The 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade

(1 Samodzielna Brygada Spadochronowa)

Marriage To
Stanislawa Garnowska

A Soldier Now A Husband

5 years of military life in 42 Pulk Piechoty (42nd Infantry Regiment) had taken it's toll on me. I needed something more. I needed the love and company of a good woman.

Marriage At Farna Church, Bialystok

So, on 11 July 1935 I married the love of my life, Stanislawa Garnowska.

We got married in Farna Parish, Bialystok, Poland (Bazylika archikatedralna Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny w Białymstoku). The church was a well respected Roman Catholic church, it was the main church, everyone knew it, it was a fitting and stunning place to marry my true love.

21a

A Little Naughty?

Maybe by now you have done the maths and realised that when I got married to Stanislawa on 11 July 1935 that she was already 2 months pregnant with Zdzislaw who was born on 12 February 1936.

Well, I was a Catholic and it wouldn't do to have a girl pregnant and not be living as a married couple so I did the honourable thing and married her.

You have to understand though that things were not easy for me, I was working as an Elektromonter (electrical engineer )and trying to support a wife and child at home (soon to be 2 and more children). But support them I did and all the while being the bread winner as well as a soldier.

We lived at 28 Tarnowska in Bialystok, Poland. On the small patch of land were a few buildings, I lived in one with my wife and kids, father and mother in the other and yet more family in the 3rd one. We really were one bog happy family of several generations.

My mother, Stefania Szafran, had a brother who had a business in Sokolka as a shoemaker. We spent a lot of time in Sokolka, lovely hot summers and crisp winters.

A Sister For Zdzislaw

In 1937 along came a little bundle of joy, a baby girl that Stanislawa and I chose to name Lucyna. She would be a wonderful companion and playfriend for Zdzislaw as he grew up.

I remember the day I first held her, heard her gurgle. She smelt as babies do, such a wonderful smell of young life, I would melt when I held her, all that I had that was dear to me was in my hands now. Or playing in the muck outside as Zdzislaw was.

I was starting to feel like a very luck man. I had a beautiful wife and 2 adorable children, we really were the dream family.