The Horror Trains: A Polish Woman Veteran's Memoir of World War II

When Poland was invaded in September 1939, young Wanda Pomykalski's life changed irreversibly. She and two friends set out to join the Polish army and were captured by Soviet soldiers. After a harrowing three week winter journey sixty people crammed into each boxcar without heat, blankets, or toilets, and with extremely little water and bread they arrived in Odessa where they were incarcerated in a massive prison. When the Germans approached, Wanda and her cellmates were again loaded into boxcars this time in fierce June heat. A three week railway journey carried them to Siberia. Months later, a general amnesty was granted to Polish citizens held in Soviet prisons. Wanda and her comrades endured another long railway journey, this time to reach the Polish Army. Wanda was assigned as clerk typist with the Polish forces in the Soviet Union, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and Italy where she served just 40 kilometers from the front lines at the historic battle for Monte Cassino in May 1944