Jerzy Piskor

Translation of parts of an interview by Prof. Patalas

Jerzy was born in Radom, Poland on May 25, 1926, the only son of Henryk and Maria Piskor. They moved to Starachowice, where his father got a job at a huge sawmill in the nearby town of Bugaj, in the foothills of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. Jerzy started school in Starachowice, and they were still living there when the war broke out in 1939.

He was too young to be in the army, but he was in the Boy Scouts, and his team organized special assistance for the soldiers in the military transports passing through the railway station in Starachowice. They brought them coffee and food, good conversation, and some laughs.

Later in the war, Jerzy joined the Home Army. At the beginning, his participation involved passing information about the size of German forces in Starachowice, about their movements, their quarters, and so on. He also helped find safe houses for the guerilla fighters staying in the city. From May until November 1944, he was a member of a special operations unit: they held regular jobs in the city or on farms, but joined in armed operations if called upon. Their commander was Captain Gustaw; on his instructions they looked after compromised members of the resistance network, obtained false documents, and arranged for ammunition and food for the partisans in the mountains. They “procured” weapons by attacking individual German soldiers when they least expected it.

Jerzy joined the ranks of guerrilla fighters in early November 1944. Life in a partisan unit was quite different from the more settled activities of his former special operations group. They prowled through the forests, sleeping in shelters improvised from tree branches, emerging in villages only when there were no enemy troops in the vicinity. The Germans were constantly combing the wooded areas searching for them.

Eventually his brigade crossed the Czech border to get farther away from the Russians. Towards the end of June 1945, the brigade was moved further inside the German territory, near Coburg. They were disarmed and reclassified as displaced persons. Only forty of hem, all with some special training, were selected to join the Polish forces in Italy. Jerzy was one of them because he could drive. They were issued an Italian Lancia, and drove through Innsbruck, Brenner Pass, and Bolzano to Ancona, where they found the 2nd Corps.

Jerzy was assigned to the 28th Supply and Transport Company of the 2nd Warsaw Armoured Division. He travelled with that unit throughout Italy and England, until the dissolution of the army and his demobilization in 1947.

In 1947, Jerzy emigrated to Canada from England on a two-year work contract. Once the contract was completed, Jerzy moved to Winnipeg. He joined the choir of the Polish Gymnastic Association Sokół. A young lady from the Polish community, Miss Adela Ufryjewicz, played the piano for the choir. That is also how Jerzy first met her. After several conversations, they became quite close. Their budding relationship was interrupted for a year, because she moved to Windsor, but they resumed it on her return. It flowered into marriage in 1951, and they raised two sons.

Jerzy established a successful business, Imperial Cleaners, and was an avid supporter of sports teams in the area. He was a founding member of the Polish Combatants Association #13 and the Royal Canadian Legion, A. Mynarski VC 34.

Jerzy passed away in Winnipeg on January 30, 2003, at the ge of 77 years.