Without a Suitcase
The Story of Katie as Told to Her Son Janek (Jon)
by
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Day by day our clothes are getting worse. We have not changed our clothes since our arrival here. The logging work makes our already dirty, ragged clothes worse as they get ripped to shreds. I do not have any shoes now as they totally fell apart in the forest. My feet and legs are frostbitten and badly cut so that I am not able to walk. I feel that I have come to the end of my tether and I can no longer work. The Russians do not care how I feel or the health of any of us.
Mother has an idea how to make me some new boots. She says we’ll wrap rags around my feet and goes on to explain that we’ll pour water on the rags and they will freeze and become frozen boots and says I’ll be able to wear them as boots. Hearing this I was speechless. I would never in my life think of this, but these conditions force us to do things we would never dream of. It turns out, however, that it’s not that simple - rags are very scarce. We search all the corners and collect a few pieces and begin the work. Together we wrap the rags loosely around my feet and lower legs and pour water on them so they will freeze. As they freeze, they begin to get stiff. I try to make sure that my feet have some slack inside. Once they are frozen, I take them off and leave them outside for the rest of the night. Now I have some boots and I’m grateful to mother that I will be able to go to work with my feet wrapped in frozen rags. How is it possible to have frozen boots to keep my feet warm, but it works.
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About the Book
This is my mother’s story. After many years of her insistence to put down the events of her life in written word, this is the end result. Although she shares her ill-fated destiny with thousands of others, it is her personal story alone. I gathered these events from her words, as well as from napkins and scraps of paper she would write on in the middle of the night when dreams of cruelty and starvation in Siberia and the Middle East would awaken her. Her brother Tony, her sister Josephine and her lifelong friend, Stella, helped in recalling events my mother forgot or chose to forget in the narration of this epic saga of her life. She wants people to know of the horrific trials she, her family, and thousands of others like her suffered during World War II. It is a nightmare she relives to this day.
About the Author
It is my honor to put into writing the past-life journeys of my mother and I. Coming from a care-free life lived with tribal people in Africa to a civilized life in England was difficult for me. Until age 10 I had no formal schooling. But I was eager for education and learned quickly. By age 21 I had already earned my London City Guilds degree in building and construction, moved to Canada and opened my own construction company and was teaching special education at the high school level. I waited until I retired to be able to devote the time needed to write this saga. It is my hope that this writing will enlighten all who read it.