Maria's Memoirs

Maria’s Memoirs By Maria Skarbek All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information database storage or retrieval system, without prior written consent of the author, except in the case of brief quotations included in reviews. For further information contact the publisher via his Internet address: [email protected] Printed: October 2006 Printer: Documents on Call Publisher: Skarbek Consulting Pty Ltd ISBN 0-9579299-2-7 Disclaimer This book is sold as is, without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the book, neither the author, printer nor distributors shall be liable to the purchaser or any other person or entity with respect to any loss, liability or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book. Copyright © 2006 Skarbek Consulting Pty Ltd Introduction This book was originally hand-written by Maria, my mother. Some years later it was typed up on a manual typewriter by Maria herself. It was retyped into Word ensuring that only the typing errors were corrected and that Maria’s original words were left unchanged. This book is also available on the web at: www.mariasmemoirs.com Maria’s husband’s memoir, Bellum Vobiscum, is available at: www.bellumvobiscum.com. The title Bellum Vobiscum is Latin for War be with you. It deals with the years 1939 to 1946. Maria’s book covers the period from 1916 to her death in 1985. George (Jurek) Skarbek, Maria’s elder son Australia 2006 Preface Page 3 Preface Page 4 Table of contents PREFACE ........................................................................................... 6 HEARSAY ........................................................................................... 8 MY PARENTS ................................................................................... 12 MY EARLY CHILDHOOD ................................................................. 18 AFTER SCHOOL .............................................................................. 52 WARSAW ......................................................................................... 73 BACK TO LITHUANIA ...................................................................... 87 HONEYMOON & CONSULAR SERVICE ......................................... 99 THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR .................................................... 104 BACK TO LITHUANIA AGAIN ....................................................... 111 GERMANY INVADES THE SOVIET UNION .................................. 122 WARSAW 1944 .............................................................................. 144 WARSAW UPRISING ..................................................................... 147 KOSEWO ........................................................................................ 155 ISNY IN ALLGAU ........................................................................... 159 REUTE ............................................................................................ 173 POLAND AFTER THE WAR ........................................................... 179 SWITZERLAND .............................................................................. 188 POLITICAL ASYLUM ..................................................................... 202 ON OUR WAY TO AUSTRALIA ..................................................... 214 AUSTRALIA .................................................................................... 218 MARIBYRNONG ............................................................................. 228 MT EVELYN .................................................................................... 235 EILDON ........................................................................................... 248 HUNTINGDALE .............................................................................. 269 THE ACCIDENT .............................................................................. 306 EPILOGUE ...................................................................................... 319 Preface Page 5 Preface When one is old, crippled or handicapped, one has plenty of time and does not know what to do with it. Friends and family are a great help, so is talking on the phone, plus a bit of work around the house and reading. However it is not the same as a normal day full of activities. There are many subjects for reading which are highly interesting, especially in science where so much is happening, but I am unable to read constantly. I think I have a fairly well balanced supply of books (physics, astro-physics, biology etc. plus Science Fiction and Whodunnits). I think that only retired people start writing their memoirs even if they have not much to say, simply for the fun of writing. I intend to do the same, just to fill in the long evenings and nights. Perhaps I have not much to say, but I do have a lot to remember. I was lucky, as I had a very varied life; sometimes very easy, sometimes very hard, but never boring. Even years of routine I found intermingled with something exciting and highly interesting. Life was, and to some extent still is, full of the unknown, still holds challenges and beauty, but also hardship and loneliness. Times of loneliness are part of life for everyone, I think. Solitude is beautiful, but loneliness one has to get used to and accept as a fact of life. Today, 28th February 1978, I decided to write about my life, my thoughts, my dreams and desires. I intend to keep myself occupied and to have a look at myself. I was born on the 18th April, 1916 under the sign of Aries, influenced by Mars. I was born in Petrograd, now called Leningrad, during the First World War and at the beginning of the Russian revolution. During my childhood and early youth, I was told by my mother and her friends that everyone is born in a state of a tabula rasa (blank board). Later, the environment, different influences and education will form the child to the desired requirements of the parents, IF the parents are able to do the job of forming the child accordingly. However, from the time I could think, I did not agree with this concept. I always thought, and still do, that we are like pebbles on the beach – smoothed down by the elements, but each pebble, each shell is different from the others on the beach, like one grain is different from its neighbour. There must be a difference right in the beginning, or even Preface Page 6 before – the genetic code. Therefore, whilst we are what we are to a great degree, what we inherited is the influence of a still unknown past from our ancestors. It seems only fair to start back as far as one can. Usually one does not have to go very far, as memory fades, and the parents have a tendency to present their youth and their parents in a coloured light. Not only the parents do it, but even history books are changed to suit the accepted present social trend. If you don‟t believe me, just read Russia‟s history books before the revolution, read the Lithuanian history as I was taught at school and the Polish one for the same period, which I learned only after matriculation; in both histories, given as gospel truth to the students, many things are either omitted or misrepresented – to adjust to the current need of the politicians. Preface Page 7 Hearsay I remember quite well only one of my grandparents – my mother‟s father – Alexander Alexandrovitch. All the others are only known from brief comments made by my parents. My father was born in the second half of the 19th century; he was born on a farm in Lithuania. The farm was in the oldest part of Lithuania, surrounded by old oak trees, a river and some swamps. His mother, my grandmother Anna, was a widow and already had a son,Jan, of approximately 15 years from her first marriage, when she fell in love with my future grandfather Adolf Wojtkiewicz, who was a few years younger than her. Neither of their families wanted this marriage to take place. His family thought he should marry somebody younger and prettier, although the land she would bring as a dowry was quite acceptable. My grandmother‟s family was also against this new Adolf Woijtkiewicz marriage as was the family of her first husband who wanted to keep all the land in their hands if possible. But the couple were in love and must have been fairly strong minded to overcome all the obstacles and still get married. He was a gay and handsome fellow, but had bad luck and died young from some „chest trouble‟ (T.B.? Hunting accident? I don‟t know). He left my grandmother with two children: my father Adolf Wojtkiewicz was five and his half-brother, Jan Kiersnowski, about 20. The pressure from both families for the children to relinquish the farms was very strong. Grandmother would not submit to strict supervision of either family. She must have been a very determined woman as she rejected them all and administrated the farms by herself, which in these times was rather unusual for a woman. Hearsay Page 8 Her sons, Jan and Adolf, did not have much in common. Firstly the great age difference between the half brothers and secondly, my uncle Jan was encouraged to be a real farmer, and at the age of approximately 20 was given the largest farm, Lienkiele, with only little supervision by mother from afar. My father, who did show promise of being able to use his brains, was encouraged to study. After completing some necessary subjects at home with a tutor, he went as a boarder

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