Waiting to Be Heard

Waiting To Be Heard Is The Voice Of The Persecuted The Brave The Hopeful The Betrayed And The Determined. It Is A Testament To The Strength Of The Human Spirit And To A Generation That Did Not See Itself As 'Victims' But As 'Survivors.' Studies Of The War And Post-War Years Have Traditionally Focused On Political And Military History. In Recent Years There Has Been A Greater Interest In The Social Consequences Of The War. Nevertheless Discussions Relating To The Displacement Of The Polish-Born Usually Focus On The Holocaust Interpreted As A Jewish-Only Phenomenon. Yet In The Years 1939-45 Poland Lost 6 029 000 Or 22% Of Its Total Population Including Approximately 3 Million Of Its Christian Residents. Many Of Those Who Survived The War At Its Conclusion Were Scattered All Over The World; By The End Of 1945 249 000 Members Of The Polish Armed Forces Were Under British Command With 41 400 Dependants In The United Kingdom Italy East And South Africa New Zealand India Palestine Mexico And Western Germany. These Refugees Have Long Sought A Voice For Their Experiences. The Website Www.Polishdiaspora.Net Was Created In 2006 By Dr. Wojciechowska As A Forum For Their Voices. The International Deluge Of Interest In The Project Resulted In Waiting To Be Heard. While Some Participants Had Talked And Written About Their Experiences Before The Majority Had Not Discussed Their Experiences With Anyone Outside Their Immediate Social Circle. And The Memories Are Still Painful As Exemplified By One Participant Who Said God I Ask You; Allow Me To Forget Those Days And Weeks When I Lay On Piles Of Corpses In The Hope Of Finding A Tiny Bit Of Warmth; Allow Me To Forget The Licking Of Ice From The Walls Of The Cattle Wagons; Allow Me To Lose My Memory Of Those Years!