"Life for chocolate"

time and place: Autumn, year 1944, Zadybie Stare (Lublin province, east of Poland)

  The Red Army along with the Polish People's Army (org Armia Ludowa) was approaching Warsaw, sweeping off the Germans from the territories of eastern Poland. The first airport for military aircraft in Poland was built in Zadybie Stare village. The First Regiment of Fighter Aviation stationed there. From tha airport started the planes taking part in the battles of town Warka and the areas near Warsaw.

  The headquarters of the military command stationed in a palace of the local lord. Russian airmen took private accommodation in the village.

  The house of a marriage couple: Ms Władysława and Mr Bolesław was used for quarters and for a military warehouse. During this story, it was the military warehouse of... chocolate for airmen. Boxes with this valuable dainty were stored in the room which led to the cellar where the family kept potatoes. The potatoes were often on the menu and all family members willingly went to the cellar to take them. One day the soldiers from the regiment came for chocolate stores and... a scandal came out. In mysterious circumstances half of the contents one of the boxes with the cocoa delicacy disappeared. The Russians came on strong with thieves. With the machine guns pointed at Bolesław, they pulled him out of the house. Frightened by the event, the children gathered near the mother, watching the scene affrightedly. The commander of the unit that came for the provisions, made the only one “right” decision: "shoot the host for the theft". Bolesław was standing with his head down. He was the only one from the family who did not eat the chocolate. When the soldiers reloaded their weapons, terrified Władysława shouted to them:

“The children ate this chocolate! Look, how thin they are! They did it because they were starving!”

She showed them to the soldiers: small, skinny creatures in old, patched clothes, looking with big eyes at the executioners.

The commander of the troop looked at them and then ordered his soldiers put their guns down. In this way, my great-grandfather's life was saved and my grandmother and her siblings had a great chocolate feast.  

A review of fighter aircraft "Jak-1" of the First Regiment of Fighter Aviation at the airport in Zadybie Stare, September 1944; source: Wikipedia