Krystyna Skarbek – WWII Polish Spy

Krystyna Skarbek, aka Christine Granville

Krystyna Skarbek (1908–1952), aka Christine Granville, was a Polish aristocrat who during World War II became a fearless, versatile undercover operative for British SOE (Special Operations Executive), traveling into and out of occupied Europe to bring back intelligence for the Allies. The BBC recently published a fabulous interview with Skarbek’s biographer, Clare Mulley. As recounted in the interview:

“On one occasion, she received a microfilm that showed German forces lining up along the Soviet border for what looked like an imminent attack. It was passed on to Winston Churchill who, according to his daughter Sarah, would declare that Granville was his favourite agent.

Krystyna Skarbek, aka Christine Granville

“Twice she would be captured and interrogated by the Germans but was able to spring herself free. On one occasion, she convinced her captors she had tuberculosis by biting her tongue so hard she appeared to be hacking up blood.

” ‘Her great tool is her brain. She’s so quick-thinking; talks her way in and talks her way out. She’s amazing,’ says Mulley.

“Even animals were seemingly unable to resist her charms. In her book, Mulley describes two occasions when Granville was able to turn a snarling guard dog kept by border patrols into her pet that would follow her beck and call.

“Along with her quick wits and immense courage, Granville was a master of manipulation and persuasion….”

Read the entire interview online or in pdf….

There is also speculation that author Ian Fleming based the character Vesper Lynd in his first James Bond book, Casino Royale, on Krystyna Skarbek. More info online or in pdf…

Clare Mulley’s book on Krystyna Skarbek is titled The Spy Who Loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville, which I am happy to recommend. Click here to learn more at Clare Mulley’s website. Ms. Mulley and I are members of an online group focused on SOE, and I’ve had the privilege of corresponding with her regarding both Krystyna Skarbek and the subject of her forthcoming book Agent Zo, in order to share information from our book in process about the Cichociemni, Polish Special Forces Parachutists.

 

Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade – Renamed

Parade at El Latrun, June 29, 1941 — the Polish Independent Brigade Group receiving Brigade and Officer Colors. Photo: IWM

On January 12, 1941, the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade was renamed as the Polish Independent Brigade Group under British command in Egypt.

When France surrendered to the Germans in mid-June 1940, the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade, with approximately 4,000 men under General Stanisław Kopański, was part of the of the French Armée du Levant stationed in Syria and commanded by General Eugène Mittelhauser. On June 20, 1940, Mittelhauser received orders from his French superiors for all armed men to lay down their arms, using force if necessary.

However, Poland had not surrendered along with France—instead, the Polish army and air force in France were evacuating to continue the fight from Britain. As a result, Kopański had received his own orders, from Polish Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief Władysław Sikorski, to place themselves under the British in Palestine. On June 30, 1940, Kopański and his troops defied Mittelhauser and left Syria for Palestine.

Since the brigade had initially been integrated into the French army, it was organized along French lines and outfitted with French arms. It took a few months to incorporate them into the British army, where it was modeled on a British motorized infantry brigade.

By January 12, 1941, the brigade had been completely reorganized and integrated into the British army. The unit was renamed the Polish Independent Brigade Group.

 

 

 

New Music Library Planned – Warsaw

The Krasiński Library building, pictured in 2017.

The historic Krasiński Estates Library and Museum in Warsaw, which was heavily damaged by the Germans during World War II, has been given to the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music to house a Media Library of Polish Music.

The building was originally built in 1912 by Edward Krasiński for the library run by his influential family. During the war, the occupying German forces moved some of the most valuable library collections from all over the city to the building.

However, after the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, Hitler instructed his forces to raze Warsaw. By January 1945, between 85% and 90% of the buildings had been completely destroyed.

Little remained standing in Warsaw, after the Germans destroyed most of the city upon Hitler’s orders.
The Krasiński Library building at the end of WWII.

Along with intentionally destroying most of what buildings remained in the city following five years of war, the Germans set fire to the priceless collections of manuscripts, maps, sheet music, engravings and more than two thousand incunabula in the Krasiński Library. Approximately 62% of the library’s collection was lost, with the surviving materials transferred after the war to the National Library.

The building itself survived and was renovated after the war. However, by the 1980s it had fallen into disuse, and until recently was embroiled in litigation as the Krasińksi heirs attempted to regain ownership of the property. The litigation was discontinued in August 2023, allowing the city to donate the building to the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music.

“Our university has been striving for the possibility to occupy this dilapidated building since the 1960s,” Klaudiusz Baran, the university’s rector, told Gazeta Wyborcza. “We want to create a space where we can make our sound archive’s rich collections available to Varsovians, tourists and music lovers worldwide. We want to share our heritage and bring this extraordinary building back to life.”

For more info, go to the Notes from Poland article online or pdf…

 

 

 

The Fourteen Points – Polish Independence

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson

On January 8, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson presented, to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, the Fourteen Points which he considered essential conditions to any peace negotiations ending World War I.

At that time, World War I, called the “Great War” and the “War to End All Wars,” had been raging in Europe for more than three years. America had been fighting on the side of the Allies for nearly a year.

 

Wilson’s Fourteen Points can be summarized as follows:

    1. Open diplomacy without secret treaties
    2. Economic free trade on the seas during war and peace
    3. Equal trade conditions
    4. Decrease armaments among all nations
    5. Adjust colonial claims
    6. Evacuation of all Central Powers from Russia and allow it to define its own independence
    7. Belgium to be evacuated and restored
    8. Return of Alsace-Lorraine region and all French territories
    9. Readjust Italian borders
    10. Austria-Hungary to be provided an opportunity for self-determination
    11. Redraw the borders of the Balkan region creating Roumania, Serbia and Montenegro
    12. Creation of a Turkish state with guaranteed free trade in the Dardanelles
    13. Creation of an independent Polish state with access to the sea
    14. Creation of the League of Nations

 

At that time, Poland did not exist—the nation had disappeared from the map of Europe in 1795 when the country was partitioned among its rapacious neighbors Prussia (which became Germany after unification in the mid-19th century), Austria-Hungary, and Russia. This is known as the Partitions, and lasted for 123 years.

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.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski

Super-star pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a great Polish patriot, was instrumental in persuading President Wilson to include Poland in his Fourteen Points.

On Paderewski’s first concert tour in the U.S., in 1891, he gave the first solo recital in the newly opened Carnegie Hall in New York City, which was received with great acclaim. Thereafter, he became a regular performer in America, crossing the continent more than 30 times in his 50-year performing career, always attracting large enthusiastic crowds. Paderewski played thousands of U.S. concerts over his career, in towns large and small throughout America. He traveled by train in his own Pullman carriage, with an entourage of people and several pianos.

Paderewski came to New York on April 15, 1915, to launch his aid campaign for Poland. In 1916 he met Colonel Eward M. House, Woodrow Wilson’s chief political adviser, and began working on the plan for Poland’s independence. Colonel House introduced Paderewski to Wilson in November 1916.

In January 1917, as America prepared to enter the war, Colonel House turned to Paderewski to prepare a memorandum on the “Polish question.” Paderewski’s comprehensive memorandum dealt not only with the Polish question, but also with political issues facing major European powers, which helped shape Wilson’s thinking about post-war Europe.

Thanks to Paderewski’s influence, Wilson included an independent Poland as the 13th of his Fourteen Points. The date of the Armistice that ended World War I, November 11, 1918, also saw the rebirth of the Polish state thanks to the Fourteen Points—as a result, November 11 is celebrated as Polish Independence Day.

 

To learn more:
https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/peace/fourteen-points
https://www.britannica.com/event/Fourteen-Points
https://culture.pl/en/artist/ignacy-jan-paderewski

Special thanks to Marek Zebrowski, Director of the USC Polish Music Center, for his input on Paderewski’s role in the Fourteen Points.

 

 

Father Maximilian Kolbe

Father Maximilian Kolbe

January 8, 1894: Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Catholic priest, is born in Zduńska Wola. He became a Christian Martyr when he volunteered to be executed at Auschwitz in place of another prisoner. 

Kolbe was heavily influenced by a childhood vision he had of the Virgin Mary, and became an ordained priest in 1919. Between the years of 1930 and 1936, he departed on a series of religious missions in East Asia. Following the invasion of Poland in 1939, his monastery was shut down for sheltering Jewish refugees and publishing anti-Nazi literature. He was arrested and imprisoned at Auschwitz.

At the end of July 1941, three prisoners escaped from Auschwitz. In response, the SS camp guards picked 10 prisoners at random to be executed as collective punishment for the escape. Captain Witold Pilecki describes this event in his most comprehensive report on his secret undercover mission at Auschwitz:

It once happened that a young inmate was chosen, whereupon an old man, a priest, stepped out of the ranks and asked the Camp Commandant to take him and release the young man.
This was a powerful moment and the block froze in amazement.
The Commandant agreed.
The heroic priest went to his death and the other inmate returned to the ranks.

Excerpt from “The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery,” by Captain Witold Pilecki.

Franciszek Gajowniczek, the man whose life Father Kolbe had saved, survived Auschwitz and was freed by Allied liberation forces in 1944. He was reunited with his wife after World War II and lived a full life until his passing in 1995.

When the selfless sacrifice of Father Kolbe became known,  the Catholic church in 1971 under Pope Paul VI beatified him as a Confessor of the Faith, and in 1982 under Pope John Paul II, as a martyr. John Paul II declared Father Maximilian Kolbe “The Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century.”

 

Aircraft Design Fun

Our Air Force buffs might get a chuckle out of this lighthearted look at five British aircraft that could have been designed by a 5-year-old child with a very big crayon…! From Wingleader Films:

 

The Polish Wings Heritage Trail

Worth checking out: The Polish Wings Heritage Trail at https://polishwingstrail.com/ tells the virtually unknown story of the Polish Air Force units stationed in Northern Ireland, to help protect the UK and as part of the greater Allied war effort during World War II.
 
“We have forgotten the incredible story of sacrifice that a generation of Polish men made for our nation during a time of wartime crisis.”
 
 
Polish airmen, July 6, 1943 — looks like they’re on their way to Northern Ireland. (Photo from the Polish Wings Heritage Trail website.)
 
More than 100 Polish airmen were based in Northern Ireland in various RAF Squadrons, in addition to the two Polish Fighter Squadrons —  the famous 303 and 315 Squadrons — which operated from RAF Ballyhalbert between 1943 and 1944 .
 
The Polish Wings Heritage Trail website includes an interactive online map, as well as a list of key physical locations — which might make an interesting road trip through Northern Ireland for history buffs!
 
 
 

Marian Pisarek – 303 Squadron Fighter Ace

Marian Pisarek, 303 Squadron fighter ace

Marian Pisarek, 303 Squadron fighter ace, was born 3 January 1912 at Łosie near Radzymin, east of Warsaw.

One of the original fighter pilots assigned to 303 Squadron, Pisarek brought several years of training and experience to that famous squadron.

Pisarek had volunteered to join the Polish Air Force in 1935, transferring from the infantry. After training and various postings, in 1937 he transferred to 141 Eskadra Myśliwska, which was attached to the Polish Pomorze (Pomeranian) Army in northern Poland in the September 1939 campaign.

From 3 September 1939, Pisarek commanded 141 Eskadra. On 18 September, following the Soviet invasion of Poland and on orders from Polish Air Force HQ, he crossed the Romanian border with his unit, and found his way to France via Yugoslavia and Italy. In 1940, while in France, he was posted to the fighter section of Captain Tadeusz Rolski. Escaping to the U.K. after France surrendered in June 1940, Pisarek joined the group of Major Krasnodębski.

Pisarek arrived in Britain on 23 June 1940 and was posted to 303 Squadron on 21 August 1940.

On 7 September 1940 Pisarek was shot down and bailed out safely, but his airplane crashed  behind a house in Loughton, Essex, England, killing three civilians.

From 29 September until 11 November 1940 he was the Polish commander of ‘B’ Flight in 303 Squadron.

Pisarek transferred to 315 Squadron, then being formed at Acklington, Northumberland, on 21 January 1941. Two months later, on 30 March 1941, he was posted to 308 Squadron as ‘A’ Flight commander, and from 23 June until 10 December 1941, Pisarek commanded 308 Squadron.

On 24 July 1941 his Spitfire was seriously damaged over France when his wingman collided with him, but he managed to bring it back to base.

In December 1941 Pisarek was posted to HQ No. 11 Fighter Group as the Polish Liaison Officer.

On 17 April 1942 he assumed command of the 1st Polish Fighter Wing at Northolt, West London. Pisarek was shot down and killed on 29 April 1942 when leading his wing over France.

Pisarek was awarded the Golden Cross of the Virtuti Militari (posthumously), the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari, the Cross of Valour and three bars, and the British DFC.

A street in Warsaw was named after him in 1979, as was a primary school at Radzymin in 1991. His biography by Krzysztof Kubala was published in Polish in 2005 under the title Start w nieskończoność (Take-off Into Eternity).

Pisarek is credited with 11 destroyed, 2 shared destroyed, 1 probable destroyed, and 2 damaged.

 

Excerpted from Appendix 4 of “303 Squadron: The Legendary Battle of Britain Fighter Squadron,” by Arkady Fiedler.

 

 

 

 

Going into Public Domain – January 1, 2024

As publishers, we and our authors have a deep interest in copyright law. The Founding Fathers recognized the importance of copyright in the U.S. Constitution—the powers given to Congress in Article I, Section 8 include: “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”

Thus, the Founding Fathers struck a balance between rewarding creators, on the one hand, and benefiting the greater society, on the other hand, by giving creators the exclusive right to exploit their creation, but only for a limited time—after which their inventions, writings or other creations would become available to others to use and reuse however they would like.

Without assurance that we have the exclusive right to exploit the works we publish for a period of time, we would not undertake to invest the time, energy and money required to produce first-rate books and other materials.

Under current U.S. law, the term of copyright for a particular work depends on several factors, including whether it has been published, and, if so, the date of first publication. As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first. For works first published prior to 1978, the term will vary depending on several factors. More info from the US Copyright Office.

Every year on January 1, a new batch of copyrighted works and intellectual property enters the public domain. Yesterday, January 1, 2024, works published in 1928 (and earlier) became available for public use.

The many works that entered the public domain yesterday include the first versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, featured in the 1928 Disney short Steamboat Willie; A. A. Milne’s House at Pooh Corner, which introduced the springy-tailed Tigger to the Hundred Acre Wood; and J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan; or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. See all works that entered the public domain in 2024 here.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse, being among the foundational characters upon which the Walt Disney Company was built, may be of particular interest. This article reviews what the public can and cannot do with these characters, now that their first appearance has entered the public domain.

Happy New Year 2024!

 

 

We wish all our readers and friends

a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2024!!

 

Best wishes,

Aquila Polonica Publishing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflections on the Book Biz

Book lovers might be interested in this look back at the publishing business from Publishers Weekly‘s editorial director Jim Milliot, who is retiring at the end of this year. Publishers Weekly is the principal publication for the publishing and bookselling business. In reflecting on his 44 years in the publishing and book business, Jim focuses on technology and consolidation as the two developments that have had the most impact on the business.

Jim Milliot
Publishers Weekly

Ever since I joined PW in April 1993, my objective has been to write and publish articles that would help everyone in the publishing industry succeed. Leveling the playing field by providing information to help smaller companies and startups compete with entrenched players has been a guiding principle….

Technology has transformed publishing in every conceivable way, from how books are acquired to how they are printed, marketed, discovered, and sold….the industry has weathered the digital revolution better than most media businesses. E-books now augment print books, rather than replacing them as had once been widely prophesied. The sales surge for downloadable audiobooks seems likely to continue, especially since the newest tech trend, AI, will allow many more stories to be converted to audio editions using synthetic narration. And online retailing has made books easier to purchase than ever….

The second ongoing trend is consolidation. I had a front-row seat to watch an industry once characterized by hundreds of independent presses, many family owned, give way to the rise of corporate publishing. So, too, bookselling was transformed from those thousands of indie booksellers I found in the ABTD [American Book Trade Directory] to a retail space that was dominated by the bookstore chains….

It was also during the 1990s, of course, that Amazon was born. There is no doubt that Amazon has had the biggest impact, for good and bad, on publishing and bookselling over the course of my career….

Though, if I have learned anything since 1979, it is that publishing is full of committed people who truly care about what they are doing and believe in the power of books….

Read the entire article online here, or in pdf.

Gdansk – Christmas 2023

From Arwin Tours: This is a walking tour in Gdansk, Poland at the Christmas Market. Last year it took second place for European Best Christmas Market. We were also there for the lighting of the Christmas Tree near Neptune’s Fountain. Gdansk is a beautiful city that is along the coast, part of the tri-cities with Sopot and Gdynia. It’s a place to visit at anytime of the year.