Tuesday 19 December 2017

I met Henry by a random referral when I wrote for the newspaper...






Interview with Katrina Shawver
by Agnes A. Rose


Katrina Shawver is an experienced writer, blogger, speaker, and the author of Henry  A Polish Swimmer’s True Story of Friendship from Auschwitz to America, an adult nonfiction biography released in 2017 to high praise. She holds a BA from the University of Arizona in English/Political Science, and began her writing career more than twenty years ago by writing hundreds of newspaper columns for The Arizona Republic. Her favorite quote is ”What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” She lives in Phoenix, Arizona, USA with her husband Rick.




Agnes A. Rose: Katrina, I am very honored that I can host you on my blog and talk to you. In November you published your first book that tells about Henry Zguda who was a Catholic Pole. What happened that you met Henry? After all, there are many Poles who lived or still live in America because they left Poland due to the Second World War or communism. Why was it Henry?

Katrina Shawver:  I am equally honored by your interest. I met Henry by a random referral when I wrote for the newspaper. Except for that phone call we would have never met. I did not seek this story; it came to me by sheer luck and providence. I had never known anyone who was Polish before Henry. I still cannot explain the impulsive decision to offer to write his story, except that he was 85 years old, so there was no time to waste in capturing his memories. He and (his wife) Nancy had no children, and he had no siblings to leave his story to. His story truly would have been lost to history had we not met. He was also very nice and easy to talk with.

AAR: Henry Zguda was arrested in 1942 in Krakow by Germans and sent to Montelupich Prison. Next he went on to survive several concentration camps. Knowing the realities of the Nazi death camps it is very difficult to imagine how Henry was able to survive there. So could you tell the Polish readers, who have not read your book, what he did that he managed to save his life?

KS: Henry would argue that he survived because others saved his life several times, just as he helped who he could. I truly believe that every story of survival is unique and involves a great deal of luck. Did the guards look away at just the right moment? How does one manage to avoid typhus when everyone around you is dying of it? Why was the person standing behind you selected for a firing squad when you weren't? Things happen without explanation.

Henry was fortunate that he had studied German in high school so he could understand, read, and write German. Prisoners who understood German had a longer life expectancy in any concentration camp. At the time of his arrest, Henry was twenty-five-years old and a strong athlete. He was used to hard work and was a quick thinker. He did observe that academics and those accustomed to less physical conditions perished far faster. They just could not adapt physically to the harsh conditions.

AAR: What happened to Henry’s family when he was arrested?

KS: Henry was an only child, and his father died when Henry was an infant, so there was only Henry's mother, Karolina Zguda. She remained in Krakow and continued to work as a housekeeper for a wealthy family throughout the war. Henry's mother lived in Krakow her entire life.

AAR: When Henry arrived in America how did his life look like? What was the most important for him when he started living in a new place?

KS: Henry and a friend defected from communist Poland in 1956 when the regime became very hard line. Neither had ever been married. When he and his friend set sail for America two years later they were free to create new lives. He wanted to see the land of two of his movie heroes: Tom Mix and Elvis Presley.

AAR: Did Henry ever think about coming back to Poland and spending here the rest of his life? As we all know, Poland ceased to be a communist country in 1989.

KS: No. Henry arrived in New York City in January 1959 and married his wife Nancy a year later. She came from a large Italian family and they built a very happy life together. He later became a US citizen. Henry did visit Poland at least once in the 1970s that I know of. Nancy did not accompany him because she felt awkward not speaking Polish, and there was still an active arrest warrant for Henry as a defector. In 1989 when communism finally fell, Henry was already seventy-two years old, retired, his mother had long since passed away, and he had outlived most of his friends in Poland. His life was in the United States, even though he always carried Poland in his heart, and always told me how beautiful his home country was.

AAR: While researching what was the most frightening for you? What event in your hero’s camp life was the most gruesome?

KS: During the interviews, when Henry discussed some of the harder aspects of concentration camps, or when we looked through books of black-and-white photos, I wanted to stop the conversation. Redirect to something more pleasant. Nevertheless, I wanted to honor Henry, and so many others who did not have the opportunity to stop the tape, close the book, and change subjects. As to most gruesome? He briefly worked in the crematorium in Buchenwald, which I visited in 2013.


Katrina and Henry in 2003


AAR: How long did you work on this book? What was your most difficult challenge while writing?

KS: I met Henry in November 2002, so it has been fifteen years from beginning to publication. Unfortunately, Henry passed away a year after we met. Several times through the years I set the project aside, either overwhelmed as the amount of work needed to finish, or simply life interfered. I had three young children, an aging parent, and some family health issues that took priority. Until recently I also held a job, so the progress has been at a slower pace than if I was a full-time writer.

As to difficult challenges, there was nothing easy about this project. I read everything I could find with this caveat — I only speak English. Besides the huge task of research, translation of documents, and planning a trip to Poland, there were challenges transcribing each of the interviews. Henry used the terms and names he remembered in Polish and German, without translating to English. It was not practical to stop him after every word for an explanation. Even places, street names, and people I could only write out phonetically. When I reviewed my notes ten years later I had so many "aha" moments as to what Henry was saying that I had not understood at the time. Henry once joked "You should learn Polish. Then we could really talk."

AAR: Could you tell us how your meetings with your readers look like? While talking to them what do you pay your attention to? What questions do they ask?

KS: The book has only been out for two months. Over 85 people came to my book launch event in November, and many referred me to other book groups to speak. I have spoken at a Jewish Community Center, a genocide conference, and writers' groups. Everyone seems fascinated with the story. Except for Poles, Henry's story is a piece of history that no one has heard — the Holocaust as seen through Polish eyes. This story seems to resonate with so many people both as a forgotten and important piece of history, an intelligent read, and getting to know a likeable person such as Henry. Even in a concentration camp he found humor at times.

I do love connecting with an audience in person and enjoy public speaking. In addition to local events, I am really trying to reach out online and through social media. I can reach so many more people around the world from my computer. I feel fortunate to have connected with you

AAR: How much has Henry’s story affected your life? How has it changed?

KS:  Meeting Henry Zguda did change the direction of my life. When I began I did not know, what I did not know. Today I am a published author and educated on Poland and WWII and how little credit Poles, and Henry, have received for their suffering and deaths. Early on, I realized Henry's story represents so many other Poles who never received credit outside the Polish community, which I thought was terribly unfair. My definition of a bad day has changed. Compared to a bad day in a concentration camp, if all that happens is someone cuts me off in traffic or work is especially stressful, well that means I'm blessed to own a car, and that I'm employed. I am far more conscious of not wasting food — food was a precious commodity for most of Henry's life.

AAR: In your book you write that you and your husband were in Poland in October 2013. You visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Could you tell us something more about your trip?

KS: It helped that we had an excellent translator with us all day. I had an appointment in the morning with head of the archives for the museum. I had sent several research requests and prisoner names on ahead, and staff had pulled a huge stack of records for me to review. After going through the documents, Dr. Plosa very patiently answered all of my questions.

We had arranged for a private tour guide at 4 p.m. for a three-hour tour. I had very specific locations to see and questions to ask about Henry's experience. Henry was only imprisoned in the original Auschwitz I, so we spent most of our time there. At the end of the day I wanted to see Birkenau since there is a story of Henry walking to Birkenau. As it happened, my husband Rick, Magda our tour guide, and I were the only three people remaining in Birkenau as the museum closed, a place that used to hold more than 100,000 people. We shivered because it was a cold winter evening, dark, and silent. We had not brought enough warm clothes. There is no comparison to visiting a concentration camp on a cold dark day to get a sense for what it was like for miserable prisoners. In the silence I truly felt the ghosts of a million murdered souls who called to me "Do not forget us." I never will.

Published by Köehler Books
Virginia Beach (USA) 2017

AAR: How do you think why WWII is still a part of our culture today?

KS: I think there is an ongoing fascination with WWII for several reasons. We are still within two or three generations of the history and we still have a few survivors from that era, though not for much longer. They are all in their 80s and 90s so their memories are precious and golden and need to be captured before they are lost to history.

The Holocaust from the Jewish perspective has been extremely well documented and taught for three generations. There are thousands of "Holocaust" memoirs in print, and I think people are still trying to figure out "why" and "how" ordinary German people, many highly educated, could turn into truly evil killers, and participate in the calculated mass murder of millions of people.

AAR: Why are you so interested in Polish history? 

KS: Almost everyone asks me this. I am an American with no previous Polish connection. When I planned a trip to Poland many people asked "Why Poland?" I am quite unique. The simple truth is I met someone from Poland, offered to write his story, and needed to understand the reality and context of a time and place I had not experienced. I have always loved history, and a good writer must be curious and ask questions, especially why things happened, not just that they did. As a journalist I need to cross-check my sources, which means finding the same information at least twice. Early in our interviews I realized that the dynamics of European history and changing borders are extremely relevant to what happened to Poland during and after World War II.

AAR: Apart from writing you also deal with other things. Could you tell us something more about it?

KS: I love classical music and attending the symphony. I like to hike the mountain near my house, and try to find time to read. I also love taking my daughter out for mother-daughter dates. We are very close.

AAR: What is your next project? Could you tell us something about it?

KS: Right now I am focused on launching Henry and getting his story out to as many people as possible. I am confident the next story will come into my life at the right time.

AAR: Katrina, thank you very much for this conversation and for your book. I hope that someday your book will be translated into Polish. I am very happy that in America so many authors write about Poland and its history, especially about the wartime history. Is there anything you would like to say to the Poles?

KS: I too hope my book will be translated into Polish. I have gained a huge respect for Poland and Poles. The Polish-American Congress, Arizona division has been supportive, and included me as a guest at the Polish Heritage Ball recently. That the country continues to survive and today thrives is a testament to the strength of the culture. I am proud to say two copies of HENRY are in the library and collections of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. For English-speaking Poles, HENRY is available internationally through Book Depository, Amazon UK and others such booksellers.

I do love to hear from readers, even if it is only in Polish. I use online translation software so it is no problem reading a language other than English. For longer texts I have Polish friends who will help me with translations.

I can be found at:

Email: katrina [at] katrinashawver.com
HENRY on Book Depository: Click here
HENRY on Amazon UK: Click here



If you want to read this interview in Polish, please click here.
If you want to read my book review, please click here





Saturday 16 December 2017

“Henry: A Polish Swimmer’s True Story of Friendship from Auschwitz to America” by Katrina Shawver








Published by Köehler Books
Virginia Beach 2017
I read the book thanks to the author's courtesy. Thank you!



Krakow was one of the Polish cities that suffered severely from human casualties during the Second World War. When the cities such as Warsaw, Poznan, Bialystok, Gdansk or Elblag were virtually razed to the ground and suffered under the subsequent marches of hostile forces and the long-lasting Nazi occupation, Krakow being the largest and most important city in southern Poland, remained almost untouched. It is possible that this kind of situation resulted from the fact that the Germans wished to provide it some protection because they established the headquarters of the Nazi General Government there. In other words, the city was taken over by the Nazis becoming the capital of a pseudo-state which included the south-eastern half of present-day Poland and the south part of present-day Ukraine. That project was controlled by Hans Frank (1900-1946), who was declared as a war criminal and executed in Nuremberg after the end of the war. He chose Wawel Castle, the ancient seat of the Polish kings, as his first headquarters. So even though Krakow’s architecture was not as badly ruined as for example in Warsaw, the same cannot be said about the culture of the city and its inhabitants.

We must know that at the very beginning of the war, the Germans decided not to divide the city with the Jewish population. It is important to know that before the outbreak of the war, sixty thousand Jews lived in Krakow, which represented a quarter of the entire population. The German occupation of Krakow began on September 6, 1939. At that time, the Nazis liquidated the Jewish social organization and established their own, which was supported to deal with the issue not only of the Cracovian Jews, but also those living in the whole country. It was called the Jewish Council of Elders (in German: Judenrat). In April 1940 the Germans ordered the Jews to leave Krakow within the next four months. At that time thirty-five thousand Jews were evacuated from the city and only fifteen thousand of them remained there. Since that time Krakow became the capital of Poland occupied by the Nazis.

In March 1941, the Germans built a Ghetto in the Podgorze district south of the Vistula River where twenty thousand Jews lived, including Jews coming from surrounding towns. The Ghetto very quickly became a place where people were dying of starvation, and because of overcrowding, fatal diseases were also spread, not to mention the unimaginable brutality of the Germans, who murdered the Jews when they wanted to. Mass deportations from the Ghetto began in June 1942. At that time, five thousand Jews were sent to the death camp in Belzec. Apart from that, in October 1942, another six thousand Jews were also transported to Belzec. During that horrible action the Nazis executed those who were in the hospital and in the nursing home as well as children living in the orphanage. About a few hundred Jews died in the Ghetto. The Ghetto was liquated by Amon Göth (1908-1946), sending people, who were capable of working, to the Nazi camp at Plaszow, murdering others in the streets or in their homes, and sending the rest of them to die at Auschwitz.


SS staff in the Nazi death camp in Belzec (1942)


At the very beginning of the war, Krakow lost many of its leading thinkers, and it was when the Germans arrested the Jagiellonian University professors. It was November 6, 1939. The professors were sent to German concentration camps. The Poles who remained in Krakow witnessed the change of their city every day. Shops, houses and generally the whole districts were taken over by the Nazis. Even the Cracow Market Square lost its name because it was renamed Adolf Hitler Platz. During the war years, there was distinct resistance of the Cracovians. The Home Army (in Polish: Armia Krajowa) operated in the city. Its soldiers planned an uprising there, which was supposed to be similar to the rebellion that broke out in Warsaw on 1 August, 1944. Eventually, the decision about the uprising was, however, called off, and it happened because the Nazi forces were too large while many young Cracovians, who were able to fight, had been arrested. Apart from that there was the shortage of weapons that could be used during a possible uprising.

It is not without reason that above I mentioned the realities that had occurred in Krakow during the Second World War. I did it because the protagonist of the unusual biography by American journalist Katrina Shawver was associated just with Krakow. He was born there, grew up there and next he was arrested by the Germans, and then was locked up in a prison located on Montelupich Street. Originally this place served as a military barracks, and was located in a building that had belonged to the family of the Italian merchants and bankers called Montelupi since 16th century. In 1905 the Austrian authorities decided that there would be a military court which had formerly been located in Wawel Castle. Then the court was turned into a prison. During the Second World War, there was a Nazi police prison in this building under the control of the Gestapo. Between 1940 and 1944 there were about fifty thousand prisoners.


Prisoners of the Montelupich Prison in 1939 after the invasion of Poland 
by Nazi Germany.


It can be assumed that the life of Henry Zguda (1917-2003) promised to be really great. He was a great swimmer and water polo player, and he also knew foreign languages. If the war had not broken out, perhaps his life would have been different. In 1942 he was arrested by the Germans and imprisoned in the aforementioned prison on Montelupich Street. Then he was taken to Auschwitz and next he was sent to the Nazi concentration camp in Buchenwald, which operated since July 1937 until the end of the war. Henry Zguda was also in the German camp in Flossenbürg. He also experienced a dramatic death march, finally reaching Dachau where he was liberated at the end of the war. His life in post-war communist Poland was not easy either. The new authorities began mass persecution which also affected Henry. Eventually he managed to emigrate to America where he married the love of his life and died in 2003 at the age of 86. However, he never forgot about swimming. For him the emigration to the United States was a sort of escape from a world that was no longer the same as Henry had known before the war. You have to remember that it would not have been possible for him to do it unless he had had his friends he could count on at any time.

Katrina Shawver’s book is an extraordinary account of the man who survived despite the enormous cruelty that was present in the Nazi concentration camps. While writing, the author took care of every detail. On the pages of this book a reader meets Henry who was a really unusual man. In addition there is so tragic story that you can be almost sure that there is no return to a normal life from that hell. In a very interesting way Katrina Shawver reveals the fate of Henry Zguda, and the whole book is enriched by numerous photographs. The biography is based on interviews with Henry Zguda between 2002 and 2003. It was just before his death. I think that some invisible force had to direct that Katrina Shawver could meet Henry to be able to write down his memories, which are a true tribute to all people who survived that terrible war and to its mortal victims. This kind of books should be published as much as possible, but unfortunately every year it is getting harder because the eyewitnesses of those events are less and less. 


Katrina Shawver and Henry Zguda in 2003


On the pages of the book we learn not only the events that took place in Henry Zguda’s life but also we can read how emotionally the author approached them. Therefore, there are also her observations and remarks. In addition a reader also learn what Poland had looked like prior to the war before Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) decided to destroy not only the country but first of all the people living in it. The book's hero is a really beautiful character regardless of what part of his life his story is about. Very often Henry mentions an extraordinary inner strength that helped him survive the worst moments of his life. Some people may be surprised by the fact that despite the ubiquitous terror he never complained about his fate, although it does mean that he accepted it. It is possible that it resulted from his immense desire to live. I am sure that it was just his willingness to live that gave Henry the strength to survive each day. In my opinion Henry’s story, although very tragic, gives us hope and uplift.

There are many people in the world who do not really know much about the cruelty of the Second World War. They do not fully understand what the Holocaust was about. Therefore, this book can be a great source of information for them filling the gaps in their historical knowledge. I have no words to express my emotions after reading this book. For my part, I can only be grateful to the author that she decided to undertake such a difficult subject. For Poles, it is very important people around the world learn about the great drama we experienced when on September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. But that's not all, because several days later (September 17) the Soviet Union, headed by Jozef Stalin (1878-1953), did the same. Therefore, I recommend Katrina Shawver’s book to anyone who wants to know the extraordinary story of the man who survived hell, and even so he never gave up and lost his faith in people.




Email: katrina [at] katrinashawver.com
Website:  katrinashawver.com
HENRY on Book Depository: Click here
HENRY on Amazon UK: Click here


If you want to read this review in Polish, please click here