Stories: Krystyna Stachowitz Farley

Krystyna Stachowitz Farley is one of many veterans in the archive of the Veterans History Project who served during WWII. Her story stands apart because Krystyna served in the “Anders Army” a unit composed entirely of Polish men and women formerly imprisoned by the Soviet Union. From her childhood in Poland, through captivity in Russia, and finally into military service in the Mediterranean theater, Krystyna offers a rare perspective into the Polish experience of WWII.

In September, 1939, the European war began when first German, then Russian troops invaded Poland. In August, addendums to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact had already partitioned Poland between the two conquering nations, and became moot only when Nazi Germany launched Barbarossa: a surprise attack on the Soviet Union in June of 1941.

German troops advance during the invasion of Russia.

By the time of Operation Barbarossa, hundreds of thousands of polish people were imprisoned within the Soviet Union. Many were members of the defeated Polish Army, but others, like Krystyna’s family, were imprisoned for being “bourgeoisie.” For his service in WWI Krystyna’s father had been compensated with farmland, enough for the new communist occupiers to accuse the family of being enemies to the proletariat.

As a result, the entire family was sent to a work camp in Siberia. There they were forced to cut timber and fend off starvation. Adults were given a lean ration for each day of hard labor, but no food was provided for children. There was mixed luck in their miserable prison stay: a gulag in the Russian hinterlands kept them away from Barbarossa and subsequent Nazi occupation. However, Krystyna had to get creative in finding food. The family sold what little they had before the children resorted to stealing, and finally Krystyna tried – with surprising luck – to sell her services as a fortune teller…

The family’s fate improved when the Soviet Union, reeling from Germany’s surprise invasion, released thousands of Polish military and civilian prisoners to form the “Anders Army.” This entirely Polish Army, with Krystyna among them, would join the fight against Nazi Germany.

The new Army’s first mission was a long, circuitous journey around the German invasion force. Krystyna travelled by river to present-day Uzbekistan, nursing sick children during the journey. Eventually, the journey through Uzbekistan, Iran, and Palestine delivered the Polish Army from Soviet to British command. Food was plentiful again.

“Listen, if you young and you spend two years in Russian prison and you don’t have nothing to eat, any food was delicious.”

In Iran, Krystyna and some siblings joined the military. Basic training taught them to salute and fire a rifle. Soon after, Krystyna was dispatched to serve as a hospital aide in the first of many hospitals serving the Mediterranean theater.

Krystyna with two friends at a British camp in Palestine.

Krystyna also learned the challenges of being a women in a male-dominated military setting. She was one of many, even in the present, to experience a sexual assault from a supposed comrade in arms. She managed to bite the nose of her would-be rapist, and dodged his repeated attempts to locate her in their base.

Krystyna with a friend in Palestine.

Krystyna’s family, meanwhile, appeared to thrive in their new setting. During a surprise reunion with her father, Krystyna discovered that her dad was amassing a small fortune through wartime poker games.

Deployed to Italy, Krystyna worked to heal desperately wounded men, including the Polish force that took Monte Cassino. Her first encounters with the carnage of war made her faint, but soon after, Krystyna settled into a practical working relationship with young men missing hands, feet, or their sight.

In her hospital work, Krystyna thrived. She was a people person, always ready to bend a rule to improve morale:

Krystyna would eventually marry a former patient, another Pole fighting in Italy as part of the Anders Army. In 1945, the two married, too impatient to wait for a wedding gown to reach them. With the war finally over, they welcomed the first of four children in 1947.

Krystyna’s 1945 wedding photo.

Tragically, the death of Krystyna’s first husband would leave her alone in England, raising four children singlehandedly. Her tenacity would lead her to the United States, a fruitful career, and eventually a second marriage.

“I learned it because I need it. See, if you had four kids and you don’t have no income, you have to do anything.”

Krystyna with a friend in an Italian vineyard.

In addition to her travels, the war left Krystyna fluent in five languages. The desparation of hunger and the horrors of war also left a lasting mark on her personality:

Even as her own grandchildren continue the family’s military tradition by serving in the US military, Krystyna’s firsthand experiences of war made her deeply skeptical of the United State’s 21st century conflicts.

With all her experiences, Krystyna did not expect recognition or acclaim. Like many mothers, she was firm in her belief that her kids could never fully appreciate what she did for their sake:

I have them, I have those kids. And after they grow up over here, they’re going to tell you, “Ma, whatever you did for us? You never did anything for us.”

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