Prologue - the period before the Uprising

         I was born on November 2 1926 in Poznań in Jeżyce district. I was the youngest child of Kazimierz Gunderman and Wanda née Wolińska (her father, Adam Woliński, was a defense attorney in the trial of "Dzieci Wrzesińskie" in the period of the Partitions of Poland). I had two elder sisters Barbara and Aleksandra. Before the war broke out I had completed the sixth form of primary school (where I was a member of a scout team) and was accepted to gymnasium (junior high school). At the time when WW? broke out I was thirteen years old.
         01.09. 1939. - Poznań - my hometown. This is where the war found me. My father sent us (that is my mom, my two elder sisters and me) to Warsaw, while he himself, unsuccessfully tried to enlist as a volunteer, riding a bike all the way to Warsaw. We left at dawn after the first air raid attack. Near Kutno, in order to escape the air raid, we ran away to the fields. Finally we reached Radość, the city outside of Warsaw. And this is where we stayed till the fightings were over.
         We came back to Poznań for a couple of days; it marked the end of our first epic. Poznań was included in Reich and the operation to drive the Poles away from Reich had begun. In winter 1940 they relocated us from our flat just within fifteen minutes. For the first time such events started to take place by day. Usually they used to do it about 10 or 11 in the evenings when we were already waiting with our baggages to be transported. This time it took place at midday, in the dinner time, when all our stuff was not packed yet. In a panic we threw everything onto the back stairs and then we went over to our relatives' place, who put us up.
         Having the faked passes fixed by my father, on the first day of the Easter we left for Warsaw. We were quite scared by this excursion, but ultimately we luckily ended up with our family sitting at the Easter table. After some perturbations we finally settled in Dolny Żolibórz at 20 Dygasińskiego Street.
         In the years 1940 - 41 I was in the seventh form of primary school, (before the war I completed six forms of private primary school and was accepted to the State Gymnasium and Karol Marcinkowski Grammar School). I then attended the Mechanical Gymnasium in Mokotów until Spring of 1943. Getting through the whole town including the Ghetto, at the time when round-ups were prevalent, became so dangerous that I did not manage to complete the second form. Before the Uprising broke out I finished, attending clandestine classes, three forms of the Grammar School.
         I started my clandestine activity in March 1941. One of the places that served organizational purposes for the underground activity were clandestine classes, where the youth met not only to educate themselves, but also, in order to act for Polish independence. I was not sure who familiarized me with Hufce Polskie and then with National Military Organization (submitted to the command of the Home Army). It might have been my friend, a peer named Cezary "Czarek" Kiliman, my leader in the scouts (then already a cadet) during the Uprising, and my companion while imprisoned. Though I lived in Poznań and he lived in Warsaw, we kept in touch with each other until he died. While in the underground movement we were trained in the weapon usage outdoors and in topography. We were also told about the tasks awaiting us in the reborn Poland. An interesting piece of our activity, while we were still young lads, was to observe German troops heading for the eastern front after German-Soviet war broke out in 1941. At Wilson's Square we were on duties during which we had to identify, very carefully, all German traffic signs and to identify military units heading for the front. In spite of appearances it was not a safe job. All the sketches and notes were handed over to our command. After the war, reading the reports concerning military intelligence, to my surprise I found out that even very trivial information was recorded and combined with more important information. These were used in making decisions.
         Numerical pseudonyms were used in NOW. Mine were "212" and "2671."
         During the Uprising I was free to choose a pseudonym; so I adopted the pseudonym "Janusz."
         The outbreak of the Uprising interrupted not only my education, but also my military training.

During exercises

         At the end I would like to mention the engagement of our family in fight against the invader. My father, as far as I can guess (because he never confided in anybody for reasons of security) was active in the organization that prepared corps for the reborn Poland ("Ojczyzna?"), my sisters belonged to the first Regiment of Szwoleżerzy and fought during the Uprising in Czerniaków. My mom, however, who was in charge of the whole house, was deported to Ravensbrück when the Uprising broke out. There she went missing during the camp evacuation.

    
The Home Army Card

Janusz Gunderman


translated by Lukasz Glowacki

Janusz Gunderman, born on November 24th, 1926 in Poznan the NOW and the Home Army Corporal pps. "2671", "Janusz" "Gustaw Harnaś" Battalion "Aniela" Company prisoner of war no. 140334