[Jacek]

Back to the subject matter, if you allow.

My Father´s family were well-to-do farmers in western Poland: what was later called "Warthegau". As there were some Germans in the family, they were asked to sign Volksliste - a kind of declaration that they belonged to the German nation. They refused.
In 1940 or ´41 a German truck arrived and the constable gave them 30 minutes to pack their belongings.
At the railway station, they had their skulls measured and were found to be "Aryan" and sent to Bayern, to some wealthy landowner to work. The rest was sent to "rump-Poland, or Generalgouvernement".

The children were sent to German school, all family got German food rations. Soon, the authorities aked them to sign the List again. Twice again they refused. WHAT? It was way below their dignity: their property taken away; sent to work as simple agricultural workers against their will. Nope!

Some of the neighbors did sign. Soon, the men were sent to Ostfront and just a little minority survived.

My family, incl. my 11 ys old Father had to work in the fields. No more schools or German rations: just bad food and a big letter "P" on their garments.

In 1945, out of nothing, a squad of Americans arrived. My Father remembers: nice guys, distributed chocolate, white bread and "Camels" in liberal amounts. Soon, a Polish high school was opened in the area and my Father and his brother became schoolboys (they had attended clandestine primary school courses during the war).

American authorities proposed the family to emigrate to the USA instead of returning to the Soviet-infested Poland, but they refused too. In 1946 they returned to their home: most of the buildings were in ruins. A man who was their hired worker was now the 1st secretary of the Party in the area. As they had treated him well, he was helpful in the new situation.

Everybody survived. The only lasting consequences of the war were (apart from the new System), my Father´s low height, as he couldn´t eat any proteins during puberty and also got a heart valve disease: he has an artificial valve operated in, and is living and still working (75 ys old).