Barbara Serbinski Sipe - Letters from the Box in the Attic: A Story of Courage, Survival and Love

LETTERS
FROM THE BOX
IN THE ATTIC

a Story of Courage,
Survival and Love

Barbara Serbinski Sipe

Copyright 2018 Barbara Serbinski Sipe.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

1 (877) 407-4847

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9651-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9653-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9652-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018901118

Balboa Press rev. date: 03/19/2018

My mother, Stanisawa Emilia Krasowska Serbinski, is the main reason for this book. A few years after mom died. I realized I needed to start this project to chronicle her journey through life doing what she felt was right and patriotic. The experience has made me grow in a way that has forever changed my life. There had to have been a subtle vibration coming from the earth after she died to point me in the direction of this project.

The book has helped me to value and appreciate my own heritage, and in turn I give this book to my children as a gift, to aid them in understanding their grandma and valuing their roots.

Thank you, Mom, for entrusting me with your precious memories and memorabilia and to make sure that your story is told, even though you never asked me to do so. Through your story you teach others what you have known, that to be a proud and just person is to be true to yourself. This is an instinctive way of life no matter where you call home.

I have many people to thank for finally finishing this project. Since family always comes first, I wish to thank my husband Alan and my three children, Christopher, Stephanie and Samantha, who were my cheerleaders throughout this process. I wish to thank my daughter Stephanie, specifically, who was not only a cheerleader, but was the one who planted the bug in my ear to tell Grandmas story. I also wish to thank all my other supporters who read my early blogs during the research process and those who recently joined on. They provided unbridled support and acclaim.

Then there is my Polish translator, without whom, there would be a mass of letters, hand written in Polish, that I was unable to read. She was enthusiastic and dedicated to help me decipher the contents of the letters and patient while helping me to improve my Polish language skills. I thank Jadwiga Cyparska.

May I not forget my editor, the person who took on this project in its raw state and helped me understand all I needed to do as well as taking it to its final state Thank you, Connie Donovan.

Lastly, I need to thank my brother Andrew. Throughout the process, he was always in my corner with his eternally optimistic approach to life; and because of his artistic eye and creativity, he designed the cover of the book. I am grateful for you and to you, dear Andrew. We are the last of our family of origin - you and me.

CONTENTS

Letters from the Box in the Attic was conceived to pay homage to my mother who experienced so much in her young life. This book also pays homage to my dad, but without Mom there would be no story.

Because my Polish parents had a love of family, writing this book was not only a way for me to thank them and to recognize their legacy, but to help me understand and appreciate my heritage.

My journey has been a long one, trying to figure out how best to portray their story. The hundreds of letters were very personal and spoke to me as if my mother and father were reading them. Sharing these letters, these unfiltered thoughts and emotions with you, the reader, is a profound responsibility. This project is a work of nonfiction because there are so many facts, quotes and the many photographs that Mom saved including those of people who cannot be identified.

Since I am a history nerd, I believe there is a need to put the past into perspective; therefore I needed to do factual research surrounding the various events in their lives. It is essential to know the reasons why things happened as they did in order to better understand the dynamics of the past. Because of my love for history, I like to compare the past with the present, and there are many parallels from which to draw.

I am the product of a refugee resettlement program with my family coming to United States as Polish refugees in 1951. Since I am an immigrant myself, born in the United Kingdom, living in todays world and hearing all the controversies about foreigners invading, the idea of countries closing their borders to people in need, has been difficult for me to process. Society and times have changed over the last seventy-five years since the time of World War II, but family struggles and uncertainty including parents desire for a better future for their children have not. This story comes as a result of such a struggle as my parents wish to raise two children in a free society required that they never return to their home country. My brother and I were the lucky ones to be given that opportunity.

Putting the material together for this book has been an exciting journey, an act of tenacious passion. Having so many letters and documents has helped me to put the pieces of my parents past together like a puzzle, and then to make sense of it all. The fascinating and startling part of my extensive research was incorrectly assuming I knew a great deal about World War II history before I started.

Each piece of research has been printed or photocopied; books were purchased and read; countless hours were spent with a translator; many inquiries sent to various foreign government archives, as well as trips to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and to Warsaw hoping for additional documentation to fill in timelines and informational gaps. I loved trying to establish a timeline for where my dad was during the war while training in the Middle East based on the dates of his weekend military passes ( przepuski, in Polish).

The ultimate plum of my research has been traveling to Poland several times to visit newly found family, to Ukraine to visit my mothers childhood home town, and to find the house where she grew up. During this process, I have met others who are also trying to find information about parents and grandparents from that era through an organization which holds yearly conferences in Warsaw. Those experiences of learning about and talking with survivors from the war have been invaluable.