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#FATHER
Andre Florian. Hated his second name. Tried never to use it. I think his naturalization certificate does not carry that name. Such a beautiful name. It was unusual in Poland, where he grew up, and probably was made fun of because of that name.
Came into this world in a town of Hajnowka in May of 1934. My Grandparents have built this town with their own hands, alongside others, then built a chemical plant, where many of the people of the new town worked. They were very poor, very hardwoking people. Andre was born as the fifth of the six children to Joseph and Josie.
The little boy Andre grew up mostly in the virgin forest surrounding Hajnowka. Helping his Father bring wood into town, gathering mushrooms or berries with his Mother, guarding moonshine in winter, then during the war, meeting German or Russian soldiers running away from the front and their units. In winter, he would use skis to move around the forest, in summer most of the time he would just walk. Or – if he were with his Father – would get a ride on a horse-drawn wagon. There were bison, moose, boar, wolf, and wild horses in the forest. It was easy to get lost never to be found again, but he always found his way home. Forest was his home. The little shack was there to be around his beloved Mom, to eat the food she cooked, to go to church with her, to help her with the little Peter. Then, in 1944, Mom got very very sick. The Germans had a good hospital in town at that time. She went in only to be helped by powerful painkillers. To be without pain was the ultimate. She died of stomach cancer shortly afterwards.
The forest became the real home now. For the last year of the War there were more soldiers than ever before running away and hiding in the forest. There were trainloads of wounded going through the town, either west (Germans) or east (Russians). Throughout the whole war there was a constant flow of happy, song-singing soldiers going to the front (this time Russians going west, or Germans going east), or broken, sad, absent, quiet soldiers coming back from the battlefields (Russians going east, Germans going west). Except for that entertainment, the War was a boring thing for the little boy. No battles were fought in Hajnowka, there were no Jews, no Communists, no homosexuals, no Gypsies, no Resistance as far as he could tell, so nothing ever happened in Hajnowka. Moonshine and the defeated soldiers. Otherwise, things as usual.
Life got harder when Mom died. The eldest sister married before the War, and moved far away, to Lublin. Lucyna, the next one, was sent near Hamburg into forced labor. Where was Mietek? Where was Wanda? Is there a way to find out? For now, we know nothing of their whereabouts.
Dad had to work more than before, had to cut more wood, build more ovens, make more booze. But life in the forest was good. There were some friendly Trolls there to talk to or to ski with in the winter. They liked winter. Summer was more of a witch time. The forest witches took care of Andre, and made sure he was always safe, \and always found way back to town. Sometimes, expecially after his Mom died, they would cook for him so he would not go hungry, and so his Dad would never have to worry. He had enough worries, and enough heartache. He loved his wife so much, and now missed her so. His beloved Josie!
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