The death of the writer’s mother and the demise of the Soviet Union compelled Eugene Krajewski to visit his homeland on a quest to discover his father’s final resting place after he disappeared without trace in January 1940. Unfortunately, his investigations were not crowned with success. What he did discover over the course of this poignant return to the place of his birth in Belarus (which at that time was part of Poland) were a number of small clues and snippets of gossip he could only grasp at. These ‘Straws in the Wind’, would be the only things left to enable him to re-construct the most likely events following Leon Krajewski’s disappearance. The resulting description of what had probably happened was very different to the version the Krajewski family had lived with all these years and came as a shock to everyone – most of all to Leon’s own children.

Determined not to allow his parents’ sacrifices to fade away into the mists of time, Eugene resolved to do two things; firstly erect a suitable monument in his father’s memory on the site where Leon himself had made a gravestone for two of his own children – the writer’s sisters (they had died in infancy); and secondly to tell the Krajewski’s story – a tale of incredible brushes with death, constant upheaval, self-preservation and true love. Although it seems that by this description one imagines a story like this to be full of grim desperation and suffering, it is instead written with a calm optimism - and a large measure of humour. Rather than being doom-laden, the story is instead something of a symbol of hope and an indicator of the power of the human spirit.

This colourful story is set against the background of current political events of the day – all of which had a direct influence on the fate of the family. The story starts with the birth of the author’s father just before the turn of the century.

Leon Krajewski was born and brought up in the Eastern Part of Poland under the yoke of the Russian Invader.

The advent of the First World War provided a long awaited opportunity for Poles to re-gain their Independence. It is worth noting that; for Poles the war was a rather different affair to the one experienced by the Western Powers like England or America. Dates were different as were their aims - and their enemies. Leon, a committed patriot, went to war as a young man, and fully participated in the re-establishment of the Polish free and Independent State. What followed were years of arduous re-construction to reverse the effects of many decades of Russification in the Polish Eastern Borderlands. Again, Leon was an active participant in this process. Meanwhile, he fell in love and married a local girl Konstancja and started building a family life of his own.

Unfortunately, the time-slot preordained for Poland’s recovery was short. After only twenty years, in 1939 Poland again became the stage for the Theatre of War. This time it was the Second World War - or more appropriately dubbed by some as the Second Part of the First World War. Again, like the First World War, the Polish viewpoint was very different compared to that of the Western Powers. Most people outside of Central Europe always think of the Enemy during the Second World War as Hitler’s Germany. In the case of Poland, and in particular the Eastern Regions where the Krajewski family lived, the Enemy was indisputably the Soviet Union.

The development of the writer’s family and its fortunes were to be abruptly cut short at the beginning of 19 40.LeonKrajewski was taken from his home by the Communists and promptly disappeared, his whereabouts shrouded in mystery. Within the next few weeks, Konstancja and her four young children (the author being one of them) who were now left to fend for themselves, were deported to Siberia.

The events that follow include journeys to the far reaches of the Globe, some of them involving starvation, illness and death. What is remarkable is, that viewed through the author’s eyes as a child, most events that would be regarded by adults with horror, are seen by him as fascinating adventures. Conversely, his moments of fear and despair are those of a child, and not those of an adult.

Surprisingly, in spite of all the terrible experiences, depravation and suffering, the writer displays no sense of grievance, anguish or even hatred for the Nation that was the cause of his misfortune. On the contrary, instead of seeking vengeance, he acknowledges that most of the people involved were also the victims of the System. Instead one notes a sense of camaraderie and compassion for his fellow Slavs the Russians.

As was mentioned earlier, the Krajewski family was deported to the frozen North of Russia for the purpose of slave labour. In the normal course of events, after making their contribution to the Glory of the Soviet System, they were destined to expire and die of starvation, exhaustion, cold, disease or a combination of them all. The unfolding International political events began to turn around in due course. For the first time in what had seemed like an age, fortune seemed to be on the side of the writer’s family. After a year and a half, Stalin’s Russia found itself at war with their hitherto ally the German Reich. The Polish Head of Government in Exile, General Sikorski, struck a deal with Stalin enabling most Poles to leave Russia. This would allow Poles to be mobilised and used to fight Stalin’s new Enemy.

News of the Amnesty eventually filtered through to the Siberian camps and Polish families, the writer’s own included, and many embarked on a long and hazardous journey southward. What followed was a period in Kazakhstan. Life continued to be harsh although there were some signs of activity by the emerging Polish Authorities. One example was a kindergarten organised by the Free Poles. The writer had the good fortune to be placed in this safe haven by his mother together with his youngest sister. Soon in the surrounding Kazakh camps epidemics of typhus started raging. There was every possibility, that were it not for the kindergarten, which was free of the disease, the writer, like so many others, would have fallen victim to this plague and would not be here today to tell his tale.

As time progressed, Polish Army units were formed in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and one by one transported across the Caspian Sea to Persia (these days known as Iran). Many families were allowed to follow, the Krajewski family being one of them. Some were unfortunately left behind. Today they and their descendants form a series of thriving Polish communities in that area. What followed were journeys across Persia and the Sub-continent of India, coming to rest in a large Polish refugee camp near Poona. Ever resourceful, the inhabitants soon made the place into a Little Poland in Exile. The writer spent most of his formative years in the camp of Valivade.

Still together with the rest of his family, to his mother’s credit, the writer arrives in England in 1948. The next portion of the story deals with his development as a young man through his adolescence into adulthood, with all the trials and tribulations this entails.

The Krajewski clan tended to be a close unit – pushed closer by the variety of experiences they had endured. Over the years, they would often gather and reminisce about the incredible adventures they had lived through. The fate of the writer’s father invariably cropped up in such conversations. Like those who say they can’t start grieving until their loved ones are laid to rest, the fact that the writer did not know where the bones of his beloved father lay, preyed on his mind.

In 1998, Eugene Krajewski decided to return to his Fatherland. What resulted was this book, and the hope that through this story, people like Leon Krajewski and their families will not be forgotten, and that some small celebration of their lives, and their endurance throughout a turbulent and difficult century can live on and serve as an inspiration to others.