Benjamin Fisk - November 8, 1982
Start of War
Um, when the war began um, do you remember how you first heard about it? When you...
Well, we all knew it was coming. I was home and the war broke out, you know, the borders, you know, the Polish army was marching to the borders already with the canons and, you know, next they are ??? we lived on a ??? from the German, German border ??? not too far, you know. But they didn't fire a single shot. You know, they were so fast. They were, you know, the Polish army was not motorized. They didn't have one single motorized ??? when the Germans came, you know, everything was motorized, you know. It was astounding they were telling us, you know, the Germans--they had big tanks, you know, and big guns. They didn't have nothing here, you know. They come and after two weeks the whole of Poland was gone--two, three weeks, twenty six days, you know, whatever it took, you know. Actually it was only two weeks because the rest, you know, they would fight and they came to ???, he was still home, you know. We left. Before the Germans came we left. We went to our uh, aunt--my mother's sister, you know. I had my horse and, you know, and ???, you know, we took our stuff and we went ???.
Your whole family left?
Yeah--not my--well, the sons--my sisters were married already. You know, my oldest brother was married, the younger one was married you know and the, the brother next to my sister you know, the fourth--no, the third one, I was the youngest, you know, Carl, he was in the Polish army when the war broke out. He was in the Polish army. He took--he was in the army ??? when Poland took control Slovakia--a lot earlier, you know. Yeah and he, he was big tall guy, just like my oldest son. He weighed probably--my boy he weighs 260, he's six feet. And my brother he was same, you know, similar to him, you know. I'm sure I have some pictures from my, you know, from my parents. I have only one picture with my sister that I think she got it of somebody but--I had it, I think--no, a friend of ours had it in Russia and he brought it back, you know. As for the rest in Poland you know she met him too, I think when he Sosnowiec and gave my some pictures of my brother, they were friends.
How many of you were still living at home when the war broke out? How many of your brothers and sisters?
Well you mean,--well, there was only me. Well, there was one sister. She got married during the war. During the war she got married and she had already a little girl. During the war they got married, you know. And, you know, but uh, he disappeared you know they took away--took him to uh, like uh, Tiger Stadium, you know. And uh, we were ??? I'll tell you by the way, me, father, mother, me, my sister and there was one sist...one sister, her husband went to Russia and she stayed there with, with uh, with uh her boy. My sister the one that got married, you know, she and her husband and a, and a little girl. We went in uh, I don't know. We went in nine of us, came out two of us--me and my sister, I don't know. That's it. 7
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