Praise for
Escape from Siberia, Escape from Memory
An Odyssey Across Two Oceans & Nine Countries to Arrive Home
"Escape from Siberia, Escape from Memory is a respectful biography that stands as a testament to the historical trials that the Polish people faced.
Paul Wojdak’s poignant biography of his father, a Siberian war orphan, Escape from Siberia, Escape from Memory reveals the tumult of the Russian Revolution. Wojdak’s father, Pawel, was born in 1912 in Siberia, where his Polish family lived in exile. Once regarded as an outpost for dissidents, Siberia’s vast natural resources prompted economic development and the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Then, the Russian Revolution brought civil war to the region along with the rampages of the Red Army. Pawel’s parents were casualties of the displacement and violence; by the age of seven, he joined the ranks of the many other Polish Siberian orphaned and abandoned children who were left starving, homeless, and vulnerable to disease.
Pawel is fleshed out in this historical context, as a reserved man who loved his family, nature, and his adopted Canadian homeland. While he’s positioned as a survivor, the book avoids lionizing him. And because Pawel was reticent to discuss his childhood ordeals—including relocations, his impoverished adolescence, and his experiences of World War II combat—holes remain. Still, his “fragmentary memories” are afforded respectful space, as are the unanswerable questions about his life as seen from the outside. There’s removed coverage of the anguish he suppressed and the adaptability that he was forced to nurture.
Also at the book’s center is a concise history of Polish oppression, in particular beginning with the end of World War I and the redefinition of European borders. Though an independent Polish republic was established, its citizens dealt with foreign kaisers and czars, as well as Nazi and Soviet dictatorships; the murders of 22,000 Polish officers in the Katyn Forest massacre rendered Russia a “recurring and ruthless enemy.” And the book contrasts the horrors of war- torn Siberia with the exemplary kindness and care that the Polish orphans received abroad, including in Japan, inspiring later cultural celebrations of the children’s host countries in Poland.
Indeed, Pawel’s story is often treated as being best understood as but one in a collective of displaced Polish children’s accounts. It is made to exist in parallel to Poland’s long plight and gradual reemergence as an independent nation: the children experienced psychological tumult, the book shows, as well as survivor’s guilt and repressed trauma, having sometimes witnessed the arrests and executions of loved ones. Further, the book makes use of historical notes, interviews, and personal accounts of travels to Japan and Poland to populate the blank spaces in its story of Pawel’s life. And throughout, salient information regarding the Siberian orphans is proffered in a tidy manner, including via charts that record some of the children’s names, original locations, and destinations. Maps and photographs are also present to support the narrative."
- Meg Nola,
Foreword Clarion Reviews
"In his personal, sometimes even intimate book, Paul Wojdak takes us on a journey through time and space. We accompany him in the tedious detective work he did to get to know his father better. The task the author set himself was not easy - from the darkness of oblivion, he had to bring out the story of a terrified little boy who is rescued from the Siberian abyss by the hands of good people. We know from the beginning that this story has a happy ending - Pawel (Wladyslaw) Wojdak, as an adult man, will settle in Canada and create a home full of love for his wife and son. What is even more fascinating, however, is the path the author's father took to emerge from the brutal reality of revolutionary Siberia, the poverty of interwar Poland, and the turmoil of World War II as a man capable of ensuring a happy childhood for his son.
In the confusing and hard past of Pawel Wojdak, we can find a short period of idyll - the boy, together with other Siberian orphans, goes to Japan, where he recovers under tender care. This two-month period is so deeply imprinted in Pawel Wojdak's memory that as an adult he will be able to sing Kimi ga yo - the national anthem of Japan.
Thanks to reading "Escape from Siberia, Escape from Memory" we have the unique opportunity to observe not only the thorny trail that Pawel Wojdak traveled but also the enormous amount of work that Paul Wojdak did to learn about his father's complicated past. The author starts as somebody looking for Novo-Nikolayevsk (Siberian town) on the map of Poland and ends up as person who deeply understands the history and traumas that haunt Poles and other nations that have ever been under Russian rule.
I believe, especially nowadays, when Russian imperial dreams are shaping our reality again, reading this book is a must."
- Karol Suchocki,
Co-founder of Jadow Historical Society and Museum, POLAND
"Pawel Wojdak experienced an odyssey across two oceans and nine countries to arrive home. Paul Wojdak had to travel even more, to consult archives, documents, books and people in several countries to discover his father's story. The outcome is a fascinating book about the tragedy of a Polish orphan in Siberia, but also about the very strong bond of love between a father and son. The book is a mix between a sound presentation of the complicated history of Poles in Siberia, private investigation about his father, interesting psychological thoughts about trauma, and a touching testimony of a Man who, despite many adversities, finally reached his place on Earth. I read it with pleasure and I highly recommend this book for everyone, not only history fans!"
-Bartosz Boleslawski,
Pilecki Institute, Warsaw (dedicated to analysis of Nazi and Soviet regimes on Poland and all Polish people)
"The Story of the "Siberian Children" Told from a Very Personal Perspective
The story of the orphaned Polish children saved by the Polish Rescue Committee and the Japanese Red Cross continues to gain a growing audience and ever greater currency with every retelling, largely through the efforts of such institutions as the Manghaa Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Poland, the Social Welfare Corporation Fukudenkai in Tokyo, and the Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum in Japan, but also through the direct engagement of the Siberian Children's descendants. One of the latter is Paul Wojdak.
My first encounter of Paul Wojdak was in Tsuruga, Japan; subsequently we met several times in Poland, and I believe our last encounter was not really the last one, even though the distances between Poland, Japan and Canada (where Paul Wojdak lives) are measured in tens of thousands of miles.
Paul Wojdak has been delving into the history of his family, his father's life story, for several years. I am impressed by his quest: the archives he must have sifted through, the books he must have read, and the people he must have talked to in order to get to know his father. And to comprehend his story. This is what it took to create a fascinating book, a narrative about a rescued Siberian Child, against the background of the tragic history of Polish exiles and refugees, the search for one's origins, and ultimately a sense of fulfilled duty towards one's father.
I highly recommend this book, definitely worth a thorough reading. Out of curiosity and respect - for the father and the son."
- Katarzyna Nowak,
Director, Manghaa Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, Krakow, Poland
"Paul's new book details his father's life and his own experiences tracing his father's footsteps, and is an epic that connects Russia, Poland, Japan, and North America. It also contributes to comprehensive study of the history and geography of various countries, packed with valuable information based on his vigorous and in-depth research, and is an essential text for us museum staff. A must-read book without difficult technical terms, but with a gentle and comfortable narrative that is consistent throughout the text and reminds us of Paul's personality."
- Akinori Nishikawa,
Director, Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum, Japan
"Most of us know a little of our family's history. When it came to his father's past, [Paul Wojdak] was given little to work with, ... he made it his mission to find the missing pieces. Escape from Siberia, Escape from Memory: An Odyssey Across Two Oceans & Nine Countries to Arrive Home (FriesenPress 2024, 330 pages) is the story of Pawel Wojdak, a Polish immigrant who brought his wife and young son to Canada in 1952. Painstakingly researched and well-written, its a memorable account of one man's backstory and his son's herculean effort to uncover it.
Pawel Wojdak (pronounced "Voy-dak") was not famous. ... Yet, as his son proves, Pawel wasn't ordinary and his story was anything but typical. ... Part history text, biography, and memoir, it ... manages to incorporate some the best elements of all three: a compelling theme, keen observations based on diverse, credible, and documented sources of information, and a measure of emotional honesty. Paul's simple, direct style lends itself well to this type of narrative. His sentences are tight and unambiguous. ...the author's artistry in conveying nuggets of information makes it a good read. It's also an excellent reference for genealogists interested in exploring their Polish roots. Readers who expect to know everything about Pawel Wojdak when they finish ... may be disappointed. ... Some pieces of the puzzle are still missing, and the picture, while fuller, is incomplete. Yet the mysteries in this book don't detract from it.
Escape from Siberia, Escape from Memory does more than tell one man's story. It sheds light on a little-known chapter in history and gives people born in Canada valuable insight into the immigrant experience. [In the words of] novelist Hermann Hesse, "Every man is more than himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world's phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again. That is why every man's story is important, eternal and sacred." Thanks Paul, for sharing this remarkable tale.
- Michael Riis-Christianson,
Author of History Matters and I Heard the Turkii Call My Name
