Log Rafts to Freedom by Linda Gallagher – The story of her father

 

Jerzy was thirteen when the Second World War broke out, and fourteen when the Russians deported him, his brother, and his father to Siberia. When he was fifteen, his father died. Jerzy and his older brother, Stanisław, escaped from the labor camp in Siberia on a log raft they had helped to build themselves. They traveled through many countries in Central Asia and eventually settled peacefully in Great Britain.

Jerzy Dąbrowski wrote down his memoirs for the first time when he was 68. He gave the manuscripts to his four children. His daughter, Linda Gallagher, decided to complete and publish her father's story. The result of their work is the book "Log Rafts to Freedom" published in May this year.

 

Linda dedicated the book "To my children and grandchildren so that they can learn more about their Polish roots." She edited the manuscript and researched the background of his story. The book contains many carefully selected photos. Sarah Clarke, Jerzy's granddaughter, designed the cover based on her grandfather's drawings.

Paulina Czubatka talks to Linda Gallagher.

 

Paulina Czubatka:  - Where did the idea to edit and publish your father's memoirs come from? What was he like, and how do you remember him?

 

Linda Gallagher: - My father hardly told us anything about what he had experienced during World War II. All the information we received was vague, and I think it was too traumatic for him to tell us. Only at 68 did he write down what he had experienced and gave me, my brothers, and my sister the manuscript. Finally, we got to know his unique story for the first time.

Then my relationship with my dad gradually changed. I don't want to be misunderstood. I've always felt a connection with my father, but then something changed. I know he let go of that burden, all that was hidden inside of him, and when he had written it down, it seemed like he breathed a sigh of relief.  He had wanted to publish these memoirs in the book, so he started to work with a vanity publishing house. Later, his health deteriorated and my father passed away in 2018, aged 92.

After his death, I didn't know what to do with his manuscript for a long time but I just started to edit his writing. The whole process was interrupted by the pandemic. During the pandemic, I started looking for various information, expanding my knowledge about the history of Poland from the period of the Second World War. I also corrected his English grammar. There were a lot of specific anecdotes, and jokes which were not necessarily an important part of his story. I also tidied up some of my father's poems that are in his book so that they were easier to read. I have to admit it was hard work but I enjoyed the challenge. Thanks to this, I learned a lot about myself and my roots. My father was quite secretive, but he was a good man, though a bit rough at times because of his past. I would like this book to help my children and grandchildren to understand the Polish element in themselves.

 

PC. Is it important for you to have Polish roots?

 

LG. Very important! Hence all this work and the publication of the book. I remember when I went to Poland for the first time. When I crossed the Polish border I felt at home. It's strange because I didn't feel that way in England or Wales.

The next time I went to Poland with my husband and we met part of my father’s family. We will try to go there again from time to time. I know that Polish roots are also important to my daughter, who made the cover for the book.

It's hard to describe this feeling in words. I often hear that I have a Polish face, that you can see that I am Polish, and I am very proud of it. In my book, my father's narrative and my research are intertwined. He draws the narrative in his way, and I supplement it with historical or factual data. There are, for example, drawings of the cabin where my father lived when he was in Siberia, and the raft on which he and his brother Stanisław escaped.

 

PC. - It was based on your father's drawings that Sarah designed the cover, which I must admit is beautiful, eye-catching, and invites you to look at the book. The title has also changed. Why didn't you stick with the original version?

 

LG. - The first version was "This and That. Siberia Too!”. It was Dad’s idea for his memoirs but it didn’t really fit this completed book. My daughter and I wanted the book to be read by as many people as possible so we changed the title and edited the blurb at the back to make it more appealing. The cover is very similar to my father’s original; it contains elements of several of my father's drawings from his time in Siberia.

 

PC. - The photos in the book are fascinating. We can see pictures of your father and your family. I have to admit that I am moved by such photos. What was your dad's life like after the war ended?

 

LG. - My father started studying architecture at the Polish School of Architecture, which was part of the Polish University College in London. He was a great architect! He married my mother - Gwen. They had four children, that is, me and my brothers and sister. We moved around a lot. I was quite a shy person, so these frequent moves didn't help. I remember Polish flavors from my childhood: kabanos sausages that my dad used to buy in Polish stores - they are no longer available – and Gołapki, Krówki Fudge candies, and Katarzynki cookies. Our lives were ordinary, although you could always feel the stigma of the war imprinted on the lives of our dad and our family, even if we didn't talk about it.

 

PC. -  Linda, thank you for the interview and I wish you success with the book. I think that the story of Jerzy Henryk Dąbrowski is fascinating and will find many readers, both Polish and British.

 

LG. -  Also, thank you for interviewing me.

 

The book by Linda Gallagher and Jerzy Henryk Dąbrowski is also our Polish history. It makes it easier to understand what we went through during the Second World War. Its great advantage is that it is written in English, which allows us to explain the Poles to the British in their own language.

I came across one quote in which Jerzy talks about how he felt when he came to Great Britain: “There was so much to learn in Britain. Guy Fawkes night, fireworks and burning a “guy” were completely outside my understanding! Street fairs were also new to me – I wasn’t interested in buying any unnecessary second-hand ‘junk,’ but I did have a go at the shooting range. I noticed that, at first, all my bullets landed too far to the left and too low, so I adjusted where I aimed, ignoring all the bullseyes, and suddenly found, to the cheers of the onlookers and the disappointment of the stall holder, that I was winning a prize with every shot!”

 

The book "Log Rafts to Freedom" can be purchased on the Amazon platform.

Paulina Czubatka

Photo: Paulina Czubatka