In the Shadow of Satan

The somewhat pretentious title, “In the Shadow of Satan” might imply that this book is a philosophical dissertation on the subject of good and evil. It is not. It is a compilation of memories, first of a young boy, and then of a young adult, from the bloodiest period of 20th century Europe—during the days of the Second World War and Soviet occupation. These tragic events are described as seen through the young eyes of an eyewitness to history. This book does not pretend to furnish detailed information on the Jewish—as well as Christian—holocaust. Yet because the author lived daily in the shadow of those two satans—Nazism and communism—he startlingly reveals an even more true picture than contemporary writing could ever accomplish. Last year the author visited places that he described in this book—places of horror, of suffering, of inhumanity. In the August sunshine no trace of the awful past was visible. Those who lived through that satanic past can never escape its horror. The youth of today do not have a clue. This book must find its way to today’s young intellectuals so that the horrors of the past are not repeated. Political correctness today skews the reality of the past. In this book one can see that people of different walks of life, nationalities and ethnic backgrounds were both good and evil. In the gloom of despair—in some instances unprecedented—human nobility flowered like beautiful white lilies on stagnant black water. The American people—even professional historians—have quite limited information on the events which took place in Poland in the years 1939–1989. This simple tale provides a realistic picture of those days, and also shows that the human spirit is invincible and is able to survive and grow even in very difficult environments.