The book

“Goodbye, Mother, I’m going to visit friends in Marcinowo,” seventeen-year-old Władek told his mother. “What are you going to do there?” his mother Wiera asked. “We have a meeting. Edward, Julian, Karp, and Bolek will be there too.” “Will you be careful, Władek?” she asked with a worried voice. And so he set off on his bicycle to the village of Marcinowo, eight kilometers to the north. The journey went through vast forests, over sandy roads, and narrow paths, in the countryside of Polesie during the interwar period in Poland. Upon arriving at the agreed address, it was a cozy gathering. Not long after, the door was forcibly opened. Armed soldiers burst into the room. “Come with us, now, you are all under arrest,” came the command in Russian. “But my mother is Russian,” Władek tried to explain. He was beaten and taken away, along with his friends Edward, Julian, Karp, and Bolek. That dreadful day, late in September 1939, would forever be etched in Władek’s memory. Would he ever find his way back home?

This short story is a reconstruction of how things happened at that time. The names and facts have been verified against the found documents. Only the conversation between my father Władysław and his mother Wiera remains forever a mystery. 

At home, the war was never really talked about much, and if anything was mentioned, it was brief and to the point. Enough not to ask more questions, but too little to form a clear picture. Indeed, I had an aunt and two uncles in Poland, all with families, where I often went on vacation. I also asked my aunt Marysia questions, but she didn’t want to talk about that time, not even in the late nineties. 

Therefore, I set out to find the true story connected to the Cuber family name myself. Finding a starting point was difficult. Where and how do you even begin? I received help from many people, for which I am very grateful. Without this help, I probably wouldn’t have gotten very far. I travelled virtually and covered great distances, halfway around the world: Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Austria, even America, Argentina, and Peru. 

This book takes you through the history of Poland, the life of my Cuber family, and the life story of my father, Władysław Antoni Cuber, then known by his nickname Władek. A Polish soldier and his journey around the world up to and including the liberation of Breda in 1944 and beyond. One thing is certain: the image I had in my mind of “how it must have been” has completely vanished and been totally reshaped by my research. It brings history and the people of those times back to life. 

This book supports a good cause; the archive in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.