The Polish Soldiers' Grit, Determination and Fearlessness in Battle PART 1
07/21/24 • 39 min
In this episode of Monte Cassino 80, we meet Marek Mrozek. Across 2 podcasts we will be talking about the historical and social journey of the Polish men and women of the 2nd Corp, Drugi Korpus led by General Anders. We will explore why and how they volunteered to fight and why they were ready for the victory at the Battle for Monte Cassino.
Marek is a volunteer at Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London and the curator of the highly successful exhibition Polish Armed Forces on the Front Lines 1944 Polskie Siły Zbrojne na Frontach Wojny 1944.
In part one Marek Mrozek takes us through the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the fate of the Polish army captured by Soviets, the forced deportation of civilians in the eastern Polish borderlands to Siberia. We discuss how and why young and old volunteered for the Polish Army after the Sikorski Majski Agreement, and the journey of these Polish men and women took to form a resilient and determined fighting force.
Thanks to Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London (PISM) - the largest archival and museum institution in Western Europe that is focused on Polish history, predominantly covering the first half of the 20th century. From its foundation in 1945 until the fall of communism in 1989, the Institute was one of the main exiled institutions where Poland’s true history was presented to the public.
You can explore at https://pism.org.uk/
Or visit at
20 Prince’s Gate
London SW7 1PT
Tue – Fri : 9.30am - 4pm
NOTE from the podcast:
Orlęta - Young Eagles / Eaglets a youth organisation operating in Poland from 1933 part of Strzelec - Riflemen's Association - also active in the underground movement during World War II. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orl%C4%99ta_(organizacja)
Ognisko Polskie’s Monte Cassino 80 podcast is presented by Jola Piesakowska
Supported by the Polish Cultural Institute
Produced by Salt and Pepper Productions in association with #MyLondyn
Connect with Ognisko Polskie
X : @ognisko_polskie
Instagram: @ognisko_polskie
Facebook: OgniskoPolskieUK
Website: http://www.ogniskopolskie.org.uk/
Ognisko Polskie
Princes Gate,
55, Exhibition Road,
London,
United Kingdom
Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode.
© Ognisko Polskie
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of Monte Cassino 80, we meet Marek Mrozek. Across 2 podcasts we will be talking about the historical and social journey of the Polish men and women of the 2nd Corp, Drugi Korpus led by General Anders. We will explore why and how they volunteered to fight and why they were ready for the victory at the Battle for Monte Cassino.
Marek is a volunteer at Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London and the curator of the highly successful exhibition Polish Armed Forces on the Front Lines 1944 Polskie Siły Zbrojne na Frontach Wojny 1944.
In part one Marek Mrozek takes us through the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the fate of the Polish army captured by Soviets, the forced deportation of civilians in the eastern Polish borderlands to Siberia. We discuss how and why young and old volunteered for the Polish Army after the Sikorski Majski Agreement, and the journey of these Polish men and women took to form a resilient and determined fighting force.
Thanks to Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London (PISM) - the largest archival and museum institution in Western Europe that is focused on Polish history, predominantly covering the first half of the 20th century. From its foundation in 1945 until the fall of communism in 1989, the Institute was one of the main exiled institutions where Poland’s true history was presented to the public.
You can explore at https://pism.org.uk/
Or visit at
20 Prince’s Gate
London SW7 1PT
Tue – Fri : 9.30am - 4pm
NOTE from the podcast:
Orlęta - Young Eagles / Eaglets a youth organisation operating in Poland from 1933 part of Strzelec - Riflemen's Association - also active in the underground movement during World War II. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orl%C4%99ta_(organizacja)
Ognisko Polskie’s Monte Cassino 80 podcast is presented by Jola Piesakowska
Supported by the Polish Cultural Institute
Produced by Salt and Pepper Productions in association with #MyLondyn
Connect with Ognisko Polskie
X : @ognisko_polskie
Instagram: @ognisko_polskie
Facebook: OgniskoPolskieUK
Website: http://www.ogniskopolskie.org.uk/
Ognisko Polskie
Princes Gate,
55, Exhibition Road,
London,
United Kingdom
Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode.
© Ognisko Polskie
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
How to Find Your Polish Roots
In this episode of Monte Cassino 80, with thanks to Kresy Family Polish WWII History Group, we meet Jan Zajaczkowski. Jan is a volunteer at Kresy Family who has become an authority on navigating the available archives as well as adding to the tools to help you find your Polish Roots. In this podcast he explains what is accessible if you are researching a family journey from Kresy, through Siberia, Drugi Korpus 2nd Corps and service in the Italian campaign.
KRESY FAMILY RESEARCH LINKS PAGE
https://www.kresyfamily.com/family-research-links.html
KRESY FAMILY VIDEO Family Research Webinar I - Pre war records, Maps, Deportation Lists (Siberia, Kazakhstan, etc)
https://youtu.be/rlFiPVpkXKE?si=soyDH2QfM8gc-YxY
KRESY FAMILY VIDEO Family Research Webinar II - Evacuation from USSR to Persia, Military service, Refugee camps
https://youtu.be/ytJjs_yqkhs?si=PghN_nwl09FRUjn8
THE POLISH ARCHIVE AND SIKORSKI MUSEUM WEBSITE
https://pism.org.uk/how-to-use-the-archive/
JERRY KUBICA MONTE CASSINO WEBINAR:
https://youtu.be/xBm5kYG2KZ4?si=A6weTplE_ZNSN53_
Jola reads an excerpt from the document "W sprawie z plebiscytu urządowego przez Sowieckie władze w październiku 1939" which was written her aunt, Zofia Nowińska on the 10th of April 1943. Ochotniczka Zofia Nowińska went on to serve in 316 Transport and at Monte Cassino delivered supplies to the 2nd Front Line, she drive on the treacherous supply road under cover of darkness, with only the battle to light up the sky.
The document is one of thousands of other similar testimonies recorded in 1943, scanned and held in the Hoover archive. Zofia's document had been unread by anyone in her family until it was discovered by Jola in June 2024 after she followed the advice given by Jan Zajaczkowski while recording “How to Find your Polish Roots”.
"The piece of advice he gave me was that once you have located the folder number, download the folder and you will find that it is uncatalogued. Don't give up - go through every document until you find the one you are looking for, it takes time but it is in there."
Ognisko Polskie’s Monte Cassino 80 podcast is presented by Jola Piesakowska
Supported by the Polish Cultural Institute
Produced by Salt and Pepper Productions in association with #MyLondyn
Connect with Ognisko Polskie
X : @ognisko_polskie
Instagram: @ognisko_polskie
Facebook: OgniskoPolskieUK
Website: http://www.ogniskopolskie.org.uk/
Ognisko Polskie
Princes Gate,
55, Exhibition Road,
London,
United Kingdom
Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode.
© Ognisko Polskie
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
The Polish Soldiers' Grit, Determination and Fearlessness in Battle PART 2
Marek Mrozek, talks about the 2nd corps soldiers’ their reputation for grit, determination and fearlessness in battle. Across 2 podcasts we will be talking about the historical and social journey of the Polish men and women, of the 2nd Corp, drugi korpus led by general Anders. We will explore why the volunteered to fight and why they were ready for the victory at the Battle for Monte Cassino
In part 2 of The Polish Soldiers' Grit, Determination and Fearlessness in Battle, before leaving the Middle East for Italy we find out about Tobruk and preparations for the Italian Campaign and then we examine General Anders' motivation for and the strategic details of the Battle of Monte Cassino. Marek draws our attention to the dedication and focus of the front line soldiers who were supported by the entire Polish 2nd Corps / Drugi Korpus and how the Battle was won by the efforts by every man and woman.
Marek is a volunteer at Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, london and the curator of the highly successful exhibition Polish Armed Forces on the Front Lines 1944 Polskie Sily Zbrojne na Frontach Wojny
Thanks to Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London (PISM) - the largest archival and museum institution in Western Europe that is focused on Polish history, predominantly covering the first half of the 20th century. From its foundation in 1945 until the fall of communism in 1989, the Institute was one of the main exiled institutions where Poland’s true history was presented to the public.
You can explore at https://pism.org.uk/
Or visit at
20 Prince’s Gate
London SW7 1PT
Tue – Fri : 9.30am - 4pm
Ognisko Polskie’s Monte Cassino 80 podcast is presented by Jola Piesakowska
Supported by the Polish Cultural Institute
Produced by Salt and Pepper Productions in association with #MyLondyn
Connect with Ognisko Polskie
X : @ognisko_polskie
Instagram: @ognisko_polskie
Facebook: OgniskoPolskieUK
Website: http://www.ogniskopolskie.org.uk/
Ognisko Polskie
Princes Gate,
55, Exhibition Road,
London,
United Kingdom
Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss an episode.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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