Danuta Pniewska - 5

Name:

Danuta Pniewska

Description:

Father came home from work early, from the county Office. They had given him a three-month salary and said that something strange was happening on the border, so all works were being postponed. So Father, with a friend, decided that since they did not receive their orders to join the military, that they would go on their own and find their unit. He put his uniform and boots on, and off they went. The next morning, the Soviet army invaded. Mother didn’t want me to go, but I ran off to see them anyway. There was the Soviet army, the tanks, followed by the infantry. People stood in silence on both sides of the road, downtrodden. However, two brothers who were Jewish merchants in Novogrod – one who had a store, and the other a pharmacy – were riding with great pride on a motorcycle, with a red flag and a bouquet of red flowers, and that is how we learned who our friends are. People did not really know what the Russians were there for. Some had hopes that they were there to help in the fight against the Germans. During the night there were some shots fired, but it turned out to be the Soviets against themselves, due to some mixup. Then things went back to normal life. Two Soviet officers were quartered in our small home. We only had two rooms, and there was four of us, because Mom’s sister lived with us. So we gave one room to those officers, but they were kind fellows. Father knew Russian and spoke with them – Father had been to school in Russian – so they conversed together. They told of how wonderful everything was in the USSR, how they want for nothing, how they even have a manufacturing plant that makes oranges ! Which made us laugh. Then our high school was converted to a 10 grade school, because they admitted Byelorussian peasant children, without exams. It was very hard to get to the high school, because they had 4 times more students than before.

Language:

Polish

Tags
  • German invasion
  • Borderlands
  • Poland
  • Soviet invasion
Created By:

Shelley Upton

Related Wall of Tribute Record: 109499
Related Photos: 109499

Related Museum Galleries:

Author of Memoirs - Danuta Pniewska

Place of birth:
Poland
Military Experience
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Place of residence in 1939:
Poland
Place of Residence after 1945
United Kingdom, , , London
Deportations and repressions
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Other Wartime Circumstances
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Orphanages: , , ,