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Day 5: More photos than words

Today, we visited the hills south of Krakow, the area where the second half of my grandparents’ World War II story takes place. It is a primary setting for the novel I’m working on. I will find many, many words to write about this place.But today, I just...

Day 4: Polska Walczy

On a Sunday morning in the fall of 1942, my grandfather, Major Antoni Wegrzyn, walked into the Church of St. Wojiech in Krakow at 9 a.m. sharp. He was scheduled to meet with his new commander, Major Galica, of the Polish Underground Army, or Armia Krajowa.Major Galica...

Day 3: The Road to Krakow

My proudest accomplishment of the trip so far: I got my rental station wagon out of a tiny underground parking garage and into another one 300 km away.In between, I saw a stretch of central-to-southern Poland that sometimes reminded me of Minnesota or Wisconsin, and...

Day 2: Warsaw

Warsaw is at a latitude of 52.2 degrees north. It’s farther north than Calgary and Saskatoon. These are the things a person learns at 4:12 a.m. while trying to figure out why it’s so light outside.It was a good day, albeit a long one. My mom, also awake at 4 a.m.,...

Day 1: Warsaw

On the summer solstice, I flew above the north Atlantic, midnight sun glowing outside the airplane window, illuminating the clouds below us in a suspension that melted from violet dusk into pink dawn without ever touching the dark shades in between.It was a night...