Roma, Visa, and Bambino: The Unplanned Wartime Journey to England

• In Event: Through War and Communism: “Unofficial” Memories and Their Role in Contemporary Scholarly Discourse

Abstract

The untold story of Bogumila Rawicz-Szczerbo and her journey with her nine-year-old son from occupied Poland to England in search of safety, freedom, and family reunification, based on her own written account preserved in her family archives. She was the wife of Antoni Rawicz-Szczerbo, major of the Polish Army, who served in the Polish General Staff's Section II (Studies Department IV, Independent Bureau Russia). The paper will trace her journey from the moment she was separated from her husband in the first weeks of World War II, through her chaotic travels between Warsaw and the Polish eastern borderlands, her flight from Warsaw via Italy to France, and finally, her frantic escape aboard an old British coaler to Liverpool. Her ordeals are discussed against the background of her husband's simultaneous military service. Their story contributes to the broader picture of Polish exiled families in the West and their complex journeys from their conquered homeland to the relatively safe haven of the United Kingdom.

Author

• Iwona Flis, U of Gdansk (Poland)