Krysia: A Polish Girl's Stolen Childhood During World War II

by Krystyna Mihulka, Krystyna Poray Goddu

Overview

As German troops and bombs descended upon Poland, Krysia struggled to make sense of the wailing sirens, hushed adult conversations, and tearful faces of everyone around her. Within just days, the peaceful childhood she had known would disappear forever.

Krysia tells the story of one Polish girl's harrowing experiences during World War II as her beloved father was forced into hiding, a Soviet soldier's family took over her house, and finally as she and her mother and brother were forced at gunpoint from their once happy home and deported to a remote Soviet work farm in Kazakhstan.

Through vivid and stirring recollections Mihulka details their deplorable conditions—often near freezing in their barrack buried under mounds of snow, enduring starvation and illness, and witnessing death. But she also recalls moments of hope and tenderness as she, her mother, her brother, and other deportees drew close together, helped one another, and even held small celebrations in captivity. Throughout, the strength, courage, and kindness of Krysia's mother, Zofia, saw them through until they finally found freedom. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613734414
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	01/01/2017
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	10 - 18 Years

About the Author

Born in 1930, Krystyna Mihulka was deported from Poland to a remote village in Kazakhstan in 1940, where she lived as a political prisoner under Communist rule for nearly two years. After several years in refugee camps in Iran and Africa, she settled in Zambia, where she married and had three children. In 1969 she and her family migrated to the United States. She lives in Pleasant Hill, California, under her married name, Christine Tomerson. 

Krystyna Poray Goddu is the author of A Girl Called Vincent and Dollmakers and Their Stories, among others. She has contributed to American Girl magazine, the New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, and other publications. She lives in New York City. 

Table of Contents

Map: Krysia's Journey (1940-1942) ix

A Polish Pronunciation and Vocabulary Guide xi

Author's Note xv

Prologue 1

Part I The End of Life as We Knew It

1 Hints of Impending War 7

2 The Last Autumn of Peace 13

3 Strangers in the Sky 19

4 Life Under Russian Occupation 29

5 Shadows in the Night 41

Part II Journey into Captivity

6 Traveling by Cattle Car 53

7 Traveling by Oxcart 63

Part III Life in Captivity

8 Settling In 71

9 Strange Happenings at Night 79

10 Enduring the Winter 89

11 Spring and Summer Surprises 101

Part IV Flight to Freedom

12 Reunion and Departure 113

13 A Seemingly Endless Wait 121

14 The Trans-Siberian Train Journey 129

15 Tragedy Strikes Home 139

16 Setting Sail for Freedom at Last 151

Afterword 161

Epilogue 163

A Guide to Geographical Names 167

Acknowledgments 169

Editorial Reviews

Exquisitely detailed, Krystyna Mihulka’s Krysia proves in clear and accessible prose that even such malevolent forces as Stalinism and Nazism were rendered powerless in the face of the most basic human order — a loving family. —Eugene Yelchin, author of Breaking Stalin’s Nose



“Elegant, eye-opening, and memorable.”  —Kirkus Reviews


“This memoir has power and does the necessary work of prompting readers to try to imagine what it’s like to be among the millions of children undergoing similar upheavals in the war zones of today.” —Booklist


“The text is exceptionally educational, offering language help, maps, and photographs to fill in the details of Krysia’s harrowing tale. Still, despite the tragedy, Krysia’s story is also one of hope, making it a distinctively interesting and useful nonfiction text for young adult readers.” — VOYA



“The child’s voice offers a heart-wrenching perspective on the evils inflicted by Nazism and Stalinism along with the suffering the family endured…” —The Buffalo News Online


“It’s an affecting personal story, vividly told…” —Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

03/01/2017
Gr 4–7—In 1940, nine-year-old Mihulka and her mother and younger brother were forced from their home in Poland and taken to a Soviet-run labor camp in Kazakhstan. Through Mihulka's mother's resourcefulness and the children's resilience, they survived the harsh conditions and were able to reconnect with family members before traveling to a refugee camp in Iran in 1942. Writing in a simple, direct style, Mihulka shares her experiences, fears, and reactions in a clear yet age-appropriate way. A guide to selected Polish words, along with their pronunciations, is placed at the beginning of this volume, giving tweens a chance to glance through it before diving into the narrative. Black-and-white photographs are scattered throughout, and a helpful map of the family's journey is also included. An afterword and epilogue give insight into the fates of many Polish people during World War II, as well as additional information about Mihulka and her family. VERDICT Painting a vivid picture of a child's experience as a civilian caught among warring powers, Mihulka's story offers many opportunities for discussion, especially given the current refugee crisis.—Sarah Reid, Four County Library System, NY

School Library Journal

2016-10-19
A young girl endures life as a political prisoner.In 1939, when Krystyna "Krysia" Mihulka was 9, Russia invaded Poland. Her straightforward first-person narration, crafted with the assistance of Goddu, is convincingly childlike though not without the occasional poetic flair. She recounts how her lawyer father went into hiding and Krysia, her mother, and her brother were arrested and forced to leave their beloved home in Lwòw, Poland (now Liviv, Ukraine), and made to take the long, difficult journey to a prison camp in Kazakhstan. As to be expected, life was harsh, but with her mother's hope and determination to keep her children alive, they survived and left Kazakhstan in 1941, when Germany invaded Russia and amnesty was granted to Polish political prisoners like Krysia and her family. Her mother secured passage to Uzbekistan, where they reunited with family, following which Krysia, her mother, and brother sailed for Persia (modern-day Iran), where they lived in a Polish refugee camp in Tehran. Told in an easy narrative style, Krysia's story is accessible; she is someone for whom readers will feel empathy while learning about the removal of more than 1.5 million Poles from their homeland. Additional material includes an afterword; an epilogue outlining Krysia's life from her arrival in Persia to her eventual settling in California in 1969, where she lives today; a map of her journey from Poland to Persia; a Polish pronunciation guide; and an author's note.Elegant, eye-opening, and memorable. (Memoir. 10-15)

Kirkus Reviews