Week 16: Should have been a movie #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

In my Week 11 post, I wrote about Martin's grandfather, Wladyslaw Stepek being "lucky" in that he won his freedom from the prison camp by winning at cards. (Read the Week 11 post if you haven't already.) But the story did not end there.

Wladyslaw had to make his own way back to Haczow, the village where he was born. It must have been such a happy surprise for his two sisters when he appeared at their door, as they would have believed him dead, and, of course, in those days there were few means of communication, especially for an escaped prisoner who was trying to find his way home.

Life was not simple for Wladyslaw even when he was back home and recovering from his experiences. He agitated against the occupying Austrian Empire (of which he had been a soldier) and, as a result, he was arrested again, but released several months later in 1917 due to ill health. The following year as the war neared its end, he raised a volunteer army of 100 local men, which subsequently defeated and disarmed an Austrian garrison in the region. For this and other actions, he was later granted additional land in the dangerous border area between Poland and Russia.

Wladyslaw about 1919

He settled there with his wife Janina and they went on to have three children, Jan, Zofia and Danuta. They lived a happy, peaceful life on the farm, developing it each year. It was a small community and very few outsiders ever passed through. Moreover, anyone who visited the Stepek family, would either open the door and shout a greeting or go find them in the fields.

However, sometime in 1936, young Danuta, aged 9, was very surprised to hear a knock on the door. When she answered it, there stood a complete stranger! He asked, " Is this Wladyslaw Stepek's house?" Danuta replied, "Yes, he is in the fields. I'll go and get him. Can I ask your name?"

The man replied, "I am Wladyslaw Stepek!"

Danuta turned and ran out the back as quickly as she could, shouting, "Daddy! Daddy! There's someone with your name at the door!" Her father slowly trudged back to the house (he suffered from ill health), asked the man to come in and have a seat, and said, "I hear we have something in common. My name is Wladyslaw Stepek too."

The man replied, "I know! I was given your name back in Russia in 1916 and was released from Siberia last year, Since I returned I have been trying to find you to thank you for saving my life."

I am sure they then went on to celebrate with a few Polish vodkas!!

The other 'Wladyslaw Stepek' had spent almost 20 years in exile in Siberia, yet he was still grateful to have had this life, so grateful that he had taken the trouble to come and personally thank the man whose 'luck' had saved both their lives. What a story!

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