This book is meant to describe life in Poland during the most savage war in human history; a war in which the genocidal policies of the Nazis resulted in the deaths of millions of innocent people. The people’s response was an organized resistance movement which grew to dimensions unmatched in any other country in occupied Europe that would test the mettle of the nation for almost six long years. The book illustrates the impact of the Second World War on the lives of ordinary men and women who were forced to live day-in and day-out under the barbaric rule of the German occupation.
With a spirit of defiance, and a deep-seated rejection of the Nazi occupation, the book is a story of dedicated men and women who had a great love of country matched with a resolve to do extraordinary things, and in many cases offering their own lives, in and unequal struggle against the brute force of a far superior alien power. In their refusal to accept tyranny they exemplified the finest qualities of the human spirit.
In the words of a German soldier who wrote to his mother of the resilience and resolve of the Polish insurgents and civilian population: they possessed “self-reliance and a spirit of fortitude, patriotism and sacrifice. All done without a sign of despair, heads held high with national pride. Exemplary!”
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About the Author:
Richard Fuegner was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1936. He holds a B.S. degree in liberal arts from St. Louis University (1959) and an M.A. degree in European history (1965) , also from SLU. He served in the United States Navy from 1959-1962. He worked for the Social Justice Review, founded in 1908, a monthly Catholic journal that promotes and fosters the restoration of society on the basis of Christian principles in conformity with the social teachings of the Popes. He worked there as an editorial editor reviewing and editing and writing feature articles. Mr. Fuegner has traveled extensively throughout Western and Eastern Europe, where he cultivated a growing interest in European resistance movements during World War II. Mr. Fuegner lives in Kirkwood, Missouri.
Previous Writing:
Mr. Fuegner also authored the following books:
- Beneath the Tyrant’s Yoke: Norwegian Resistance to the German Occupation of Norway 1940-1945,
- Dawn of Courage: Dutch Resistance to the German Occupation of Holland, 1940-1945,
- Gaslight Square Illuminated: The Rise and Fall of St. Louis’ Premier Hot Spot – the history of a bohemian nightlife entertainment district in St. Louis that flourished from 1953-1972.
He published a personal memoir of his experiences in the Mediterranean entitled “Mediterranean Reflections” while serving in the U.S. Navy aboard a destroyer. He also had articles published in a quarterly journal, American Hungarian Review, a publication of American Hungarian writers.
