Fairfield boy collects great-grandfather’s WWII memoirs

FAIRFIELD — A Maharishi School student and his mother have just finished putting together the memoirs of his great-grandfather, a Polish man who was captured during World War II and escaped from his work camp.

The book is "The Polish Prince," and it was published in early June by Patrycja Altynska in the UK, and is now available in the US and worldwide.

The book tells the story of Zbigniew Janczewski and his harrowing experiences on the Eastern Front during World War II. Just 13 years old when the war breaks out in 1939, Janczewski spends the next six years surviving one close call after another.

“As the war progresses, he is caught between Nazi-German oppressors, the resisting Polish Home Army, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, as well as Soviet guerrillas, with bullets and bombs flying all around him,” reads the website for the book. “Through his memoirs, he tells a story of survival, being captured and sent to work camps, escaping, and of falling in love.”

Polo's uncle -- a Polish Deputy Minister of the Interior named Bartosz Grodecki --contributed a foreword to it.

Janczewski wrote his memoirs in the 1990s, but could not find a publisher willing to turn them into a book. A few years ago when Polo was just 11 years old, he became interested in his great-grandfather’s story. He got a recording of Janczewski talking about his experiences in Polish, and told him that he wanted to make them into a book someday.

Janczewski gave his blessing to Polo to use his memoirs as he saw fit. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 92.

“He could see that I really cared about this story, and could see my enthusiasm, even though I was just 11 at the time,” Polo said. “Since then, I swore I’d make it happen. And now four years later, the day is here, and it feels good.”

Polo relied on the help of his mother to translate the memoirs from Polish into English, which he worked on during his summers in England. He also fact-checked all the events described, to make sure his great-grandfather had correctly remembered all the places and dates he recounted.

Poland suffered the unfortunate fate of being invaded by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Not only that, but Ukrainian nationalists were also fighting for control of this territory, and Janczewski is caught in the middle of all of these factions.

The Soviet Union is the first to invade eastern Poland in 1939 when Janczewski was 13 years old. He continues going to school under Soviet occupation, but in 1941, Nazi Germany launches a major offensive against the Soviets called Operation Barbarossa, and they push the Soviets out of Poland.

Now under German administration, Janczewski is sent to a labor camp. One day, Janczewski goes looking for food in this Ukrainian village, and steals some bread. He is captured by Ukrainian nationalists, who tie him to a tree. Luckily for Janczewski, he had befriended some Ukrainians in the labor camp, so he was able to pick up Ukrainian.

“He knew some Ukrainian songs, and that saved his life because he was able to escape,” Polo said.

Janczewski was later deported to Germany, where he wins the heart of a German girl. Sadly, she dies in the Allied bombing of Dresden.

Polo said that when he began this project four years ago, he did not realize how strongly it would tie into current events. The very same group of Ukrainian nationalists who captured his great-grandfather was mentioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin as justification for his invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.

“Putin refers to this group, the Banderas, as neo-Nazis, and it’s true that in World War II they supported the Nazis at one point. Now the Russians are using it as an excuse to invade Ukraine,” Polo said. “But if you see the true historical context, you’ll see that they aren’t running the country. The book shows who those apparent Ukrainian nationalists were.”

Polo shopped around for an illustrator for the book, and ultimately selected a woman from Ukraine named Viktoriia Riabova. Riabova lives in the city of Kharkiv, and had to flee her home after the Russian invasion in February. The city was last invaded by the Russians in 1943.

“I just got an update from her a month ago, and she told me she had gone to the western part of the country, and that she’s safe for now,” Polo said.

For those who wish to purchase the book or learn more about it, visit https://www.thepolishprince.info/.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com