Roots, shoots and stories

My husband's grandfather, Wladyslaw Stepek, was born in November of 1893, the eldest of nine children. Unlike five of his siblings, Wladyslaw survived childhood, a childhood spent on a small farm in Haczow, a village in present day south-eastern Poland, but at that point in time was occupied by Austria. He had, however, caught tuberculosis as a child and did almost die. His next challenge came when both his parents died and at the age of 19, he found himself an orphan and head of the household. We think at this time he was studying pharmacy at university. However, in the following year1914, everything changed with the onset of World War I. Wladyslaw Stepek Wladyslaw was quickly conscripted into the medical corps of the Austrian army against his wishes as he was a fervent supporter of the resumption of Polish independence. His situation worsened when he was captured by the Russian army in 1915 and sent to Mariupol in present day Ukraine. There he was sent to work in a chemical facto