Feliks Sadowski was a Polish war hero who sadly died in December 2000. However, amongst the thousands of poles who fought for their country and lives in the second world war. He was also my grandfather.
Born to a Polish family living in Vilnius Lithuania in 1919, two years before the country became part of Poland. Feliks' upbringing was far from easy; when he was only a few months old, he was involved in a border skirmish during the aftermath of world war one. Russian soldiers were marching home, stopping at every town to steal supplies, and satisfy themselves with the local women. As they marched through Vilnius, they burst into Feliks' mother's house and threatened his mother with a rifle. Fearing for her life, she held her baby, Feliks, up. He always held the belief that his mother did this to shield herself from the soldier, but it may be more likely that she held him up to say "don't shoot me, I've got a child." In any case, the soldier did shoot, shattering Feliks' wrist, leaving one arm shorter than the other. His mother later abandoned him, leaving him to grow up with his father, a stern man named Bronislaw, and a onetime Russian Imperial Guard.
When he was five Feliks' father died aged sixty four, and, together with his two sisters and four brothers was brought up his aunt and uncle. Although these relatives of his were typical for their time, he found the upbringing to be very strict. He remembers that he was only allowed to have one kind of food that he could not eat. (his choice was pig's trotters), it was here that he developed his lifelong habit of eating an entire apple, pips, core and all. He did however, like the house's servants, who would provide him with food, and shelter from his guardians.
Feliks did well at school, especially in mathematics and sciences. He attended a Polish University and studied physics. He was a successful student, and had the war not broken out, may have become a very significant scientist.
However, in 1938 Hitler's Blitzkrieg reached Poland. Feliks attempted to join the Polish army, but was rejected due to his short arm. However, later, when the country was nearly overran by troops, he managed to join a volunteer sabotage unit. He was equipped with a string of hand grenades, a short Martini rifle and a sabre. He engaged the Germans in guerrilla warfare, conducting hit and run attacks on enemy positions. Word reached his unit that the Russians were advancing through the north, and they were sent to help halt the Red Army. After many unsuccessful missions, they were captured.
Feliks was accused by the Russians of being an enemy of the working class, which is ironic because later in life he was a devout socialist. He was sentenced to death by firing squad and sent to a death-row like cell.
Whilst in prison, Feliks prepared his last words. He was looking forward to dying a martyr to Poland. He would imagine the scene, of being blindfolded and backed against a wall, and insulting is executioners with his last breath. Lack of nutrition made prison almost completely unbearable, his interrogation had been rough, and death became a more welcome concept. But then, one day a Russian officer came into his cell and informed him that due to his age (Feliks was only 20) he would not be executed. His sentence was commuted to ten years hard labour in a prison camp situated in Siberia.
Feliks spent two years in the camp, digging foundations in the frozen earth. He had to survive on a thin nettle soup, that he claimed was sometimes water coloured with grass. The only other sustenance he had were black and white bread. He once described how he and his cellmate would form chess pieces out of the stodgy food and play for it, eating a captured piece. He claimed that this kept him sane, by focussing his mind. He would spend the days digging, but planning chess moves. The games of chess also made the food last longer, this, he claimed meant that he was hungry all of the time, rather than starving sometimes, and slightly hungry others. Apparently the former is the favoured condition.
However, his poor diet eventually lead to his falling susceptible to scurvy. He was transported to a hospital where he spent several months recovering. By the time he was discharged, the Russians had changed sides and he was able to join the Free Polish Army. He travelled through Vladivostock, the Middle-East, through Africa, then set sail from South Africa to Scotland. His unit was responsible for manoeuvring many allied tanks in preparation for the Allied Invasion.
When the war ended, Feliks decided to leave the army. In London, 1946, he met his wife, Doris and began work for her father, William Hunter, in antique restoration, a career he would stay with until illness in later life forced him to stop. Feliks found that he was very skilled in this trade, his knowledge of physics, and some carpentry he learned as a child allowed him to make many intricate and complex repairs. Specialising in the business Feliks found himself working for several famous people including Lord Mountbatten, Paul Getty, Helena Rubenstein and Lady Churchill]. He also once sued John Pertwee (Doctor Who and Wurzle Gummage) after the actor refused to pay him.
After the sad death of his eldest son, Feliks moved to west Cornwall and spent what he describes as the happiest days of his life fishing on his boat, the "Lady Carole." A vibrant personality he made many friends among the community, often found debating with people in the local pubs. Leaving his business in Antiques to his son, Feliks retired when an illness that he was sure was yellow fever forced him to stop working. Unfortunately it was a stomach ulcer, and he died from it in December 2000 at the age of eighty one. He was cremated in January 2001.
An interesting fact about Feliks was that he had not been ill for nearly sixty years of his life, a fact that bemused doctors. He believed that it was because he smoked, and that the smoke somehow killed any germs that he inhaled. Bizarrely he appeared to be proved right. When he quit smoking to win a £100 bet with his son in law, his health rapidly deteriorated.