Kaia, Heroine of the 1944 Warsaw Rising

Kaia, Heroine of the 1944 Warsaw Rising
Author: Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2012
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0739172700

Kaia, Heroine of the 1944 Warsaw Rising tells the story of one woman, whose life encompasses a century of Polish history. Full of tragic and compelling experiences such as life in Siberia, Warsaw before World War II, the German occupation, the Warsaw Rising, and life in the Soviet Ostashkov prison, Kaia was deeply involved with the battle that decimated Warsaw in 1944 as a member of the resistance army and the rebuilding of the city as an architect years later. Kaia's father was expelled from Poland for conspiring against the Russian czar. She spent her early childhood near Altaj Mountain and remembered Siberia as a "paradise". In 1922, the family returned to free Poland, the train trip taking a year. Kaia entered the school system, studied architecture, and joined the Armia Krajowa in 1942. After the legendary partisan Hubal's death, a courier gave Kaia the famous leader's Virtuti Militari Award to protect. She carried the medal for 54 years. After the Warsaw Rising collapsed, she was captured by the Russian NKVD in Bialystok and imprisoned. In one of many interrogations, a Russian asked about Hubal's award. When Kaia replied that it was a religious relic from her father, she received only a puzzled look from the interrogator. Knowing that another interrogation could end differently, she hid the award in the heel of her shoe where it was never discovered. In 1946, Kaia, very ill and weighing only 84 pounds, returned to Poland, where she regained her health and later worked as an architect to the rebuild the totally decimated Warsaw.

Polish Hero Roman Rodziewicz

Polish Hero Roman Rodziewicz
Author: Aleksandra Ziólkowska-Boehm
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2013-10-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 0739185365

In Polish Hero Roman Rodziewicz: Fate of a Hubal Soldier in Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Postwar England, Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm traces the remarkable and tragic tale of Roman Rodziewicz, a true Polish hero of the Second World War. Roman’s childhood was spent in Manchuria where his father, first deported to Siberia, later worked as an engineer for a Chinese company. Following the loss of his parents early in life after returning to free Poland, Roman was trained to manage a self-sufficient estate farming and producing various livestock, vegetables, and honey. Prior to the German invasion of Poland, Roman attended military school at the Suwalki Cavalry Brigade. After the surrender of the Polish army, the partisan forces of Major Hubal continued to fight the Germans. The brave anti-German activities of the Hubal partisans beckoned Roman and he joined them. About eight months later Major Hubal was killed. Roman escaped and joined the underground as an officer fighting the German occupation forces. Captured and tortured, Roman was subsequently imprisoned in Auschwitz and later Buchenwald. After the American army rescued Roman, he joined the Polish army in Italy. At the end of World War II Roman settled in England. One of the greatest misfortunes of his life was losing contact with his fiancé Halinka, and later learning she had married believing him to be dead. Two weeks after her marriage, she received a letter from Roman that he had survived the war. They met many years later, and Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm witnessed the meeting of Halinka and Roman in Warsaw. Roman continues to live in England now having reached the age of 100 years in January 2013. Polish Hero Roman Rodziewicz explores the incredible story of one Polish soldier of World War II, and provides an illuminating contribution to the historical record of the period.

Untold Stories of Polish Heroes from World War II

Untold Stories of Polish Heroes from World War II
Author: Aleksandra Ziólkowska-Boehm
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2017-11-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0761869840

A full understanding of the historical process must include studies of the social and economic conditions of societies as well as biographies of the people on which a clear understanding of history is based—but not just the “great” people. Biographies of “average” individuals, who exist in a society, have their own experiences and are acted upon by their surrounding environments, are essential to a clear and complete understanding of the past and its influence on the present. In this respect, Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm has made a major contribution to furthering the understanding of World War II, and especially the part played by Poland and Poles, with her compilation of individual biographies of people who participated in many of its formative events. Ziolkowska-Boehm’s protagonists include a variety of people and experiences that enhance the usefulness of the volume. There are: Tadeusz Brzeziński, a member of the Polish diplomatic corps; the hero who escaped the Lwów ghetto to fight in the Warsaw Uprising and later founded a theatre group in Montréal; a pilot who escaped from the Soviet Union to fly fighters over Great Britain; a photographer of the Warsaw Uprising; a nurse during the Warsaw Uprising; a personal memories of the post-war era move to the United States; a person who was forcefully deported with her family to the Soviet Urals, later escaping to the Middle East and eventually Mexico; the boy who, though only eight when the war began, but survived Pawiak Prison, moved to Brazil, and became an internationally-known poet and artist.

Love for Family, Friends, and Books

Love for Family, Friends, and Books
Author: Aleksandra Ziólkowska-Boehm
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2015-05-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0761865691

An autobiography unlike other literary forms shows the ego of an author. Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm’s ego is delicate, fascinating, and courageous. Some fragments are almost like a movie with interesting dialog, compelling moments, and realistic characters. Vividly portrayed are dedicated and devoted parents who instilled a love for reading and books that formed the foundation for her career. Detailed descriptions of coping with the rigors of achieving an advanced education, career start, and caring, rearing and devoting love to a young son are outstanding.

The Polish Experience through World War II

The Polish Experience through World War II
Author: Aleksandra Ziólkowska-Boehm
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2013-05-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 0739178202

The Polish Experience through World War II explores Polish history through the lives of people touched by the war. The touching and terrible experiences of these people are laid bare by straightforward, first-hand accounts, including not only the hardships of deportation and concentration and refugee camps, but also the price paid by the officers killed or taken as prisoners during WWII and the families they left behind. Ziolkowska-Boehm reveals the difficulties of these women and children when, having lost their husbands and fathers, their travails take them through Siberia, Persia, India, and then Africa, New Zealand, or Mexico. Ziolkowska-Boehm recounts the experiences of individuals who lived through this tumultuous period in history through personal interviews, letters, and other surviving documents. The stories include Krasicki, a military pilot who was on of around 22 thousand Polish killed in Katyn; the saga of the Wartanowicz family, a wealthy and influential family whose story begins well before the war; and Wanda Ossowska, a Polish nurse in Auschwitz and other German prison camps. Placed squarely in historical context, these incredible stories reveal the experiences of the Polish people up through the second World War.

Ingrid Bergman and her American Relatives

Ingrid Bergman and her American Relatives
Author: Aleksandra Ziólkowska-Boehm
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2013-08-28
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0761861513

Internationally renowned actress Ingrid Bergman was of Swedish and German descent, though she was known by the majority as Swedish. Three times an Oscar recipient, especially known for Casablanca, Murder on the Orient Express, Gaslight, Notorious, and Anastasia, she is considered one of the greatest actresses of all time. Though she hailed from Europe, she also had relatives in the United States. Ingrid kept in close contact with her aunt Blenda, her father’s sister, as well as Blenda’s son Carl and grandson Norman. Ingrid and Norman exchanged letters and met in different locations throughout the USA, France, and England. This book chronicles her relationship with her American relatives through original letters and recollections of Ingrid’s American cousin Norman.

Melchior Wankowicz

Melchior Wankowicz
Author: Aleksandra Ziólkowska-Boehm
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2013-06-10
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0739175912

In Melchior Wankowicz: Poland’s Master of the Written Word, Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm examines the life and writing of famous Polish writer Melchior Wankowicz, author of legendary work “The Battle of Monte Cassino”. Acclaimed by his readers and critics alike, Melchior Wankowicz was famous for creating his theory of reportage, i.e. the “mosaic method” where the events of many people were implanted into the life of one person. Melchior Wankowicz put into words the beautiful, tragic and heroic events of Polish history that provided a form of sustenance for a people that thrive on patriotism and love of their country. Wankowicz’s books shaped national consciousness, glorified the heroism of the Polish soldier. Later in his life, Wankowicz personally set an example by standing up to the Communist party that brought him to trail for his work. In this book, Ziolkowska-Boehm offers a critical examination of Wankowicz’s work informed by her experiences as his private secretary. Her access to the author’s personal archives shed new light on the life and work of the man considered by many to be “the father of Polish reportage.”

The Battle of Monte Cassino

The Battle of Monte Cassino
Author: Melchior Wankowicz
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 705
Release: 2024-08-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1666920223

Melchior Wańkowicz’s The Battle of Monte Cassino is a unique contribution to the history of World War II, indeed the history of war in general. Composed by the Polish master of reportage, this book provides the reader with an exhaustive history of one of the greatest triumphs of Polish arms: the conquest of the German redoubt of Monte Cassino, after months of intense fighting, which provided the Allies with an open road for their progress through the Italian peninsula and, finally, to victory over the Nazis in Europe. The history of the Battle of Monte Cassino (17 January — 19 May 1944), centered on the Benedictine cloister of the same name, which was a key sector of the Nazi Army’s ‘Gustav Line’ of defense. Besides the history of the long Allied siege and the eventual victory won through the efforts of General Anders’ II Polish Corps, Wańkowicz provides an on-the-spot account of the battle, at which he was present, setting the reader in the very midst of operations by his thorough and lively interviews with the soldiers who took part in it.

Tokyo Rose / An American Patriot

Tokyo Rose / An American Patriot
Author: Frederick P. Close
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 529
Release: 2014-05-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1442232064

Tokyo Rose / An American Patriot explores the parallel lives of World War II legend Tokyo Rose and a Japanese American woman named Iva Toguri. Trapped in Tokyo during the war and forced to broadcast on Japanese radio, Toguri nonetheless refused to renounce her U.S. citizenship and surreptitiously aided Allied POWs. Despite these patriotic actions, she foolishly identified herself to the press after the war as Tokyo Rose. This book assembles for the first time a collection of images from American pre-war popular culture that provided impetus for the legend. It explains how the wartime situation of servicemen caused their imaginations to create the mythical femme fatale even though no Japanese announcer ever used the name Tokyo Rose. Further, in spite of the fact that there was only one rather innocuous broadcast by a woman between December 1941 and April 1942, a news correspondent with the U.S. Navy reported in April 1942 that sailors in the Pacific theater routinely listened to Tokyo Rose's propaganda. Using interviews conducted over decades, this biography also explores Toguri's character and decisions by placing her story and conviction for treason in the context of U.S. and Japanese racial views, Imperial Japan, and Cold War politics. New research findings prompt a different perspective on her sensational trial, the most expensive in U.S. history up to that time. Misguided strategy by Toguri's defense attorney and her deceptive testimony about a key event led to the jury's verdict as surely as the perjury suborned by prosecutors. In addition to updated information, this expanded edition discusses Manila Rose, another Japanese broadcaster who lived in San Francisco in 1949 a few blocks from the courthouse where the federal government prosecuted Tokyo Rose. The U.S. Army misstated Manila Rose’s name to the public when it interviewed her in 1945. As a result historians have never turned up her files because they researched this incorrect name. Close discovered the FBI investigation from 1954 in the National Archives and is the first here to reveal the full story of Manila Rose, a woman whose real life parallels that of the fictional Tokyo Rose.

Eva Perón

Eva Perón
Author: María Belén Rabadán Vega
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2021-08-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1538139138

No Latin American woman has ever elicited such extreme feelings of love and hate as Eva Perón. She was an actress of humble origins who fell in love with and married the soon-to-be president of Argentina, Juan Domingo Perón. Evita, as she was fondly known, became the most powerful woman in Argentine history. Adored by the masses and loathed by the bourgeoisie, Evita polarized Argentine society. Not even her death could put an end to the mixed feelings she aroused during her lifetime, and Evita remains till this day a controversial figure. Eva Perón: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works captures Evita’s eventful life, her works, and her legacy. The volume features a chronology that includes her childhood, her acting career, her trip to Europe, her political activity, her illness, and her death, as well as more recent events that have memorialized her. While an introduction offers a brief account of her life, a dictionary section lists entries on people, places, and events related to her. A comprehensive bibliography offers a list of works by and about Evita. Finally, a filmography includes the movies in which Evita appeared and the TV series and films that have been made about her.