I had to share this ?with the group...

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I gave my poem Polscy Chlopcy to my sister and unbeknownst to me she submitted it to the local newspaper where she lives.? Because of the length of the poem, she wasn't sure what their response would be.? Guess what?? Three editors gave up their space for this to be printed for Rememberence Day.? A page and a half.? When I gave my copies out, I inserted a prelude so that English speaking people could better understand our story and the pronounciation of a few words.?Many did not know of this tragic Polish- Siberian history.?I included this introduction into my family's copies as well.

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Well what excites me is that the paper also printed the prelude.

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This was a great way to share with the public about our families struggle for freedom and remind them of the tragic history we all share as a group.?

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??When I think of all the nations whose story might have been on that page that day ....it was?our story?Polacy.....Ours! Ours! Ours!

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I can bet it's been a hell of along time...since there ever was an article covering Poles or their dramatic past in that paper.....so I am very proud today.

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My sister says the response from the poem was so great and many wanted copies of the newspaper to read it, because they had heard about it from someone else.

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I just had to share this with you all.

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Just in case anyone else wanted the intro for their copies, I've included it here.

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Introduction

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Polscy Chlopcy..means Polish Men

Pronounced? pols-tseh? hlop-tseh.a tongue twister.

Kresylands the lands of eastern Poland that were taken over by Russia after the war in 1939, and now are part of Ukraine.

Russia orchestrated mass deportations of Polish people from this area in the middle of winter, and shipped them to Siberian prisons and settlements in 1939-1940.

Kresowiacy..Polish meaning the people from Kresylands

Proncounced???? kres-ow-yats-tseh

Swiety Boze i Matko Bosca..means Holy Father and Virgin Mary

?Pronounced..shwien-teh? bo-zheh? ee?? mat-ko? bos-ka

Archangel.an area in northern Russia, east of Siberia, where thousands of people were resettled and imprisoned.

Pahlevia seaport in Iran, which was called Persia in 1942.? Pahlevi is now called Bander Azali.

Monte Cassino.the famous hill in Italy where the Polish soldiers beat back the Germans, and conquered the hill, opening the road to Rome for the Allies, which was the beginning of the end of the 2^nd world war.

Polish 2^nd Corps..was an army headed by general Wladyslaw Anders and exiled Polish Prime Minister Sikorski, based in Britain.? This army of men was formed from all the deported and exiled Polish men that Stalin had sent to Russian prisons and settlements, when Russia invaded Poland in 1939.?? When Germany double-crossed Russia and invaded her,? in 1941, Stalin needed help fighting the Germans, so he released these people and let them join the Polish army,? which was formed on Russian soil and later supplied by Britain. He released them starving, sick and in rags. From the settlements were released all the mothers, children and old people and they all trudged southward from Russia to Uzbekistan where the Polish army base was situated. Traveling on foot, on barges, and on trains, thousands died along the way just trying to get out of Russia and back to their homelands. All wanted to follow the army and reach freedom.? Anders managed to get his soldiers out of Russia. Along with them, he insisted on getting out as many Polish women and children as he could. Once they arrived in Iran, some other countries agreed to take them in as refugees, until after the war.? Then all of a sudden Stalin put a stop to their departures from Russia and thousands had to remain behind after their insufferable journey southward.? After the war, they were not able to return to Poland because Russia closed the borders for them and they had to become Russian citizens. They lost their hopes and dreams of freedom.

Victory parades.. were celebrated after the war, but Russia would not let the Polish soldiers march in the parade, because Poland now belonged to the USSR and they looked at the Polish soldier as an enemy of Russia.? The Polish soldiers had captured the hill in the fourth battle at? Monte Cassino, opening the door to Rome for the Allies who finally beat the Germans, and now they werent even allowed to return to their homeland without fear of being exiled again into Siberian prisons. The Brits were so embarrassed that the Polish Army made up of all these imprisoned men,? had kicked ass so good on the hill and become such a powerful army.? Britain was more interested in keeping the powerful Stalin of Russia happy and content, and so they agreed to demobilize the Polish 2^nd Corps army, just to get rid of this pain in the butt they had with the Poles.? America went along with them, also trying to stay on the good side of Russia.? The Polish soldiers were given the right to immigrate to countries like Canada, Britain, New Zealand and Australia on work contracts. Some who took the chance and did return to Poland were never heard from again, and others spoke of the mistake of returning. Once the soldiers heard of what was happening on the return of the first few, thousands decided that they could never return home again.? Years later, some did, but men who had experienced Siberia, would not set foot close to that area again. They would never forget and were made to make their new homes in whatever country had accepted them.

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D.P. was a name that meant displaced person and ignorant people in Canada referred to these heroic soldiers? as such.

Many Polish people changed their last names to escape the harassment, and also so their names would be easier to pronounce.

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Red Poppiesin the spring covered the hillsides in Italy.

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hania

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