Henry Kawecki was born on April 30, 1924 in Warsaw, Poland. At 90 years old, he's seen more than most. In fact, he could write chapters of a history book.
Kawecki was a member of the Polish underground army during World War II; He was liberated from a POW camp; He escaped communist rule with his family; He immigrated to a small city in Connecticut where he knew no one and spoke no English.
Now Kawecki lives with his 89-year-old wife Gertrude in a cozy home in New Britain, Connecticut.
But things were not always so cozy.
In 1940, when Kawecki was fifteen, he and his father were exiled from Poland to forced labor in Germany. They managed to escape and return to Warsaw, where Kawecki got involved in the resistance movement, what he calls the “underground army” in Poland. He was part of the Warsaw Uprising, an effort to free Warsaw from the Nazis, which was ultimately unsuccessful. In 1944, HenryKawecki ended up a prisoner of war.
"I was in the barracks," he said. They were free to talk, but they weren't treated very well. "Sometimes they bring a barrel of potatoes, throw it in the sand, and they tell us to eat. Not one of us decided to eat the potatoes. So we called the commander of the lager and says 'We’re not going to do it.' We tell them 'If you are human and you recognize what kind of food was that you wouldn't eat, not even pigs… If you want to kill us, kill us not hungry. Give us something to eat.'"
Listen below to Kawecki describe his time as a prisoner of war:
As a POW, Kawecki was moved from one place to another for seven months, and ended up in Memmingen, Germany. The Americans liberated him on his 21st birthday. It was then that he met his future wife.
Gertrude Kawecki remembers the day she met Henry. She lived in Memmingen with her parents. "The American soldiers came and liberated everybody," she said. "They were walking. I was outside standing and they asked us for water because they were thirsty." Gertrude offered the men beer. Henry asked if he could come back the next day. "I said 'why not?' And they came back the next day, and we were talking, and that's how we met," she said.
Henry left soon after to serve as a reservist for commander Wladyslaw Anders' Army in Italy, which, he said, was short lived. The conditions were bad - no beds or uniforms. He was now a free man and wanted to find his family, so he quit. But he had one more stop before returning to Poland. He had promised Gertrude he'd come back to her.
"I was with my parents," Gertrude said. "My mother she was looking outside she said 'Oh my God Henry is back.' I couldn't believe it. It was my birthday."
They were married soon after. Listen below to Henry and Gertrude talk about how they met:
Although Henry was now happily married with a baby, he still wanted to reunite with his parents in Poland. Leaving his young child and wife behind, he set off for his homeland, assuming he'd return in a short time. Unfortunately, once he left for Poland, he wasn't allowed back.
Gertrude said she didn't want her baby to be without a father, and despite the pressure to stay put, she set off for Poland - a strange land with an unknown language.
Henry, too, was asked why he didn't marry a Polish girl. He fought the Germans, why would he marry one?
"She was my choice," he said. "My family and her family... my mother was a dressmaker and her mother was a dressmaker. She had two sisters and two brothers, we had two sisters two brothers. So I feel like in the house I am in my own home. It's my home." Because Kawecki left home at fifteen, he said he really didn't know his own family. "But them, I know much better. They take care of me like their own son."
Henry, Gertrude, and their son George reunited in Poland. Again, they faced difficulties in the Communist country. Because Henry had been a part of the underground army, he was under suspicion. He was arrested twice, he said, and beaten to the point where he couldn’t walk.
Kawecki knew he had to leave Poland, and said he tried three times. Eventually in 1949, he saved up enough money to hire someone to help them out - to escape undercover across the Neisse River. They carried their three year old son, and bartered bacon and Henry's coat for transportation, eventually arriving in Munich, Germany.
Listen below to the story of their travels from Poland to Germany:
Henry Kawecki ultimately wanted a better life for his son. Born in Germany, with a Polish father, George had no citizenship papers. He was "Statenloos," as Gertrude recalled. A stateless person. "If we go to the United States at least he’s gonna get a citizenship paper," said Henry. "I don't want that my son, even if my wife is German, to be German. I want him to be someone else."
So they traveled to New Britain 60 years ago. America wasn't what they expected. Henry said he worked 12-hour days as a machinist. They bought a house and got involved with the local Polish community. They raised their son, and helped take care of grandchildren.
They want people to know their history, especially young people. "They should know what happened in the war," Gertrude said. "You should know what we went through… that's more than you could write even a book."
Henry said he's proud that he brought up a son that understands that "life is not given." "For life, you have to earn," he said. "You have to work for that. Nothing comes free. Nothing."
Henry and Gertrude flipped through books of photographs: her family house in Germany, Henry and his dad after prison, their wedding, and one photo of him at his baptism. Henry Kawecki said his past still haunts him, sometimes in his dreams. "It comes to me. I’m not looking for, but it comes."
Listen below to Henry and Gertrude talk about the importance of passing on their story:
This month, Henry Kawecki received the Veteran’s Public Service Award at Central Connecticut State University.
Listen to the full story:
