Man in the middle

By Witold Sagajllo

Subjects: Biography, Underground movements, Guerrillas, World War, 1939-1945, Polish Personal narratives, Poland, biography, World war, 1939-1945, personal narratives, polish, World war, 1939-1945, underground movements, poland, History, Poland, history

Description: On the first of September 1939 forty-five German divisions supported by 15,000 aircraft attacked Poland and two weeks later, under the terms of the Nazi - Soviet agreement, the Russians occupied eastern Poland. Thus this strife-torn country was divided for the fourth time. Witold Sagajllo, an officer in the Polish navy, decided, after the crushing defeat of Polish resistance to invasion on two fronts, that the only honourable thing to do was to escape to Britain where he would be able to continue the fight with the Polish forces in exile. This however proved to be an impossible dream and he soon found himself playing a vital part in the Polish underground resistance, fighting on two fronts against the Germans and the Russians: indeed a man in the middle. This is a dramatic account of how groups of Resistance fighters attempted to keep their country alive. Had he been caught, no doubt he would have ended up, as thousands did, in the Katyn forests or at very best in the labour camps. That he was not caught, that he fought a brilliant and private war against both his enemies, and that he was eventually able to bring his family out of Poland across a devastated Europe, through Italy and eventually to Great Britain, is a measure exceptionally brave man. Now living quietly in the English countryside, enjoying his hard-won freedom, he must still contemplate, with dismay, the eternal struggle against monstrous tyranny of his beloved countrymen. -- from dust jacket.