A Polish Woman's Experience in World War II - Conflict, Deportation and Exile

Zusatztext [The book] provides an illuminating insight into the experiences of a woman from Poland’s landed gentry throughout a tumultuous century, who journeyed from Poland to Britain with many stops on the way. Informationen zum Autor Irena Protassewicz wrote the autobiographical witness account of her dramatic wartime journey from landed privilege in Poland to the hardships of life as a refugee. Hubert Zawadzki is an independent scholar, UK. He is the co-author, along with Jerzy Lukowski, of A Concise History of Poland (2nd Ed., 2006), which has been translated into seven different languages. He is also the author of A Man of Honour: Adam Czartoryski as a Statesman of Russia and Poland, 1795-1831 (1993). Meg Knott is an English teacher and freelance editor, UK. Vorwort An historically contextualized, autobiographical Second World War witness account which charts one woman’s journey from privilege in Poland to Soviet occupation and life as a refugee across Europe. Zusammenfassung This hitherto unpublished first-hand witness account, written in 1968-9, tells the story of a privileged Polish woman whose life was torn apart by the outbreak of the Second World War and Soviet occupation. The account has been translated into English from the original Polish and interwoven with letters and depositions, and is supplemented with commentary and notes for invaluable historical context. Irena Protassewicz’s vivid account begins with the Russian Revolution, followed by a rare insight into the life and mores of the landed gentry of northeastern Poland between the wars, a rural idyll which was to be shattered forever by the coming of the Second World War. Deported in a cattle truck to Siberia and sentenced to a future of forced labour, Irena’s fortunes were to change dramatically after Hitler’s attack on Russia. She charts the adventure and horror of life as a military nurse with the Polish Army, on a journey that would take her from the wastes of Soviet Central Asia, through the Middle East, to an unlikely ending in the highlands of Scotland. The story concludes with Irena’s search to discover the wartime and post-war fate of her family and friends on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and the challenges of life as a refugee in Britain. A Polish Woman’s Experience in World War II provides a compelling, personal route into understanding how the greatest conflict of the 20th century transformed the lives of the individuals who lived through it. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of ImagesList of MapsForeword (by Professor Robert Evans)1. Prologue (by Hubert Zawadzki) Part I – 1910-1939 2. Chapter 1: Wars and Reconstruction (1914-1925)3. Chapter 2: Education, Home, and the Stirrings of Love4. Chapter 3: All Not Quiet in the Distant Provinces5. Chapter 4: Warsaw: Relatives, Love, and a Brush with Dangerous Politics6. Chapter 5: Waclaw Protassewicz: The Last Squire of Borki7. Chapter 6: Before the Storm Part II – 1939-1945 8. Introduction to Part II (by Hubert Zawadzki)9. Chapter 7: ‘The End of Our World’10. Chapter 8: Under Soviet Occupation (1939-1941)11. Chapter 9: Siberia12. Chapter 10: Joys and Sorrows in Central Asia13. Chapter 11: From Persia to the Holy Land14. Chapter 12: From Egypt to Scotland Part III – 1945-2015 (by Hubert Zawadzki) 15. Epilogue: Exile and Settlement in Britain16. PostscriptAppendix A – Guide to Polish PronunciationAppendix B – Family TreeSelect BibliographyIndex...

List of contents

List of Images
List of Maps
Foreword (by Professor Robert Evans)
1. Prologue (by Hubert Zawadzki)
Part I – 1910-1939
2. Chapter 1: Wars and Reconstruction (1914-1925)
3. Chapter 2: Education, Home, and the Stirrings of Love
4. Chapter 3: All Not Quiet in the Distant Provinces
5. Chapter 4: Warsaw: Relatives, Love, and a Brush with Dangerous Politics
6. Chapter 5: Waclaw Protassewicz: The Last Squire of Borki
7. Chapter 6: Before the Storm
Part II – 1939-1945
8. Introduction to Part II (by Hubert Zawadzki)
9. Chapter 7: ‘The End of Our World’
10. Chapter 8: Under Soviet Occupation (1939-1941)
11. Chapter 9: Siberia
12. Chapter 10: Joys and Sorrows in Central Asia
13. Chapter 11: From Persia to the Holy Land
14. Chapter 12: From Egypt to Scotland
Part III – 1945-2015 (by Hubert Zawadzki)
15. Epilogue: Exile and Settlement in Britain
16. Postscript
Appendix A – Guide to Polish Pronunciation
Appendix B – Family Tree
Select Bibliography
Index

About the author

Irena Protassewicz wrote the autobiographical witness account of her dramatic wartime journey from landed privilege in Poland to the hardships of life as a refugee.

Hubert Zawadzki is an independent scholar, UK. He is the co-author, along with Jerzy Lukowski, of A Concise History of Poland (2nd Ed., 2006), which has been translated into seven different languages. He is also the author of A Man of Honour: Adam Czartoryski as a Statesman of Russia and Poland, 1795-1831 (1993).

Meg Knott is an English teacher and freelance editor, UK.

Summary

This hitherto unpublished first-hand witness account, written in 1968-9, tells the story of a privileged Polish woman whose life was torn apart by the outbreak of the Second World War and Soviet occupation. The account has been translated into English from the original Polish and interwoven with letters and depositions, and is supplemented with commentary and notes for invaluable historical context.

Irena Protassewicz’s vivid account begins with the Russian Revolution, followed by a rare insight into the life and mores of the landed gentry of northeastern Poland between the wars, a rural idyll which was to be shattered forever by the coming of the Second World War. Deported in a cattle truck to Siberia and sentenced to a future of forced labour, Irena’s fortunes were to change dramatically after Hitler’s attack on Russia. She charts the adventure and horror of life as a military nurse with the Polish Army, on a journey that would take her from the wastes of Soviet Central Asia, through the Middle East, to an unlikely ending in the highlands of Scotland. The story concludes with Irena’s search to discover the wartime and post-war fate of her family and friends on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and the challenges of life as a refugee in Britain.

A Polish Woman’s Experience in World War II provides a compelling, personal route into understanding how the greatest conflict of the 20th century transformed the lives of the individuals who lived through it.

Product details

• Authors: Irena Protassewicz
• Assisted by: Meg Knott (Editor), Hubert Zawadzki (Editor), Hubert Zawadzki (Translation)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.08.2020
• EAN: 9781350178090
• ISBN: 978-1-350-17809-0
• No. of pages: 296
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > History; Osteuropa, Europäische Geschichte, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, HISTORY / Social History, HISTORY / Europe / Eastern, History - General History