The inconveniences of travel, the dangers lurking at every step and the great responsibility - this was the task of the Home Army couriers. They did not have the opportunity to drink vodka on the plane of cheap airlines. Although with a bit of luck, they could count on luxuries unavailable to other conspirators.
Getting from occupied Poland to Sweden or the British Isles and back, for various reasons, had to take a long time. During his first escapade, Jan Nowak-Jeziorański "Janek" left Warsaw for nearly three months. Stockholm was the target. In turn, the trip to London and back took him, attention, more than half a year! Why? First, he suffered a serious injury during a training parachute jump. Second, it was essential to find a safe route to the country.
What was the life of secret couriers like? The envoys of the Polish Underground State spent most of their time traveling and fulfilling their tasks. So they talked with politicians and the military. They performed at various meetings and sittings. They wrote the texts of the speeches.
They really did work - not just signing lists, as it happens to today's public officials. And only when they did their job, did they find an opportunity to rest, sometimes reminiscent of a real vacation.
One of the most famous couriers of the Home Army, Jan Nowak Jeziorański, pictured in 1936.
In a sleepy town
Sometimes pure coincidence helped them. In April 1943, Nowak-Jeziorański was sent on his first mission to Stockholm. Hidden on the ship, in a coal hatch, she was to arrive there for over three days. He quickly concluded that he would not have a fond memories of the voyage. Cold, damp, dirt and the real threat of the Gestapo falling into the hands of the Gestapo in the event of German control - after less than two days he was fed up with everything. That's when the torture unexpectedly ended.
Instead of going to Stockholm, the ship sailed to the shores of the town of Slite on Gotland. Not wanting to risk, "Janek" revealed himself to the captain, and after a few hours he went ashore accompanied by a policeman. The only one that worked in the immediate vicinity. As Jan Nowak-Jeziorański wrote in "Kurier z Warszawy":
The morning was sunny - the sky was clear. Sweden welcomed me with wonderful, sunny weather. We passed beautiful white and neat little houses and villas of the town. Cleanliness, order, prosperity and a strange calmness were in the eyes on all sides .
With the images of occupied Poland still fresh in his mind, he found himself in a place that only knew the war from the radio and the press. He looked around. He expected to be at the police station soon. Meanwhile, he was brought to the clothes warehouse. To his surprise, his companion encouraged him to choose everything he needs from his clothes, from shoes to shirts and ties .
Loading of coal on a bulk carrier that will sail to Sweden. Hiding under just such a ship, Jan Nowak-Jeziorański was supposed to reach Stockholm. Photo from the interwar period.
After finishing shopping, "Janek" went to the place where he was to spend the next few days. As befits a guest who arrives in the coal hatch, has been accommodated in an elegant hotel on the edge of the town and placed in a lovely room with a sea view .
Polish courier and buffet
The Swedes tried to make the visitors' time more pleasant at almost every step. Sometimes they did it completely unconsciously. When he was invited to the restaurant on the first evening, he was truly shocked.
In the middle of the room, a table bends under the platters with Swedish sm örgasborg. Instead of bad bread with beetroot marmalade - wonderful, crispy Swedish bread, butter, milk, sugar as much as you like, beautifully set tables, elegant waiter (quoted in "Kurier z Warszawy", Znak Horyzont 2014).
Also, when he was finally sent to Stockholm, again by ship, but this time in first class, he could choose whatever he wanted from the menu. He was the only one - the rest of the passengers were bound by cards.
How about a young Swedish girl for that?
Of course, it was realized that man does not live by feasts alone. Therefore, one day the hotel owner asked if I would consider a pretty and young Swedish woman who is ready to visit me in a room , recalled Nowak-Jeziorański. Due to the security of the secret material he had with him, he regretfully had to refuse. He resisted temptation, as he himself stated, truly heroically.
Listening to the radio, accessing newspapers, walking, visiting restaurants, and even working in the policeman's home garden - Slite Island was able to take care of the guests. After a little over a week, however, "Janek" had to leave her. He was waited for in Stockholm, from where he returned to Poland after completing the tasks entrusted to him.
Port of Slite. It was in this Swedish city that “Janek” was so welcomed.
Here, however, he was also expected. This time the welcoming committee was made up of Germans. Arrests among "Janek" associates led the Gestapo to the trail. A coincidence helped him again. Instead of going to Gdańsk, where it would most likely fall into enemy hands immediately after disembarking, it ended up in Szczecin.
Soon, however, he got another chance to travel to a place where the enemy did not have access to him - he was sent to Great Britain.
Whiskey with water
The fact that London was the most attractive destination for a courier was already convinced by Nowak-Jeziorański's predecessor, Jan Karski "Witold". On the one hand, the most important tasks, on the other - luxuries not available anywhere else . And sometimes before reaching the destination.
One of the routes to the Islands led through Germany, France and Spain to Gibraltar. A place living today, inter alia from tourism, already had something to offer - of course, provided that arrest by the Germans had been avoided earlier.
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Transported to the site by motorboat, Karski was invited to a house inhabited by British officers. We've made it - he wrote in the "Secret State" - through a long, dark hall to a living room comfortably furnished in the style of English clubs.
Standing on a thick and soft carpet, surrounded by deep and heavy armchairs and shelves full of books, he was introduced to those present in the room. Among them was the colonel, who immediately asked what the visitor would like to drink. To his delight he heard:whiskey with water.
Look, look, he called, here's a man who knows how to drink whiskey. Do you know, Mr. Karski, that most of my officers profane this drink by mixing it with soda?
Further conversation took place on mutual courtesies. So the charm of Edinburgh and the advantages of Lviv were praised. I have rarely been in such a nice company. We chatted a long time and had a lot of drinks during that time. I went to bed very amused .
Another legendary Courier Jan Karski, who, apart from many other talents, also knew how to drink whiskey. (Source:Polish History Museum, courtesy of the Hoover Institute Archives in California).
Christmas Eve at the Commander in Chief
As it turns out, drinking skills were extremely important to the courier. Jan Nowak-Jeziorański found out about it shortly after reaching London. During the first meeting with General Kazimierz Sosnkowski, he was invited to his house for Christmas Eve. In his book, he mentioned:
For this important visit, this was the first time I was wearing a uniform with pennants for my parent weapon:horse artillery. I polished my shoes and belt as if I was getting ready for an inspection at the Cadet School in Włodzimierz Wołyński .
The host approached the matter quite differently, as if to emphasize the unofficial and family nature of the supper , he presented himself… in a non-ironed uniform.
Dinner was very pleasant. Sosnkowski, his family and a guest from Poland. In the end, the general together with "Janek" locked themselves in one of the rooms to talk in peace about more serious matters.
Everything was accompanied by cigarette smoke - Sosnkowski was smoking one after another - and whiskey, disappearing at a pace that did not mean anything good . Nowak-Jeziorański only listened - about the international situation and the tasks ahead. Hours passed, and with them more glasses of Scotch. Trying to keep the General company - I drank too much whiskey, but I tried to listen with tense attention so as not to miss a word of these arguments .
The meeting ended at two in the morning. In the private car of the Commander-in-Chief, "Janek" returned to his home. In the weeks that followed, he held a series of meetings. Longer, shorter, relevant and completely meaningless. They all had one thing in common. For a man who spent several years in an occupied country, coping with hunger, a lack of heating and dangers lurking around every corner, it was like a vacation.
The Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Kazimierz Sosnkowski (in the middle in the photo), as it turned out, was not only a hospitable man, but also had a strong head, which "Janek" found out for himself.
A warm bed, whiskey and as much food as you can eat - you could not even dream about it in Poland . Meanwhile, it was a reality for the couriers of the Home Army. Difficult to reach and associated with enormous risks, sometimes leading to arrest and sometimes even death - but real.
Source:
- Jan Karski, Secret State , Horizon 2014 sign.
- Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Courier from Warsaw , Horizon 2014 sign.