When the Germans invade their Polish village in September 1939 to build the largest SS training camp outside of Germany, Anna, Jozef, and Stacia must work as forced laborers serving the Reich. Then, in 1943, Hitler moves his top-secret V-2 missile research project into their wilderness area. With test missiles exploding over their homes, Anna, Jozef, her priest, and other villagers become partisans for the underground Home Army. Just as it appears the Germans are losing, Stacia finds herself inside the cattle car of a train headed to Ravensbrck, a women's concentration camp. The rest of the village bursts into chaos, and the priest who was working with the Home Army goes into hiding in the church's roof for six months to avoid arrest. The novel begins with the amazing true story of an American pilot who made a forced landing in the village in 1944, told in three later chapters. List and his crew found hidden letters addressed to America in the outhouse, and one of them was Anna's letter. It was undeliverable, and he kept it in his briefcase for forty-five years.PRAISE FOR War and Resistance in the Wilderness"As a combination of memoir and historical fiction, War and Resistance in the Wilderness pays homage to the victims and heroes of World War II and promotes knowledge about important forgotten events from the area of Niwiska in year 1939-1945. This book helps to better understand how cruel the German occupation was in Poland." -Fr. Antoni Wiech, historian "War and Resistance in the Wilderness, based on real events, places and people, is the story of villagers trapped in the pressure cooker of Nazi occupied Poland. Donna Gawell fleshes out the complexities of interpersonal relationships with a savvy understanding of Polish mores. The verity of the circumstances is enriched through an entertaining storyline that builds empathy and suspense comparable to the insecurity experienced by all villagers.She brings to life clashing viewpoints and dangerous choices. Thorough research ferments into a unique work that informs, entertains, and lights up the audacity and courage of Polish people including the many who joined the AK.This is a significant contribution to the resistance genre and a riveting read." -Talia Moser, daughter of Captain Edward List, the American pilot in the story"Based on real people, real events and a real place, War and Resistance in the Wilderness, gives us a picture of what life was like for the inhabitants of one tiny village during the darkness of the occupation of Poland by the Nazis. All too often we read of that time globally, in broad terms, but here we see the war brought home to their back yard, impacting real people on a day to day basis and through the long years of that war. Though the author's prose, I could vividly see the countryside of Poland, experience a way of life torn asunder and the very realities of war." ̶ Sophie Hodorowicz Knab, author of "Wearing the Letter P" "War and Resistance in the Wilderness is a captivating story about the villagers of the parish of Niwiska, before, during, and after World War II. It describes their daily joys, struggles, faith, and commitment to their beloved Poland during the dark days of war time Poland."̶ Valerie S. Koselka, President of the Polish Genealogical Society Based on a clever reconstruction of historical events and documents, the book conveys a sense of the tragedy experienced by its chosen protagonists. In doing so, it restores a measure of dignity to the 'little people' inhabiting provincial Poland, who faced unprecedented moral dilemmas and whose lives were forever changed by the war." ̶ Tomasz Frydel, University of Toronto and Fellow at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington, DC.
When the Germans invade their Polish village in September 1939 to build the largest SS training camp outside of Germany, Anna, Jozef, and Stacia must work as forced laborers serving the Reich. Then, in 1943, Hitler moves his top-secret V-2 missile research project into their wilderness area. With test missiles exploding over their homes, Anna, Jozef, her priest, and other villagers become partisans for the underground Home Army. Just as it appears the Germans are losing, Stacia finds herself inside the cattle car of a train headed to Ravensbrck, a women's concentration camp. The rest of the village bursts into chaos, and the priest who was working with the Home Army goes into hiding in the church's roof for six months to avoid arrest. The novel begins with the amazing true story of an American pilot who made a forced landing in the village in 1944, told in three later chapters. List and his crew found hidden letters addressed to America in the outhouse, and one of them was Anna's letter. It was undeliverable, and he kept it in his briefcase for forty-five years.PRAISE FOR War and Resistance in the Wilderness"As a combination of memoir and historical fiction, War and Resistance in the Wilderness pays homage to the victims and heroes of World War II and promotes knowledge about important forgotten events from the area of Niwiska in year 1939-1945. This book helps to better understand how cruel the German occupation was in Poland." -Fr. Antoni Wiech, historian "War and Resistance in the Wilderness, based on real events, places and people, is the story of villagers trapped in the pressure cooker of Nazi occupied Poland. Donna Gawell fleshes out the complexities of interpersonal relationships with a savvy understanding of Polish mores. The verity of the circumstances is enriched through an entertaining storyline that builds empathy and suspense comparable to the insecurity experienced by all villagers.She brings to life clashing viewpoints and dangerous choices. Thorough research ferments into a unique work that informs, entertains, and lights up the audacity and courage of Polish people including the many who joined the AK.This is a significant contribution to the resistance genre and a riveting read." -Talia Moser, daughter of Captain Edward List, the American pilot in the story"Based on real people, real events and a real place, War and Resistance in the Wilderness, gives us a picture of what life was like for the inhabitants of one tiny village during the darkness of the occupation of Poland by the Nazis. All too often we read of that time globally, in broad terms, but here we see the war brought home to their back yard, impacting real people on a day to day basis and through the long years of that war. Though the author's prose, I could vividly see the countryside of Poland, experience a way of life torn asunder and the very realities of war." ̶ Sophie Hodorowicz Knab, author of "Wearing the Letter P" "War and Resistance in the Wilderness is a captivating story about the villagers of the parish of Niwiska, before, during, and after World War II. It describes their daily joys, struggles, faith, and commitment to their beloved Poland during the dark days of war time Poland."̶ Valerie S. Koselka, President of the Polish Genealogical Society Based on a clever reconstruction of historical events and documents, the book conveys a sense of the tragedy experienced by its chosen protagonists. In doing so, it restores a measure of dignity to the 'little people' inhabiting provincial Poland, who faced unprecedented moral dilemmas and whose lives were forever changed by the war." ̶ Tomasz Frydel, University of Toronto and Fellow at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington, DC.
