RECLAMA
Marian Marciniuk worked as a driver in Katowice after the war. In Silesia his boy Michael, our interlocutor, was born. In our conversation, he tells us what his father felt and thought erstwhile he was little than 12 years old and an uprising broke out. How did he endure the separation with his parents erstwhile he could not return home to Hoża Street for a fewer weeks? And what are the very adult children of insurgents reasoning about their parents' stories today? What do they get from it?
Marian Marciniuk was 12 years old erstwhile the uprising broke out. photograph taken in August 1944 Marian Marciniuk was 12 years old erstwhile the uprising broke out. photograph taken in August, 1944, photo: frame from the movie 'Warsaw Uprising'
Joanna Biszewska: Your father ...Michael Marciniuk, entrepreneur, past enthusiast, father of 24-year-old Mai and 16-year-old Radek, boy of the insurgent; He was a Warsawian in the second generation. My great-grandfathers came from the beginning of the 20th century to Warsaw from Łosic, precisely from Łysów. Before the war... . They were doing very well. Grandpa Michał worked as a driver at the Warsaw University of Technology, had a good salary. My dad was born in 1932. In September 1939, he was to go to school.
"I was looking forward to September 1st. It was expected to be my first day at school my mom enrolled me in. The school was located at Boremlowska Street in Grochów. This is meatballs. The start of the school year was first moved to September 4th, then to September 11, but as a consequence of the tightening of the war activities was cancelled" - so in your unpublished book you wrote the memories of your father from the beginning of the war. After the war broke out, my grandfather, as a reservist, was called into the army. On Ochota he was captured by Nazi troops and was sent to a prisoner of war camp. The situation in the household got worse. My dad not only didn't start school, but my mom and my sister moved from Grochow to Hoza 34. To the ground level janitor with the gate entrance. Grandma got hired to work in Geber's laundry. In 41st year my grandpa was released from the camp and returned home to Warsaw."And then my father returned... He was overgrown, bearded, dirty and skinny. He was wearing a very damaged field uniform, without distinction. I didn't admit him, and I didn't let him in. And he sat on the stairs and cried. No 1 knew him at Hożej" - I read your notes about Dad. To evidence this, you had to talk to your dad a lot. And perceive carefully, remember details. erstwhile I was six, possibly seven, my father first told me about his destiny on the days of the uprising. That as a boy, he was at the center of a immense urban war. I imagined him at the time, as a boy older than me, a big, tall, who with a firearm moves around the fighting Warsaw. He wasn't a kid to me. At all, erstwhile Dad talked about the Warsaw Uprising, he did not talk from the level of the child. More like a soldier.
Several-year-old Marian Marciniuk with parents: Maria and Michael, before the war Several-year-old Marian Marciniuk with parents: Maria and Michael, before the war, photo: private archive
What did he say? Do you remember precisely what he said?With short sentences: "I found myself out of the house, I couldn't return, my parent was in Midtown, I was in Żoliborz. You know, there were barricades, there was no way to get through, we weren't allowed to. We've been developed by the branch, we've been liaisons." That sounds like the memories of an adult, brave man. I think it was crucial for Dad that erstwhile he was a teenager, he got into a hard situation and managed. Dad had a good nature, he was an optimist. The life of various logs threw at his feet, and he said, "There's no request to cry, there's nothing to cry about, next day it'll be better." He felt that life's obstacles were low adequate to jump over them. And he always came out with a defensive hand. possibly not as successful as he'd like to, but he didn't fail.
Marian Marciniuk was 12 years old erstwhile the uprising broke out Marian Marciniuk was 12 years old erstwhile the uprising broke out, photo: private archive
I do not know how much wartimes have hardened Warsaw's children for a further adult life, but I think that no child, aged 12, should participate in urban fights. Dad wasn't a soldier, he was a liaison. A guy who dated a report. He transported petrol bottles respective times between the 2 quarters. This was besides the request for young boys. erstwhile the uprising broke out, Dad thought it was the end of the war. What did your father do on 1 August 1944 ?In the morning, as an altar boy, he attended the morning mass at St. Alexander's Church in the Square of the 3 Cross. After that, he and his colleague drove down a tram respective stops to Żoliborz. There they helped in the monastery vegetable garden. The priest gave them a vacation work in the garden. Behind her they were given agricultural crops: parsley, carrot, seasonal fruit. After work, around noon, Dad stayed at the monastery, the sisters offered him dinner. And as he said, "We were already on our way home..."When...Suddenly there were gunfire, guns. They in the monastery thought it was any kind of assassination, capture, detention. The sisters were like, "Don't come out, guys, stay with us, due to the fact that there's a storm on the street again." But teenage curiosity outweighed fear.
They pointed their noses out and realized it wasn't an assassination. They saw white - red flags, young men with armbands, Germans against the wall, who quit weapons.And they inactive did not know that this was the beginning of the uprising. I believe that in various historical programs, it is shown that civilians knew about the plans of the AK. They mostly didn't know. My father said that my grandfather, who worked on Wola in the trams, had no thought what was going on. most likely due to the fact that he did not belong to the AK, but to another armed organization, to PAL (Polish People's Army). The outbreak of the uprising, for my grandfather, was besides a surprise.
Hoża Street where the Marciniuków household lived. photograph from the time of the Uprising Hoża Street where the Marciniuków household lived. photograph from the times of the uprising, photo: National Digital Archive
What did your father think erstwhile the uprising broke out? That this is the end of the war and that it will yet be better. Dad and his colleague, Witek Strałkowski, left the monastery and after the first euphoria, they realized that something else was going on. That it's not over yet. Adults turned over the trams, made barricades, blocked the streets, could not pass. respective Germans were disarmed under the wall. The first thought they had was to come home as shortly as possible on foot.
It didn't work. The guys from the troops told them to go back to the monastery and wait. And then what happened?The next morning, my dad and a friend got away. They took any apples of paper from the garden from the sisters and they wanted to go back to their families. They're stuck at a gathering point on Żoliborz. 1 of the insurgents led them to the staff of the Giraffe group at Potocka Street. He promised them that at the first opportunity, they would decision them closer to their homes in Midtown. And they wanted to make themselves useful. On 3 August, a father and a colleague were joined by a tiny branch whose task was to transfer dressings to the Old Town. They made it to Old Town. Dad knew the altar, applied to the priest, wanted to aid with the church.
On 5 August evening my father attended, as an altar boy, the ceremony of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński at the back of the town hall located in the Jabłonowski Palace. Your dad knew Baczynski's poems?
The Palace of Blank, at which Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński died, a photograph before the Uprising, 1940-1944 The Palace of Blank, at which Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński died, a photograph before the Uprising, 1940-1944, photo: National Digital Archive
The Palace of Blanka where Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński died. A 1945 photograph of the Palace of Blanka at which Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński died. 1945 photo, photo: National Digital Archive
What happened after the funeral? As they returned, snipers lay on the roof of the Teatr Wielki and began shooting at people who were leaving the square, where burial took place. My father was badly wounded in his hand. He passed out.
He was brought to the dressing point at 13 Podwale Street, where he received first aid. He was later transferred to the field hospital, which was organized in the basement of St. Jack's Dominican Church, at 10 Freta Street. How long did he stay in the hospital?On August 22, he left Old Town via sewers. And on August 26, the infirmary in the church was bombed by the Germans. individual must have reported a medical post there. The Germans raided, over 500 people died. Your father was fortunate adequate to get out of the infirmary on his own. There's another communicative with Dad in the field hospital. My dad was in the infirmary on 1 bed with another insurgent. 1 day my grandpa Michael showed up at the hospital.
Was that a random meeting? His grandpa and another soldiers from the Polish People's Army brought wounded to the hospital. The sisters weren't happy about it, it was a murmur that the socialists came. My dad, erstwhile he saw his father, he got truly scared. Why?He was afraid Dad would yell at him for getting active in the uprising. He turned on that bed, hid from his father. And it wasn't until my grandpa left that my dad dared and called out, "Daddy." His grandpa Michael, who had not been home in Hożej since the beginning of the uprising, was very surprised. He said to his dad, "Oh, my God, what are you doing here? Why aren't you home?"And then he instructed my dad that he had to get home to his parent and younger sister Terena as shortly as possible.
My grandmother, for the first 3 weeks of insurrection, lost her temper. She had no messages from her boy or husband.On August 22, your father yet got home. He went out through the sewers in Warecka with his hand inactive on the sling. He came to Hoza, told me that he saw his father, that he was alive. Grandpa came home in late September. He's hurt and exhausted.
'Exit from Old Town' to Warecka Street. In the photo, Father Marian Marciniuk, Michał. Bended, he gives his hand to an insurgent in a canal in a uniform utilized by 'trams' 'Exit from Old Town' to Warecka Street. In the photo, Father Marian Marciniuk, Michał. Bended, hands hands the insurgent in a canal in a uniform utilized by 'trams', photo: private archive
In your father's biogram, on the Warsaw Uprising Museum website, we read that "he left Warsaw with a civilian population, passed through Dulag 121 in Pruszków, then was imprisoned in a temporary camp in Koniecpol, where he performed the functions of a bishop". But it didn't. The train reached the endpole due to the fact that there were inactive no tracks. The Partisans did an attack on the gear. Everyone was taken out of the train to the marketplace and the city chief said women and children could go where they wanted and men would stay. They were accommodated in a German civilian-military camp and worked for General Guberni.
Was he a tall kid? He was 12 years old and measured over 160 cm tall. Dad was qualified to work. He was cleaning out the pieces, carrying firewood. He told me he was specified a sidekick at the camp. The camp was served by Austrians, mostly pensioners, giving Dad chocolate, saying to him: "Du bist Warschaubanditen", (pol. "You are a Warsaw bandit) and Dad answered them: "Nein, nein, ich bin kleine Warschaubanditen". (pol. No, I am a small, Warsaw bandit). That's how they utilized to play. I think the task of the children of insurgents present is to preserve the past of parents for subsequent generations. What they felt, what they faced, what they feared. Regardless of the rightness of the uprising. You do it. My mom died erstwhile I was a teenager. It was the '80s, early '90s. I didn't have anything like young people today, computer, phone. I spent quite a few time with my dad. We were talking about ancestors, where they came from, what they were doing. I'm in. I run a household tree of my household on MyHeritage. I have over 1500 entries there.Congratulations.I have the oldest from 1720. I know where I come from, where we came from, how my ancestors utilized to talk, what languages. I'm very curious, I'm a hobby historian.
But you don't do past professionally. I'm a private entrepreneur, a partner of a large company. We run a welding salon in Gliwice. Your father lived in Silesia after the war. You were born in Gliwice and never lived in Warsaw. But thanks to Dad's stories, Warsaw, I know Warsaw very well, like I live there. Besides, until the 1990s, I spent my vacation with my grandma and aunt on the Kirasjers in Grochów.In many families, people who survived the war frequently don't tell their children about traumatic fates. Was it different with you? My father was not a First Line soldier, he did not fire a single circular during the Warsaw Uprising. possibly that's why after the war, it was easier for him to tell about his fate.And what was the most hard minute for him?Back in 1945 to Warsaw and post-war exhumations. Burials were everywhere. all part of land discovered. And if there was no land, then - Dad told me - the pavement tiles were pulled off and burials were made for people shot in the uprising. Including young boys. Dad attended their funerals. For Dad, this experience was more traumatic than participating in the uprising. And what is your father's war communicative to you? I think due to the fact that my dad shared his hard experiences with me, it kind of shaped me as a human being. Talking to my dad gives me a healthy view of the world. I can weigh things down. I don't understand, for example, the bleaching of cursed soldiers. They weren't all good soldiers after the war. Among them were righteous men who should have monuments, but there were bandits, very bad people.
Do you sometimes go to Warsaw?Warsaw is always in my heart, very close to me. I don't have any household in DC anymore. Nobody I can go to, have coffee. Grandpas, aunts, uncles, they're gone. Their kids are all over the world. Germany, France, Australia. My wife and I effort to go to Wolski Cemetery erstwhile a year with our children, where I have grandparents. And for the Doves, for your aunt's grave. And always children ask, "Dad, do we truly gotta do the first day in Warsaw, do we gotta do the cemetery rally?" I say, erstwhile I'm here, I want to light a candle for everyone. Your dad died 20 years ago, but he left behind quite a few his clever sayings.
Can you tell me? Dad utilized to say if you lied, you'd get confused and lost. And if you always tell the truth, you'll never make a mistake due to the fact that you'll say the same thing. What did your father dream about after the war?He dreamed of a mermaid all his life. If he wanted that mermaid... Even erstwhile the small ones were, he didn't want the small one, he wanted the mermaid. But he never bought that mermaid. possibly it was just that dream, really? Dad besides had specified a good quality that he did not presume that something might fail. He's overcome all sorts of hard lives. We all are. due to the fact that life is not covered with roses, each of us has downs, ups, everybody has better, worse, easier, harder.And erstwhile you have difficulty, what do you do? erstwhile I have problems, I gotta focus on them. Sit down, figure out how to solve them. It takes me any time and strength. My dad didn't do any analysis, he did it here, right now. Something's gone wrong, it needs to be rebuilt. Not to think where to get tools, you gotta build with your hands. Your father - as a teenager - rebuilt Warsaw.And that's most likely why he approached problems rather differently. He coughed up his sleeves and did. And he told me very frequently that I don't gotta have everything in my life. He said if I had half, I'd be happy. That's a good dad saying, like life.
