Piotr Sułek.: So you write for the 2B magazine. I read it, because it is written in beautiful Polish. Yes, what the young generation has now – we had none of that.
Marlena Weber: A lot of differences.
P. S.: The main difference is that when we were creating the Polish community over here, Poland was still occupied and we, the Poles, were second rate citizens here. It was the same in Poland, in fact. We were automatically taken for western spies, anti-communists.
M. W.: Why did you not go back?
P. S.: Many of my friends went back, they all promised to write, but none of them ever did.
That is why I was afraid to go.
M. W.: So you had to survive over here.
P. S.: You must take on life wherever you are. We, the Poles know how to work hard; we
are diligent in what we do. In the town of Kurga in Russia, I remember when they needed a carpenter to build a bridge. Both an axe and wood logs needed sharpening with an electric tool. I had never been a carpenter, but back in Grajewo (Poland), when I was out in town with my dad, I used to see people sharpen knives in the streets this way. So I sharpened the axe and the wood.
M. W.: But this diligence of ours can lead us into
problems at times.
P. S.: When I was on labour exile in Russia, next to our barracks stood one where Russian criminals were kept. People said that when they played cards for the commissar’s head, the looser had to bring it or his head would come off. I did not see it, but reportedly, the head was brought in. One night one of those men came to see us and said, “You Poles, a healthy nation, you work too well, they want us to work like that too.” We were petrified. We told him that we worked for bread. That criminal was intelligent, so we managed to understand each other’s positions. He said, “Work less, complain aboutthe coal and iron.” We started doing so, and they believed it, so bit by bit we minimised our work. None of them ever came to see us again.
M. W.: And so you survived.
P. S: What is important in life is to believe that you can make it. In Pietro-Pawłowsk there were 12 of us: Jews, Poles, Czechs. They were looking for blacksmiths. Wacław Cieślak from Białystok raised his hand. I asked him, “Are you a blacksmith?” “No”, he replied, “But I know how to shoe horses.” So I raised my hand too. They took us to the anvil; they had those electric. devices in Siberia that pumped air, and we used them to make square iron plates, about 20 cm by 30 cm. You had to make between 80 and 100 of those during your shift. We were working night shifts for 12 hours. Our pay was 800 grams of bread and a lump of sugar. Then the portions got smaller to 600 g, 400 g, then 200 g. And when spring came, we would eat clover. Poor women from the surrounding villages would come to see us on our way to work and sell the clover to us.
Oh, that clover smelt of onions... (more on that in Ingrid Taylor’s book, in bookstores)
M.W.: When we started this interview, we had no idea what tragedy was about to befall our nation on April 10th. Now, as we finish the interview, we are facing substantial changes. What would you say to all the Poles?
P. S.: We, Poles, know how to unite in the face of adversity, but that sense of solidarity never seems to last. I would like to see more of that, along with ‘community discipline’. And let us not forget about everyday politeness and respect for each other.
Marlena Weber
more on:
http://www.2b.nepco.org.uk/assets/issues/2B44.pdf
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