My War against the Nazis: A Jewish Soldier with the Red Army (Alabama Fire Ant)

229 Pages·2007·5.92 MB·English

by  Adam Broner

My War against the Nazis

My War against the Nazis
A Jewish Soldier with the Red Army
ADAM BRONER
Foreword by Antony Polonsky
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2007
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface is Minion
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of Ameri-
can National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Li-
brary Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Broner, Adam, 1925–
My war against the Nazis : a Jewish soldier with the Red Army / Adam Broner ; fore-
word by Antony Polonsky.
p. cm. — (Fire ant books)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8173-5417-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8173-5417-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Broner, Adam, 1925– 2. World War, 1939–1945—Participation, Jewish. 3. World War,
1939–1945—Personal narratives, Jewish. 4. Soviet Union. Raboche-Krest’ianskaia Kras-
naia Armiia—Biography. 5. Poland. Armia—Biography. 6. Jews—Poland—Biography.
7. Jews—Soviet Union—Biography. I. Title.
D810.J4B75 2007
940.54′1247092—dc22
[B]
2006028617
To the memory of Barbara’s and my parents:
Regina and Abram Holeman
Ajdel Ita and Israel Broner

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Foreword by Antony Polonsky xiii
Prologue xv
I. FLEEING THE NAZIS TO THE “SOVIET PARADISE”
1. German Occupation and Terror 3
2. Escape from Occupied Poland 11
3. “So You Want to Go to the Soviet Paradise?” 14
4. From Bialystok to Novosibirsk 19
5. A Lavish Reception for the Liberated Belorussians 24
6. The Prosecutor’s Case 31
7. Ivanovo-Vozniesiensk: Where One Could Buy Flour and Sugar 35
II. MY WAR WITH THE NAZIS
8. The Working Battalions of the Red Army 43
9. In the Eighth Reserve Regiment of the Red Army 49
10. A Red Army Deserter from Siberia 55
11. Polish Armed Forces in the Soviet Union 60
12. A Jew in the Polish Army 65
13. The Kosciuszko Army Joins the Struggle 71
14. The Magnuszew Bridgehead 78
15. In Support of the Warsaw Uprising 82
16. Liberating Warsaw 94
viii Contents
17. Racing to Berlin 96
18. War after Victory 112
III. STAGES OF NEW LIFE
19. Return to Lodz 127
20. Moscow: The Center of Indoctrination 133
21. Revolt against Stalinist Excesses in Poland 144
22. Mobilization of Reserve Of¤cers in 1967 149
23. The 1968 Student Revolt in Poland 153
24. The Purge of Jews 160
25. Exodus from Poland 165
IV. FREEDOM AT LAST
26. Vienna and Rome: Refugees Again 173
27. New York and Princeton: Vistas of Opportunity 179
28. The Rats Abandon the Sinking Ship:
The Collapse of the Soviet Union 182
29. Pilgrimage to the Past—Kamiensk, the Shtetl 190
Epilogue 195
Historical References 207
Index 209
Illustrations
Photographs follow page 108
1. Adam Broner in front of the Kremlin, Moscow
2. Broner’s late wife, Zina, with their two sons
3. Broner’s brother Samuel and his wife, daughter, and son
4. Broner in uniform
5. The restored Kosciuszko monument on the Freedom Plaza
6. Adam and Barbara Broner in Florida
Maps
1. Partition of Poland, September 1939 10
2. Refugee in the USSR, 1939–41 23
3. Deportation to and escape from a Siberian coal mine, 1943 59
4. Polish Army on the offensive with the First Belorussian Front, 1944 76
5. On the Magnuszew Bridgehead, July–September 1944 77
6. War route of the Eighth Infantry Regiment of the Polish Army 108
Portraits follow page 198
1. Israel Broner
2. Ajdel Ita Broner
3. Chana Broner-Moszkowicz
4. Esther Broner
5. Dvojra Broner
6. Shajndl Broner
7. Yitzhak Broner