Poland in Canada

The history of this brave and humble man is truly remarkable.

On Sept. 1, 1939 German forces invaded Poland from the east, overwhelming the Polish army. The Second World War had begun. Maj. Zbigniew Pierscianowski, then 18, was not surprised by the news of the attack. After all, from the age of 12 he had attended a military school that prepared young people for careers as professional soldiers.

On Sept. 17, 1939 the Soviet army invaded Poland from the east, squeezing the Polish troops south toward Romania and Hungary. At this time Maj. Pierscianowski left his parents home in the west, intending to escape from Poland.

“I left my mother there, and my sister and my younger brother, in the Soviet part which was already occupied by Soviet troops. This was not a happy occasion, in fact it was the last time I saw my mother and my brother.” Maj. Pierscianowski’s father, also a professional soldier, was at this time with his unit in Romania and then Yugoslavia, all the while with no news of his family’s whereabouts or safety.

While escaping from Poland Maj. Pierscianowski was captured and taken prisoner of war for the first of what would be 11 times. This in turn led to the first of many escapes, after which he briefly returned to Poland. “It was an unbelievable feeling,” Maj. Pierscianowski said of regaining his freedom. “It’s impossible to explain, impossible to relate.”

How did he manage this escape? “Well, I just escaped,” said Maj. Pierscianowski. “I have quite a number of escapes behind me - it would be a very long talk,” he added.

Friends and family regard Maj. Pierscianowski as a hero, but he kept saying that he is undeserving of this praise. “I’m not a hero, I am just an ordinary soldier. I did what was my duty to do, and that doesn’t make me a hero. The circumstances were such that with determination I had to do what was my duty.

“Don’t treat me as a hero. All veterans have their own history- you can write a book about each one of us. Different routes, different experiences, different life. It doesn’t mean that everybody is a hero. We did our duty.”

Maj. Pierscianowski had no regrets about his life. “To me, it’s natural to do what I did. I went into an unknown future and I was lucky to survive. I had a wonderful partner, my wife, the mother of my two sons. Together we had to work through the happy times and the difficult times as well. And with determination and perseverance we went through the life which we had chosen for ourselves.