The first nine years of my life were in part decided by my Polish mother five years before my birth. In early 1935, my mother was engaged to the best friend of one of her six brothers and her family expected her to marry the young man she had known from early childhood. However, my mother met a young and handsome 23 year old Prussian Tailor while they were both employed by her brother Jan at his Tailoring Shop. Within three months, she was married to this well-groomed snappy dresser who danced the Tango like Rudolf Valentino. This decision changed the course of my life. I would find myself living in another three countries as a consequence.

My father liked to party. He particularly liked to dance and sing romantic German songs to my mother at my uncle Valenti’s nightclub. His reputation did nothing for his relationship with my mother’s family who did not want to have a German intruding into the family. They never forgave my mother for jilting her former Polish fiancée.

My mother was completely besotted by my father and remained so for the rest of her life.

Life changed in Konitz after the German re-occupation of September 1939, it was the start of the Second World War, our town had been part of the Prussian Empire for 146 years. Its status changed again later in February 1945 by the YALTA conference.

The biggest change in Middle Europe was due to the Oder-Niesse Boder line change at the behest of the Russians due to the border between Germany and Poland was moved by 100 Kilometrs further West into Germany. Oder-Niesse Line, this meant that Konitz town, my birth place would then be part of Communist Poland. The town was renamed Chojnice. So everyone had to use the Polish language and not the German Language.

I was born in Poland during the German reoccupation in that small town called Konitz in July 1940 to a Polish mother and a German father from the Koschneiderei, my mother spoke to me in Polish and father in German, this gave me two languages to learn.

My father being of German descent was privately very pleased with the German re-occupation because his heritage was restored. My father believed the Nazi Socialist propaganda and he believed in Eugenics. After the end of WW11 war my Father admitted that he was thoroughly disillusioned by National Socialism when he learned what really happened! From then on he only claimed he was a Humanist

In 1942, my father was not so happy when he received his call up papers. Hitler needed more soldiers to help him win the war. Father was given German 3rd class citizenship and at age thirty-two this Tailor was trained to shoot artillery.

My parents were born as Prussian Citizens but due to the defeat of the three Empires that had partitioned Poland for 146 years, they were declared to be Polish citizens in 1920 and henceforth, the official language became Polish.

July 1943 (shortly after my third birthday) is my only recollection of my father in Poland, saying goodbye on the railway platform of Konitz. He was dressed in his pale grey uniform, with rifle in one hand and his kit in the other. My mother and father were crying, convinced that this would be the last time they would see each other. I had a different reason to cry, I had just burnt my fingers on the side of the locomotive. This made the event stay in my memory forever.

In May 1944 my mother was arrested for three weeks by the Gestapo to be interrogated because her youngest brother Bernard was suspected of being part of the Resistance movement. She was released when she explained that her husband was in the German army.

My father's army adventure ended when he was captured in Croatia by the British and sent to a POW camp in Austria. They examined his status and declared that technically he was a Polish citizen and he could go home. He refused because he had found out that just like the rest of Eastern Europe, Poles were forced to succumb to the will of Stalin.

Joseph Stalin rearranged the pre-war borders of all the middle European countries borders by moving the Eastern borders westward by 100 kilometres therefore ceding the same amount of territory from former Polish territory to the Ukraine. Poland gained most of the former territories of East and West Prussia.

The Soviet Communists and Polish Patriotic movement were ethnically cleansing Poland of all former Germans, so were all the other Baltic states. My father had heard that 8 million Germans were to be removed from their homes, farms and factories or businesses and forced to seek refuge in the vanquished and destroyed parts of East or West Germany. The lucky few chose West Germany. Ethnic cleansing that would make Kosovo look like a picnic! And he feared that anyone who had served in the German army would have a very hard time. Meanwhile in Austria the British had verified My Fathers status, even though he was a German prisoner of war he nevertheless was technically a Polish citizen. So as a practical expedient the British suggested that he should join the Polish free army in England. He was persuaded that a second front against Stalin would shortly commence to force the Russians out of Eastern Europe. He was put on a troop transport ship in Italy and sent to Southampton in England in 1946.

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In 1946 my mother moved from Konitz to Stettin (Szeczin in Polish) in the annexed territories of former Wets Prussia. Financially this was a very successful move. She established a very successful Tailoring business with her youngest brother.

My mother chose this former German port town because it still had a very large German population that chose to accept Polish citizenship. She hoped in vain that this would entice my father to return home. She was wrong! My father instead suggested she should try to get out of Poland via people smugglers.

My mother bravely resolved to be reunited with my father and made plans to escape with me from Communist controlled Poland.

By 1948 she saved enough money to be able to bribe some Boat people smugglers who operated a cargo vessel from Poland to Berlin.

In June 1948 my mother Marta and I secretly escaped to Berlin from Poland without visa's, smuggled across the border in a vessel carrying coal and dried potatoes via the ODRA river and various canals until we reached the border of Berlin in East Germany and then she walked me non-stop for two days to our relatives in West Berlin where we stayed for a few days. From there she managed to get to Hamburg and sought accommodation and assistance from the IRO.

In the Hamburg Central Park the British provided three hundred Nissen Huts that were installed in 19045 to house all the logistical support for the British Navy, these Corrugated Iron Huts were then used to house DP's and anyone who was of German descent who were thrown out from the former Sudeten Lands and we also were directed there.

The accommodation was in the form of the left half of a Nissan Hut, it was very crude, no running water or toilet. No cooking facilities, no electricity power points and only one means to heat water or food. A single pot belly stove! That item worked 24 hours a day in winter. The furnishings were several bunk beds Each side of the hut and one long table with three bench seats either side of the table. Some of the huts had several Generations of a family and that was even worse for them.

We shared with a Ukrainian family and their three daughters who were waiting acceptance to go to Brazil. There was no possibility of privacy and I learned much about the female anatomy during the daily evening tubbing.

Unfortunately during all the fourteen Months we lived there I was not allowed to attend a German school in Hamburg because of being classed as "Stateless and in Transit". Consequently I missed eighteen months of vital primary schooling. However I became very street wise and learned many skills that can only be acquired in the classes outside of a school. I started my first business venture in the refugee camp.

My uncle in Poland showed me after his daily evening card game with his drinking and smoking pals, how to collect all the cigarette butts and create roll your owns from the dregs.

I collected all the cigarette butts that I could find in the centre of Hamburg's dockside and rolled them into cigarettes to sell to the inmates of the camp. It was a great success and I could not keep up with the demand.

We lived in Hamburg from August 1948 to October 1949. During this time my mother had a nervous breakdown because she received a letter in January 1949 which she and my father kept secret for the rest of their lives, until my mother's death in 1997. I discovered many documents, photos and memorabilia.

London from 1949 to 1969

In 1955, at fifteen I left school and found employment in an electronics shop run by a family friend, ex Polish airman from Warsaw.

Electronics was and still is a very dynamic industry and after many changes of employment and struggles with self-imposed hardships due to having four beautiful children, I decided to sell my house and take my diplomas and family on a very big adventure to set up life in the great city of Sydney.

Sydney 1969 via the Panama Canal

Our arrival in the spectacular and beautiful Sydney Harbour in April 1969 after a a wonderful five week sea voyage across the Atlantic via Panama, Curacao, Barbados, Fiji, Tahiti and New Zealand.

In 1981 I established a small business in the suburb of Manly doing what I did in London. Buying and selling Used and reconditioned TV's.

The location proved to be a great success and I made a profit from the first week. The shop was a gold mine and allowed Mary and I to travel and indulge in a very comfortable lifestyle.

The most difficult part in starting a business is, that first amount of capital required, this is where Mary was invaluable because she was working in the suburb of Chatswood managing a handbag store. It meant Mary was able to support us both and I could experiment with my business venture.

Soon we had another shop in the suburb of Newtown and this was also successful. Adam our middle son managed this shop for himself.

At age 59 I retired to the Central Coast, 90 kilometres from Manly.

My youngest son Alex managed our shop until 2003, but three changes in Australian business defeated us! We had to close down! The three changes were the abolishment of import duty on Electronic goods, the introduction of 10% GST and the incredible Dumping flood of low priced Chinese electronic goods. To everyone's surprise Chinese goods were also very reliable, automated assembly methods made very few errors, electronics were very reliable, so even our repair activities were reduced.

It was the end of a twenty two year golden run! The good news was that the shop premises had been purchased by my wife and I as part of our Superannuation fund. Manly is a very expensive suburb so the proceeds from the sale of the shop went to our SMSF so we were in a satisfactory financial position to retire.