Evening star., 1953-06-10
By 1t. Fronciszek Jorecki


By 1t. Fronciszek Jorecki
My playground was an ammu-
milton dump Uttered with the
discarded artillery pieces Of
three nations. I was 13 years
old, World War II had just ended.
My mother and were living at
Gdov in Poland. The woods
back of the town was a junk shop
of live and dead shells. carbines.
machine guns and many other
implements of war.
In normal times it had been
q pleasant wooded area. But be-
cause of Stain and Hitler it had
become a minute section of in
ternational battle-ground. The
Russians had fought and died
there. So had the Nazis. Finally,
it had been a deaths scene for
embattled Polish partisanS.
My companions and / were war
urchins frolicking in this play
ground arsenal. All of us kids had
suffered terror and privation un-
der first the Russians, next the
Nazis. and then the Soviets again,
back for what has been a long
and unhappy Stay--and no man
knows what the end will be.
Had international" Bicycle.
Irecall the incident of my first
bicycle. Four countries had
something to do with that. A
German soldier stole it in France
and took it to Poland. He sold
it to my mother. Presently a
Russian squad tried to take the
bike from me.
You may wonder when I tell
you / defied them successfully.
The incident demonstrates the
sort of thing that happened in
Poland when the Kremlin took
charge.
It was on a road outside Gdov
in 1916. I was IS. was proud
of my bike and fought against
giving it up when a Russian trio
demanded it. I stayed on the
bike and soon I was up in the
air as they carried me and the
machine to their car. They then
saw another auto approaching.
Quickly they released me and
my bicycle. One of them slapped
me hard on the face. They got
into their car and drove away.
Perhaps they suspected a SUI
perior officer was approaching
They didn't want to be caught
in the act of robbing me and
making me angry.
Sought Trust of Youth.
Why was the all-powerful
Soviet so cautious in dealing
with an unarmed, powerless Pol
ish boy? You'll find the answer
in my age. The Reds wanted
the friendship of boys and young
men. They sought to cajole and
propaganda us so that we
would provide the fodder they
would throw against enemy guns
on their march toward their de-
sired goal of world conquest.
The day last March when
few through the Iron Curtain,
the Russians lost, temporarily, a
MIG jet plane. They also, lost,
permanently / hope. a member
of their hand-picked elite.
AS an air force lieutenant ]
got the best Of everything. My
salary was 2.45O zlotys a month
The average Polish worker earns
1000 zlotys month. A zloty is
the equivalent of Is cents in
United States money. I received
room and board free. With the
exception of the administration
leaders and other Communist
bigwigs. we air force men we're
the best-fed people in all of Po-
land.
I knew I was being fattened
for the kill. They were building
my strength for war with the
United States, war that our
Russian air instructors assured
us was certain to come.
Not Fooled by Treatment.
I wasn't deluded that was
getting royal treatment because
the Red masters liked me per-
sonally or were anxious to do
everything they could for all
Poles. In Warsaw and elsewhere
my eyes showed me what the
Communists were doing to the
very young, the middle-aged and
the elderly of my countrymen-
people who didn't count as part
of their military plans. :
Poland. historically a rich
food-producing land, is no long
er able to take care of its own.
Apart from the military elite
every one is undernourished
There is not enough milk for
children. They are underweight,
have deep. dark circles under
their eyes. Many are suffering
from tuberculosis.