Shallow Graves in Siberia

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#1

Michael Krupa was born into a poor family in south-west Poland, and in his teens was accepted into a Jesuit seminary. He ran away before taking his final vows and joined the army. Soon afterwards, the German tanks rolled into Poland and easily defeated her antiquated forces - the Polish cavalry were armed with sabres. Krupa survived Hitler’s invasion, but was arrested in Soviet-occupied eastern Poland and accused of spying. After enduring torture in Moscow’s notorious Lubianka prison, he was sentenced to ten years’ corrective labour and deported to the Pechora Gulag. Most prisoners there were worked and starved to death within a year. But Krupa managed again to escape, and in the chaos following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union made one of the most extraordinary journeys of the war - from Siberia to safety in Afghanistan. Krupa’s Jesuit training had given him an inner strength and resilience which enabled him to survive in the face of appalling brutality and cruelty. Luck and the kindness of strangers helped him complete his epic journey to freedom. The story of the suffering inflicted on millions in Stalin’s camps has been told before - but Krupa’s story is remarkable and unique. He retells his gruelling and traumatic experiences with clarity, honesty and courage, never overdramatising.

www.amazone.com

Simply great book about human cruelty, goodness, humaneness, desire for liberty…

#2

Wow, that is trully a long way to travel and must be a good read, I will look out for this one.

#3

That does sound like a good read! Thanks for the recommendation.

#4

Hi
Saw your comments on the book Shallow Graves in Siberia by Micheal Krupa, just to let you know that Micheal is still alive at the grand old age of 93!!!
He is a fit man for his age but his present day memory is not so good now.
I see him every month and he often talks of events in the past.
For those of you who have not read his book yet, it is a very good read.
Best Wishes
Danuta (Micheals daughter)

#5

Maybe I’m oversensitive, but it annoys me everytime I read such a bullshit.

Here’s some basic explanation:
"[…] In contrast with its traditional role in armed conflicts of the past (even in the Polish-Bolshevik War), the cavalry was no longer seen as a unit capable of breaking through enemy lines. Instead, it was used as a mobile reserve of the Polish armies and was using mostly infantry tactics: the soldiers dismounted before the battle and fought as a standard (yet fast) infantry. Technically speaking, in 1939 Poland had 11 brigades of mounted infantry and no units of cavalry as such.

Although the cavalrymen retained their sabres, after 1937 the lance was dropped and it was issued to cavalrymen as a weapon of choice only. Instead, the cavalry units were equipped with modern armament, including 75 mm guns, tankettes, 37mm AT guns, 40mm AA guns, anti-tank rifles and other pieces of modern weaponry […]"

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_cavalry

#6

I take it that you have read the book all the way through and so you are in a position to comment. My father took me to the Vistula River where the fighting took place and with tears in his eyes he told me his memories of that day. All I can say is that he was one of the men fighting that day so he will maybe know the facts better than you do.
Best Wishes

#7

Kovalski, I really in doubt… think yourself: a tankette is much heavier than a lance. How were the Polish cavalry men suppose to hold them in their hands during the cavalry charge of the enemy formations?

#8

The book looks to be really intersting. Thanks for the tip.

#9

I really apologize, if you took my post as an comment to your father’s book. That’s a misunderstanding. The only thing I was commenting was Jan Fiala’s post about equipment of polish cavalry.
You are absolutely right that I’m not in position to comment a book or what your father experienced. And even if I was, I wouldn’t dare to do that.

I would like also take the opportunity and express my deepest respect and gratitude to your father.

Pozdrawiam,
Kovalski

#10

Do you think they were throwing the tankettes on the Germans???

#11

It is ok, I was a bit upset because i know what my father has been through, but it is really unbelievable what happened to people in those dark days. What happened to my father did not stop at the finish of the book, much, much more happened. Glad I was not born in those times.
Still best Wishes
Danuta

#12

No, of course, not. Throwing a tankette is even harder than holding it during a cavalry charge.
.
.
.
Kovalski, it is joke…

#13

Semms a great book, at least your comment sound so.
Have you read it?
I have a question, what he did in Auganistan?In what year has he escaped there?

#14

Me too mate:)
In fact the Soviet cavalry was one of the most mobile and effective troops during the early years 1941-42.
Even the Mainstein in his memours “Lost Battles” has whote abour cavalry with the respect.
It was real power if to know how to use it right.

#15

Well …yes :slight_smile:
if to to watch at the the final resault of their battles:)

#16

Stop joking in such way mate:)
There are the few things that are forbidden for joking in discussion with Kovalski…
This is too sensitive for our friend…
Lets better joke about “Eastern Poland” and “millions in Stalin’s camps”:slight_smile:

#17

Sometimes I think you would be a great comedian or a clown at least :wink:

#18

Does it worry you too much my friend;)?

#19

Absolutely not!
I’m so proud of you!:slight_smile:

#20

The book was edited by Thomas Lane (Historian/Lecturer at Bradford University) he has wrote a foreword with dates ect, maybe you answer is in this.