Courtroom Ghosts

After the surrender, Val and many of his comrades were taken prisoner and herded onto cattle trucks. 'Once the door was shut there wasn't much light inside, except for a small opening close to roof, crisscrossed with barbed wire. No toilet facilities, so the first thing we did was cut a hole in the floor big enough to be useful. We travelled through the day and the following night. We arrived at our destination at midday. The day was very sunny and hot. We were formed into a column by Hitler Youth and began our march toward the camp. The Hitler Youth kept running up and down the column looking for any watches and rings on our hands. As the midday sun burned down on us many were on their last legs. The young and strong were alright, but older men were completely worn out by the time we reached the camp. When we stopped everybody slumped down, grateful for a rest. Only now was the full horror of the march revealed - two men were dead from heart attacks and many others were at dea...

Val as a young man 'One day on the way to work I came across a lot of German armed cars. When I came closer, I could see what was happening. Germans had surrounded the Jewish ghetto and were firing into the buildings and some flame throwing cars were inside setting fire to the buildings. Rage welled in me but none of us could do anything to such overpowering forces. The ghetto burned for some time. German patrols were constantly checking for survivors. If they found anybody inside the ghetto they would shoot them.' Val's boss entrusted him with some money to deliver but on the way he lost the envelope containing it. He was fired and then began work at a toy factory. This was followed quickly by time spent working at a hotel, then a barber's shop. Eventually, he left Warsaw and took up work on a farm. The following spring he made his way back to Warsaw and met up with a friend. Together, they embarked on a botched smuggling operation across the border in Germany. Val was...

This blog is a departure from the usual theme. My partner’s dad, Wladyslaw Ciechomski, known to friends and family as Val, passed away on 18th December 2021. He was quite possibly the most remarkable man that I have met and I want to use this space to pay tribute to him. I will do so in three parts, with the second and third parts telling the story of his time both in the Polish Underground and in Nazi prison camps. There was nothing Val could not turn his hand to, including planning and building an extension to his house, completely by himself. He rewired the house, did the plumbing, fixed his own car, and made beautiful costumes and toys for his children. At one point he even had ambition to build a boat. He carried the scars of his difficult early years but was always stable, capable, and very, very clever. My partner's nickname for him was 'Mr Fix-It'. Val was born just outside Warsaw in 1927 and never knew his mother. Instead, he was raised first by his father and late...