Dominik

Before she passed, my grandmother told me the story of our cousin Dominik. He lived in Poland in the first half of the 20th century and, as one would expect given this time and location, he and the rest of my family that had not immigrated in the prior decades became subjugated by the invading Germans in 1939. Being Slavs, the Poles were treated as subhuman at best by their occupiers, my relatives being no exceptions. They were property to be used as slaves for the Reich. They struggled for basic necessities like bread while their cities and farmlands were raided. They watched as their Jewish neighbours disappeared into the night and never returned.

Dominik decided to join the Polish Resistance as a young man barely out of his teens. His work was largely that of a messenger for the more seasoned fighters operating in plain sight of their oppressors, but he was able to use a rifle if the need were to arise. The majority of his espionage work was, we believe, in and around Warsaw.

One winter day, I don’t know exactly when as my grandmother never knew the dates, Dominik was arrested by the Germans. He was tortured with beatings and gods know what else in the early days of his captivity. He was starved and deprived of water unless he gave his detainers the information that they demanded. Dominik refused to say anything.

In the end, the Germans decided to restrain him in a bathtub. They dumped snow and ice over Dominik’s naked body and demanded that he reveal the locations used and operated by the Resistance. He remained silent. This process continued until Dominik froze to death in that bathtub, never betraying his countrymen or their clandestine actions.

A relative who survived the war and immigrated to the United States in the aftermath recalled this story to my family here. Dominik died a hero for liberty. I don’t know why, but something made me want to share his story here and now so that such acts of bravery are not forgotten.