook followed me. We grabbed buckets and filled them in the bathtub. No time now to spare the last of our water….
I was just returning to the bathroom with two empty pails when I heard someone knocking at the front door…. Krysia Malachowska, panting and hatless, was standing on the threshold.
“Look here, Rulka,” she was talking very fast, trying at the same time to catch her breath, “do you know that all your side of the street is on fire? You better bring your mother and your children and come at once to our shelter. We will be glad to have you.”
I gasped.
“Do you mean to tell me that you’ve run all this way through a burning street and under bombs just to invite us to your shelter?” I could hardly believe it.
“Yes, of course. Come as soon as you can. I’ve got to run now, I am needed at the house.”
She was already descending the stairs.
“Thanks!” I cried after her….
I collected my little party. Leosia was to carry her suitcase and mine, and keep an eye on George. I took the children’s big suitcase in my left hand, threw the children’s bedding over my right arm and with my free hand grabbed Ania’s little paw.
“Let’s start. Keep close to my heels.”
I did not glance back at the house….
A raging sea of flames engulfed the city long into the night. Photo from The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt.
How the house on the left burned! Huge flames leaped from every window from top floor to ground floor. Running, we crossed the street. Faster, faster. If only we could reach Krysia’s house before the planes returned….
If only… Oh God! If only… But no. Even before we reached the corner, the bombers were upon us again….
We do not sell or share our mailing lists with any other person or entity, although we may from time to time email you ourselves with matters that we feel might be of interest.
You will receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription to our mailing list. If you don’t receive it shortly, please check your spam filters.
SIGN UP
FOR OUR MAILING LIST
We do not sell or share our mailing lists with any other person or entity, although we may from time to time email you ourselves with matters that we feel might be of interest.
SIGN UP
FOR OUR MAILING LIST
We do not sell or share our mailing lists with any other person or entity, although we may from time to time email you ourselves with matters that we feel might be of interest.
You will receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription. If you don’t receive it shortly, please check your spam filters.
The Wall Street Journal published an excellent Letter to the Editor today from Lucja Swiatkowski Cannon, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. Entitled Central Europe Woke Up, Others Went Woke, Ms. Cannon contrasts the success of policy, economic and strategic decisions made by Central European countries such as Poland, with the failed decisions of Western European countries such as Germany and France.
