Michał Klemens

"When I came here to Krzyż, I went out from Krótka Street – because I live in Krótka Street, near the station, the chemist’s was right next door, but already disarmed – and a Russki went out from that chemist’s and said: “Mister, have you got any moonshine?” I said: “Yes, I have.” “And I have gold.” ”You have gold?” “Yes, I have gold.” And I lived in Krótka Street and I still live there, and I had a pot without handle at home. Because the handle was painted like gold. He battered those handles and had them tied in his hand, a lot of handles. “Gold!” I say: “You, fool, it’s not gold!” He said: “You fool, you stupid fool, it’s gold!” He was going on a bike in Krzyż on wheel rims only, without tubes, without tyres, on the pavement on those rims! What a noise it was!"

"The town was empty, the town was burnt down, looted, there were no people. No one. When they let us go into the town later on, the town was empty, no one, not a soul was there. A few old Germans stayed, I don’t know, three or four of them. The largest German stayed, that Sagert, the one of the Sagert family that is still here today. That old Sagert came back from Germany here and stayed here and later on they gave this land, the forest, to the state, so that he could only stay here. He handed it all over."

"We came to Poznan – it was dark, silent, the front, the war was still on, artillery was banging incredibly. At the Poznań management we waited for a bridge on the Noteć River for four days. When there was a bridge on the Noteć, the first train from Poznań to Wronki – and from Wronki to the border here, because it was the old border – there was only one track. There was no bridge, they made a bridge, and we came to Krzyż by that first train. We came to Krzyż at midnight and the Russkis received us and up to the station and we lied down there on the straw and we were lying there. In the morning, they walked us to the roundhouse at gunpoint and brought us back also at gunpoint. They did not let us into the town. They first looted the town, burnt it, and only when there was nothing left, they let us go to the town. As a bachelor, I said to myself: it can’t’ be helped, we need to rebuild our homeland. And I stayed here; I was working as an electrician, I worked, they needed such a man here. I was starting a hydroelectric power plant in Kamienna, 23 kilometres away from this place. And the power plant was operated by railwaymen until 1947. Then, the federation said: “Railwaymen, get out of here, because there is no railway station or tracks, there is nothing waiting for you.” And, in 1947, a large wagon came from Poznań, we packed our things and left for Krzyż."