Remembering A Part Of History During WWII From Memories Of Stories My Mother-In-law, Anna Told Me

Remembering The History Of The War In Slovakia

By Cheryl Freier, author of two historical fiction novels of WWII (The Grayling Hidden Truth Poems, and The Wild Grasses Hidden Truth Poems)

Once when I went to visit my mother-in-law inBrooklyn, NYC, she told me

the story about the war during August of 1944.  She told how she and her family were hiding in a bunker under the ground and how a war waged on top of the bunker for days.  When at least two days passed after the sounds of the battle had stopped:  the hearing soldiers crying out in the night, hearing soldiers running above and near the top of the bunker, the silence from guns, and less smoke surrounding the area and penetrating into the bunker.  She explained in vivid details what her husband and two sons saw as they walked outside into the woods.  Bodies of soldiers were strewn all over the ground for as far as the eyes could see.  Many of the dead lay forever on smoldering smoke.  Many times the only way they could identify a soldier was by what was left of their uniforms.  Thousands of soldiers died.  Most of them were Czechoslovaks, Russians, and German soldiers.

It was not until many years later, when I wanted to write my husband’s story that I realized that the battle that she was talking about was the Battle For Dukla Pass, which is located to this day north of Svidnik and on the Polish border.  I hovered so over books on the battle and wrote down the details of what I remembered her telling me.  I was more determined than ever to write about the war to tell people their story of renewed faith and their determination to survive. 

I wrote The Grayling Hidden Truth Poems as the first sequel, and completed the story by writing three additional books, The Wild Grasses Hidden Truth Poems, Blossoms Around The Circles Hidden Truth Poems, and included my husband’s expressive poetry about the war and about aspects of life, when I wrote: The Day Of The Hidden Truth Poems:  A Memoriam To Martin Freier.  Share the struggles of unbelievable courage.  Read my novels.