By Devil's Luck: A Tale of Resistance in Wartime Warsaw

By Stanislaw Likiernik

Born into one of the most chaotic times in Europe in the 20th century, Stanislaw Likiernik was just a schoolboy when, in 1939, Poland fell to two dictatorships - Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1840183977
• ISBN13: 9781840183979
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Mainstream
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Insights into KEDYW, the AK in General, and the Warsaw Uprising

Stanislaw Likiernik recounts his experiences in prewar Poland, German-occupied Poland, the AK, the Warsaw Uprising, and postwar Paris. In recent years, some (e. g. Jan T. Gross) have advanced the disingenuous argument that Poles were willing to incur the German-imposed death penalty for harboring radios and guns, but much less so for harboring Jews. To begin with, everyone knows that getting away with hiding a forbidden object is much more likely than getting away with hiding a human being. As it turns out, Poles weren't particularly risk-taking when it came to radios either: "Radios in private hands were a rarity, their possession punishable by death." (p. 72). As for black marketeering, Poles really had no choice, and they knew furthermore that the death penalty upon being caught wasn't consistently enforced: "To survive, the inhabitants of Warsaw had to use the black market...In my place, a real gendarme would, at his most benevolent, confiscate the goods, and at worst let go with his sub-machine gun. Searches of trains often ended in the shooting of women and men traveling with contraband food supplies." (p. 83) Likiernik describes his experiences in KEDYW (KIEROWNICTWO DYWERSJI, or Directorate of Sabotage) (pp. 67-70), which included the blowing up of a German train that was taking ammunition to the Russian Front. He played a direct role in the assassinations of German officials, including Commander Schmalz (pp. 96-97) and the Gestapo agents Jung and Hoffman (p. 103). KEDYW was somewhat better armed than other AK units (p. 107), but some 70% of KEDYW members later perished during the Warsaw Uprising (p. 147). Just before the Uprising, Likiernik had what turned out to be a prophetic experience: "My friend Roman Mularczyk (later known as Roman Bratny, the celebrated writer) came to see me several days before the Rising. `Mark my words,' he said. `The Russians will provoke an insurrection in Warsaw and when we start fighting, they'll stop their advance and let the Germans finish us off.'" (p. 111). And so it happened: A vast sea of death and destruction. During the Uprising, the most unpleasant German weapon was the Nebelwerfer ("bellowing cow" or "wardrobe"; p. 123). Likiernik was wounded a number of times, and had to be moved from a field hospital because the Germans would murder the wounded (pp. 117-118). After the war, Likiernik observed the Communist takeover of Poland from a Polish mission in Paris. He also noted: "The demeanor of the new arrivals from Poland, especially of the officers, was getting increasingly strange. Some communists of Jewish origin could hardly even speak Polish." (p. 178).

A tale of courage against impossible odds

After so many books and movies about Poland in World War II, you may think that there is no more left to learn. By Devil's Luck will prove you wrong. This personalized tale of the Polish resistance, expecially of their sabotage units, will grab your attention from page one and you will not be able to put the book down until the last page. You get to know the characters, real people, and feel Mr. Likiernik's sadness when one by one they are killed. And you feel fury towards the Gestapo and SS for their brutality and inhumanity. The vivid description of the Warsaw Uprising puts you there, dodging bullets, suffering wounds, racing to keep from being captured and killed. This book is a must read for young and old alike.